Towards professional identity: The development of the self among student social workers through storytelling

Abstract

This study responded to an identified need to explore ways to include personal experiences in learning and teaching activities to support the development of the self and professional identity formation. The research questions of how student social workers can be empowered to develop the self and the professional identity through storytelling, as well as how the Appreciative Inquiry model can be used as a framework for storytelling in learning and teaching activities guided the study. The aim was to explore and describe 1) how storytelling can empower students to develop and integrate the self and the professional identity, and 2) how the Appreciative Inquiry model can be used as a framework for storytelling in learning and teaching activities.