Policy Resources as Teaching Tools

Featured Guest Blogger December 15th, 2008

I recently guest lectured in one of the ‘macro’ graduate social work classes here on campus. I talked about the state-level policymaking process in general, and how I find materials and legislation to post on the Sloan Network. I had a wonderful time sharing our work with the students, and I felt that it helped them get a handle on how legislation can be followed and synthesized to inform their own work.

One resource that I always bring along when I guest lecture on this topic is the Policy Briefing Series (or the PBS as we lovingly call it). Many of you may be familiar with this 4-pager, but for those of you who aren’t, it is a brief that is sent to policymakers and interested individuals on a particular work-family topic.

While this resource seems like the perfect tool for a policy audience, I have noted that students and instructors also find it to be an incredibly useful learning tool. It starts with a problem statement of sorts, offers statistics as evidence of the problem, and then illustrates policy action that has occurred as a result of the problem. Often, it is hard to take a piece of legislation or a legislative trend and break it down for a fundamental policy course, particularly one with mostly ‘clinical’ students, but I think our PBS does just that.

Take a look, and let us know if you have used this resource in your own class or training!