HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION (SWE)- Reworked -Rukmini Divakar

OUTLINE of THE ESSAY

Ø  Introduction(opinions of different contributors to Social work education)

Ø  History (How social work emerged as a profession leading to formal education system)

Ø  Conclusion ( emerging trends in Social work education)

Introduction

I begin by stating Prof S R Moshini’s words “The historical evolution of under graduate SWE in India and US is traced, indicating how it has developed in the US as a part of the professional stream, while in India it is neither there nor here, not accepted as a professional course, yet not rejected as it is considered convenient though not essential.”In India we have colleges offering this as a course but its substantial value is yet questionable as some start of their career at a good pace and most of them are left behind where they started. (Jacob, 1994)

Quoting  Prof.Ranade (Jacob, 1994), according to him “ the important and expanding role of voluntary organizations, as well as social activists, in developing country like ours and the need to extend a helping hand” by professionals needs to be recognised. He lays emphasis on the idea that if we should focus on providing professional help to the people who require it and not any other common man or people of other profession help in them but we should take a brave step to stand forward that way it will motivate the development of SWE. He also says that we should distinguish ourselves (professional social workers) from the social scientists, both their concerns are the same but ours is deeper than theirs. The five year plans of our country have also played a major role in shaping the SWE states Dr. D. Paul Choudhry as this will create drastic changes and impact on the curriculum of social work as the need of the hour is to shift from welfare perspective to developmental perspective. To make an exact curriculum in SWE is difficult as the boundaries are large and continuously changing. There are about 10 institutions India which provide UG education in Social work. The position and contents of these courses are continuously subjected to changes. (Jacob, 1994)

SWE includes field work, regular classes, research and updating according to the current status of the societal requirements. Field work has its own impact as it helps the students in developing the skills that would help them to get a strong career. The field work curriculum has undergone drastic changes as the areas are vast leading to specializations such as medical and psychiatry, Human resources, community development and so on like the institute in Bangalore , NIMHANS provides professional training and orientation in the medical and psychiatry specialization. (Jacob, 1994)

 

 

 

History

This can be seen from the perspective of USA and UK who provided much of a contribution to the development of SWE.

In USA it is divided into 5 stages or periods (Jha, 2009)

ü  The colonial period- 1620-1776

ü  Civil war and Industrial revolution (1776-1860)

ü  Industrialism- the Human side (1860- 1900)

ü  Social work seeking professional Characteristic (1900-1930)

ü  Highly professional discipline (1930)

In each of these periods different developments took place that led to the SWE highlighting the main points (Jha, 2009)

ü  Alm houses were established for assisting disabled and as a work house for able-bodied paupers which took care of health problems of its inhabitants (Bellevue and Philadelphia hospitals in USA trace their history with these homes)

ü  Associations were formed for the function of charitable aid or mutual benefit were also formed on the basis of national origins and church associations

ü  By 1877 the most important contribution to modern social work was the charity organization society movement that was organized in Buffalo whose result was establishment of Settlement houses through settlement house movement

ü  1909-National Association for advancement of the coloured people and in 1010 National urban league was established.

ü  The depression of 1929 was turning point in the relief policies of the US leading to federal emergency relief act 1933

Beginning of SWE in USA

All the above pushed the need for professionalism of social work and Mary E Richmond can be considered as the first professional social worker in the USA. In 1897 in the national Conference of charities and corrections in Toronto, she advocated the establishment of training school for professional social workers followed to this New York school of Philanthropy was established which is today known as Columbia School of Social work. In 1901 Chicago school of Civics and philanthropy was established and was soon affiliated with the University of Chicago. Hence this was the beginning where it was realised that we must integrate social work as a professional course and award a degree for the same. The third School of Social work was established in Simmons College of Social work in Boston which was pioneer in medical social work. Then in 1919 the American Association of Schools of Social work was established to facilitate the administration amongst the schools of social work. In 1952 the Council of social work education (CSWE) was established to accredit the SWE in USA (Jha, 2009)

 

 

In UK it is divided into 7 stages or periods (Jha, 2009)

ü  Primitive stage

ü  1200 A.D to 1500

ü  1501 to 1600

ü  1600 to 1834

ü  1835 to 1905

ü  1906 to 1944

ü  1948 onwards

In each of these periods different developments took place that led to the SWE highlighting the main points

ü  The Elizabethan Poor law, 1601divided poor into categories and provided them with the appropriate services by having a logical relief system

ü  The mid of 19^th century Charity Organization Society was established  leading to the idea of setting up voluntary organizations by adapting Community Organization and Casework methodologies for solving people’s problems.

ü  Then came the Settlement House Movement in 1867 which focused at educational and cultural development of the poor people

ü  In 1905 The poor law Commission recommended further deep developments and services of the categories of the poor which led to passing of the meals cat 1906, the education act 1908 , prevention of crime act 1908 ,the Children’s Act 1912 and so on

ü  Then came the Beverridge Report  based on which British has built its social insurance programmes (Jha, 2009)

Beginning of SWE in UK

In the year the education act was passed one of the main Universities recently completed 100 years in offering Social work had begun professional training for social and philanthropic work. The University of Birmingham was established in the year 1900. In 1918 JUCSS          (Joint Council for Social studies) was established whose aim was to coordinate the social studies departments across Britain. During 1920 there was a massive explosion of intake of social work professional across Britain which made the enrolment into professional training for social work even higher. World War 1 and 2 also made drastic changes in the demand for the course and at that they titled it training in Public and Social work. The demand for qualified social workers was on a rise which led to improvement in curriculum that focused on field work and research. Also in 1970 British Association of Social workers (BASW) and Center Council for education and training in Social work was established (CCTETSW) Through this  two professional awards were made available to social work students - the Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) and the Certificate in Social Services (CSS) for social care staff. Following to this they also offered their one year and two year courses at postgraduate diploma or Masters level and  a four year social work degree with for a period which provided two years of social work training after a two year programme in social sciences. The late 1960s and early 1970s was a period of global radical political action. GSCC (General Social care Council) replaced CCTETSW to regulate and oversee the Social work education and registration. April1st 2003 marked the most important year as it was the first time that professional social workers could register and work. (Jha, 2009)

Eighty-three universities offer social work courses and the Guardian’s University Guide 2013 league tables puts Brunel, Oxford Brookes and Leeds universities at the top. According to figures from Ucas, the universities' admission body, 5,866 students were accepted on to a full-time undergraduate course this year – a slight drop from 6,114 in 2011. There was also a fall in the number of students starting social work foundation courses – which is the equivalent of the first two years of an honours degree, from 1,021 last year, to 820 in 2012. (Burke, 2012)

In India it is divided into 5 stages: (Jacob, 1994)

ü  The era of community living

ü  Era of charity

ü  Era of secular reforms

ü  Era of religious reforms

ü  Era of professional training and organization

In each of these periods different developments took place that led to the SWE. Highlighting the main points

ü  The prevalence of Yajna, Havana and Dana in Ancient History of India brings to us the development of the concept of social work perspective form the society.

ü  Then there was the Charter Act of 1813 which promoted education and approved the work of Christian missionaries.

ü  Followed to all this there were great men and women who were struggling to change the current scenario of the society at that time. For ex: Raja Ram Mohan Roy fought to stop ill practices like Sati, Brahmo Samaj, Arya Smaj and so on were established

ü  There were many social reformers who came forward to fight for widow remarriage, eradication of Sati and other evil social existences of the society then through this there were lot of acts passed, Indian Missionaries opened to help the society for its better development.

ü  The theosophical society founded by Madame Blavtsky and Colonel Olcott in Madras began to play a major role in 1893 under the guidance of Mrs. Annie Besant who were defending Hindi rituals and rites. She established Central Hindi College at Benaras.

ü  In 1830 in Bombay Elphinstone Institute took interest in spread of education as a voluntary effort.

ü  In 1880 A.O. Hume suggested that they should have a common platform to analyse the social problems of India

ü  Then Gopal Krishna Gokhale took deep interest and established Servants of the Indian Society in 1905

ü  In 1917 Women’s Indian Association was established in Madras by Dr. Annie Besant and Mrs. Margaret Cousins.

ü  Then there also was the contributions of Mahatma Gandhi towards the upliftment of the society (Untouchability)

ü  All the above led to the establishment of social work as a professional carrier and there was the Social service league that was set up in Bombay without a systematic plan of curriculum, training , etc for the interested candidates (Jacob, 1994)

Beginning of SWE in India (Jha, 2009)

ü  In 1936 the need was addressed by Sir Dorabji tata, where his trustees and him established Sir Dorabji Tata graduate School of social work (today know as Tata Institute of Social sciences) Mr. Clifford Manshardt an American Missionary as the first Director of TIS who organised the SWE curriculum and methods which are now followed in all institutions of India

ü  Until 1947 this was the only school providing professional training in social work.

ü  After independence Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi and College of social service, Ahmadabad was established in 1947 followed by Delhi School of Social work in 1948 and department of Social work Lucknow University in 1949.

ü  In 1953 after the Constitution was framed the Central Social welfare Board was established to promote and strengthen the voluntary efforts in the field of social welfare.

ü  Then in 1960 The association of school of social work in India was established to act as a non official organization in the field of SWE

ü  More than 50 institutions were established before 1988 that provided Certificate course, bachelors’ degree, Masters Degree, diploma, PhD and so on. About 1/3^rd provide PhD courses to the students.

ü  All Institutions before 1967 wee providing 2 years of graduate courses only, it is since 1960’s that we are having UG courses. 

ü  In 1965 the first review committee on SWE under UGC and Union ministry of Education brought in a lot of suggestions to change the system of provision of the degree (UG).

ü  Then in 1980 second review committee on SWE under UGC and Union ministry of Education reviewed 10 UG programmes in Social work which stated that this program needs to be now provided as a professional undergraduate course and not as a minor subject. Nirmal Nikethan then began improving its Masters curriculum

At present there are Universities providing professional training specifically for strengthening the core skills of social workers but a lot more changes needs to be incorporated and the review committee’s suggestions must be implemented. UGC has provided a standard curriculum and a lot more which must be followed by all colleges and universities in India for promoting positive growth in SWE. (UGC)

 

The outlook on June 22^nd 2009 stated that the following are the top colleges providing Social work UG, PG and PhD courses

Rank	Name of Institute	City	Score (1000)
1	Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)	Mumbai	737.9
2	Delhi School of Social Work	Delhi	486.2
3	College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan	Mumbai	351.7
4	Xavier Institute of Labour Relations	Mumbai	275.9
5	Madras School of Social Work	Chennai	224.1
6	Institute of Rural Management (IRMA)	Anand	203.4
7	Dept of Social Work, Christ College	Bangalore	186.2
8	Dept of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia	Delhi	179.3
9	Dept of Social Work, Pune University	Pune	144.8
10	Dept of Sociology, Mumbai University	Mumbai	131.0
11	School of Social Work, Mangalore University	Mangalore	131.0
12	Dept of Social Work, Lucknow University	Lucknow	127.6
13	Dept of Social Work, Annamalai University	Chennai	120.7
14	Loyola College of Social Sciences	Thiruvananthapuram	110.3
15	IISWBM	Calcutta	103.4

(Out Look )

Conclusion

There are the global standards set up in regard to SWE by IASSW and IFSW which are: (Hungman, 2010)

1.     Schools purpose or mission statements

2.     Programme objective and outcomes

3.     Programme curricula including fieldwork

4.     Core curricula

5.     Professional staff

6.     Social work students( admission to retention to exams)

7.     Structure, administration, governance and resources

8.     Cultural and ethnic diversity and gender inclusiveness

9.     Social work values and ethical codes of conduct

This was a major step taken to improve the quality of SWE.It is more likely that Social work is yet a young social science subject which needs more of changes and updations. In India the perception of the word Social work is taken in general terms and hence there falls the lacunae alongside with the below points (Jacob, 1994)

 

Ø  Inadequate qualified staff, insufficient teaching hours, lack of interest from students towards research

Ø  The curricula in the ISSW is a blind copy of the American Social work syllabi

Ø  The pattern of field work is generic and vary from institute to institute

Ø  Field work agencies have their own concept of field work curricula and do not understand that uniformity needs to be maintained.

Ø  SWE should be considered as a part of international social work.

Ø  Implementation of the existing policies and suggestions of Social work associations and Boards.

Ø  Enrolment ratio ann awareness of the course must be increased

Many countries like UK (Davis, 2008) celebrated the platinum jubilee of SWE in India, yet the scenario has not changed much since the committee review. A commonality has to be brought in which will reflect the current scenario of social work but at the same time a lot more is happening in colleges offering the courses as mentioned above who are training social work professionals in accordance to the need of the society.

The above essay traced the simultaneous beginning of SWE in USA, UK and India as USA and UK have been great contributors to the development of SWE along with Vietnam, Canada, China and other countries as well.

References

Burke, C. (2012, October 1). Retrieved from www.theguardian.com: http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2012/oct/01/uk-universities-social-work-education

Davis, A. (2008). Retrieved from www.birmingham.ac.uk: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/IASS/100-years-of-social-work.pdf

Hungman, R. (2010). International Perspectives on Social Work Education and Training . In R. Hungman, Understanding International Social work (pp. 115-120). China: Palgrav Macmillam.

Jacob, K. K. (1994). Five Decades of Social work educationin India. In K. K. Jacob, Social work education in India (pp. 1-10). Delhi and Udaipur: Himanshu Publications .

Jha, J. K. (2009). History of Social work. In J. K. Jha, An Introduction to Social work (pp. 16-33 & 182-190). New Delhi and Lucknow: Anmol Publications and Instituition for Sustainable development .

Out Look . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.outlookindia.com/

Reamer, F. G. (1994). The evolution of Social work Knowledge. Newyork: Columbia University Press.

Should UK universities take social work education more seriously? (2014, March 26). Retrieved from 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies: http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2012/oct/01/uk-universities-social-work-education

Singh, S., & S.P., S. (2003). Social work education in next Millenium . In S. Singh, & S. S.P., Social work education in India (pp. 139-143). Lucknow: New Royal Book Co.

UGC. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ugc.ac.in/page/Model- Curriculum.aspx

 

History of Higher Education in Social Work (Reworked) - Gamre Chima R Marak, PhD Scholar

Introduction

 

An assessment of social work education must begin with a look that there have been sweeping changes that has taken place in the national as well as the international level.

Several individuals have shared their valuable thoughts into the emergence of Social Work as a discipline for education:

Dr Thomas identified some of the emerging fields that social work educators have to concentrate. The identified areas are: gerontology, environment, peace studies, counseling, tribal exploitation, etc. He is of the opinion that is social workers should concentrate on such areas of concern so as not to become irrelevant. In order to develop the social work education, the importance of communication skills is felt and the quality of the atmosphere of the training institutions, which according to Dr Thomas determines the quality of the final product (Jacob, 1994).

Dr D. Paul Chowdhry calls for a curriculum building in social work education, as it is a very difficult task. He adds that the curriculum constructed should be dynamic in nature, and should be a continuous and joint exercise of the academicians, administrators and practitioners and other experts in the field (Jacob, 1994).

Prof. S. B Saxena touches upon important aspects of social work education, and stresses on how each can be strengthened by having a built-in system of feedback. There is a need to sharpen research tools so as to identify the emerging needs and new concerns. Traditionally, the honored method of instruction was ‘blackboard and chalk’. With the exceptional expansion of communication technology, it will be more effective to use the modern technology in social work education. Until 1994, there were ten institutions in India which was providing undergraduate education in Social Work (Jacob, 1994).

Dr. H. Y. Siddique talks on the important models of Social Work, such as “Systems Approach”, “Social Change Approach” and “Neighborhood development” and so on, which enables us to get a clear message as to the extent of the contribution that Social Work provides for the enrichment of the society (Jacob, 1994).

Dr. I. A. Shariff is of the view that great leap has been made by Psychiatric Social Work in India, with the help of NIMHANS, Bangalore. NIMHANS has been providing M.Phil, training programs and research work in Psychiatric Social Work (Jacob, 1994).

 

 

 

History of Social Work

It is being said that ‘Social Work’ is an extension of the earlier types of activities in the last centuries. Even though, Social Work did not seem to exist before the 1860s, certain periods in the history played a role in developing Social Work. The historical development can be divided into the following stages:

        i.            The Colonial Period (1620-1776)

      ii.            Civil War and Industrial Revolution (1776-1860)

    iii.            Industrialism-The Human Side (1860-1900)

    iv.            Social Work seeking professional characteristics (1900-1930)

      v.            Highly Professionalized Discipline (1930 onwards)

 

In the USA, the existence of Social Welfare Services was present since the establishment of the original thirteen colonies on the eastern sea board in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Elizabethan Poor Law existed as the basic pattern for extending financial assistance for the people in need (Jha, 2009).

 

Beginning of Social Work Education

The first professional Social Worker in United States of America was Mary E. Richmond. She was also the treasurer of Baltimore Charity Organisation Society and later became a practitioner, teacher and a theoretician. In the National Conference of Charities and Corrections in 1897 in Toronto, she advocated towards the establishment of a training school for professional social workers. The Charity Organisation Society of New York started the training course for perspective Social Workers in 1898. A little later, New York School of Philanthropy was created, which is known today as Columbia University School of Social Work (Jha, 2009).

The Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy was established in 1901, which late on became affiliated to the University of Chicago. It was then realized that education for Social Work should be part of the general University education. Simmons College in Boston was the third School of Social Work to be established. This school in Boston was the pioneer school to develop medical social work (Jha, 2009) (Hungman, 2010).

In 1919, the American Association of Schools of Social Work was founded. Its purpose was to facilitate the communication among the other schools of social work.

In 1867, Edward Edison thought that the distribution of alms or relief did not serve as a solution of the problem. University settlement had three objectives:

        i.            Education and Cultural Development of the poor.

      ii.            Provide information to the students and other inmates of the settle house regarding the poor for the improvement of their conditions for the social reform.

    iii.            To develop consciousness towards social and health problems and the need for enacting legislation.

 

In 1928, the International Association of Schools of Social Work was founded at the International Conference of Social Work in Paris. The initial number of schools of social work was 51. The association comprised of member schools from different parts of the world (Hungman, 2010).

According to the decision of the Association of Schools of Social Work, it was firmly established that the American tradition of organizing social work education on the graduate level would begin. With the emergence of graduate education in Social work in the United States of America as the only level of professional social work, the existence of the undergraduate programs did not disappear. It continued to meet the demands of the state departments of public welfare. In 1942, the institution organized their courses under the name National Associations of Schools of Social Administration. The Association was able to promote the undergraduate level of social work courses in various parts of United States (Hungman, 2010).

The event then followed several years of discussion between the associations so as to find a basis for agreement with regard to the development and accreditation of the undergraduate education in social work. Thus, leading to the formation of National Council of Social Work Education in 1946. It came to their realization that there was a need for University Education in Social Work, since it represented the progression of social work education from the undergraduate to the graduate years. Study of Social Work in the undergraduate level represented the first stage of preparation for social work; the first year of graduate year represented the second stage; whereas the second year of the graduate year represented the third stage which was necessary for the professional practice. The Post-graduate studies aimed at preparing for the professional leadership in administration, research and teaching, this represented the fourth stage. These stages came to be considered fundamental to any curriculum of social work education (Hungman, 2010).

 

History of Social Work Education in India

The development of Social Work in India can be presented according to the historical analysis:

        i.            Era of Community Living

      ii.            Era of Charity

    iii.            Era of Secular Reforms

    iv.            Era of Religious Reforms

      v.            Era of Professional Training and Organisation

The organization of formal training for Social Workers started since the nineteen twenties by Social Service League, Bombay (Jacob, 1994).

In the history of Social Work in India, 1936 marks a turning point as the first school of Social Work was started in Bombay under the advice of Dr. Clifford Manshardt of the American Marathi Mission. The school’s name was Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work, now known as Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The pattern of the school was based on the pattern of Schools of Social Work in the United States of America. It was the only institution of its kind for eleven years (Jha, 2009).

This was the only institution providing professional Social Work till 1947. After Independence, several schools came up – In 1947, Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, and College of Social Service, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad was established. Delhi School of Social Work in was established in 1948 and Department of Social Work, Lucknow University in 1949. The Gujarat Vidyapith was founded by Mahatma Gandhi.

The most prominent feature of the Social Work education in India has been the two year training program at the graduate level. In accordance with the international survey on training facilities in social work of 1950, it was noted that most of the countries in the world had only the undergraduate level of social work and not the graduate level, the graduate level education was confined to highly industrialized and economically well developed countries (Jha, 2009).

From the year 1955, there was a rapid expansion of welfare services and its requirement for trained social work personnel. Many more centers opened for Social Work education. The number of centers was 13 in 1960, grew to 34 in 1978 and to 50 in 1988. All the institutions that were set up before 1967 offered two year professional training in Social Work only on the graduate level. The undergraduate level was started only during the later part of 1960s (Jha, 2009).

Table: No. of students awarded Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD Degree in Social Work from 1950 to 1975 in India.

Degree	Boys	Girls	Total
Bachelor’s Degree	1252	577	1829
Master’s Degree	6437	2121	8558
PhD Degree	65	33	98
Total	7754	2731	10485

 

Different patterns of bachelor’s courses in social work developed in India. Origin of the first pattern was in 1955, when the departments of Sociology and Social Work in Lucknow University introduced social work as an optional subject in Bachelor’s program. Initially, it was not aimed at providing a professional course but to attract students for its Master’s Program in Social Work, which in turn helped in raising the quality and standard of its graduate teaching (Jacob, 1994).

After having sufficient experience in conducting graduate program in social work, Nirmala Niketan had also started the under-graduate program in social work. It was in a better position to provide the link between the two levels of program, which also resulted in the revision and improvement of its Master’s curriculum. The country saw that the expansion of the doctoral programs in social work was much faster than the bachelor’s program. There were only 5 doctoral programs in social work in 1965, which went up to 11 in 1980 (Jha, 2009).

In India, the Associations of Schools of Social Work was established in 1960, so as to perform as a non-official organization in the field of social work education. Some of the concerns of the Association are:

        i.            Laying down and maintaining proper standards in professional social work education and promoting the profession on scientific lines.

      ii.            Providing opportunity for faculty members to meet and exchange their ideas.

    iii.            Arranging seminar and refresher courses for faculty members.

    iv.            Encouraging and coordinating researches and promoting publication of literature on different subjects relating to social work.

      v.            Disseminating information with regard to social work education.

    vi.            Working as a national forum on all matters concerning social work education.

 

In India, in the early twentieth century, the phenomenon that appeared was formal training in social work which comprised of a course of lectures and supervised fieldwork. In the wake of nineteenth century, there was the growth of adhoc training courses. The first set of training in social work education was given by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay. The schools of Social Work which were established earlier had the expertise and the resources to develop social work education in the under-graduate level and integrate it with the graduate level, but no such initiative was adopted by them. But Rural Institutes of Vishva Bharati and Jamia Millia Islamia converted their Diploma in Rural Services to Bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 1967 (Jha, 2009).

In 1963, the first Review Committee of the Association of the Schools of Social Work in India organized a National Seminar in Bangalore. The seminar was conducted so as to discuss the questions on organizing social work education in the under-graduate level.

In the second Review Committee, it was noted that as the graduate social work education started in India following the American pattern, the Bachelor’s of Social Work program also took inspiration from the American pattern. The American model aimed at:

        i.            Providing the students of liberal education knowledge of social work, which may be useful for the effective carrying out of non-social work jobs.

      ii.            Training students for jobs with social work functions at the intermediate or field levels.

    iii.            Preparing students for graduate education in social work.

Till 2009, the number of Social Work training institution was 41. Bachelor’s degree was still being provided by some, Certificate courses in Social Work, Post-graduate diploma and most of them were conducting courses which were leading to Master’s degree in Social Work. And about one third of them were providing PhD courses. And two of the institutions were providing the highest research degree of D. Litt in Social Work (Jha, 2009).

 

Conclusion

It is seen that social work existed since earlier time. Although, its recognition as a profession and as a discipline in education came to be recognized much later. After comparing and contrasting the evolution of undergraduate education in Social Work in U.S.A and India, it is pointed out that the undergraduate program in Social Work developed well in the U.S.A. In India, most institutions that had initially started with an undergraduate program, but eventually developed post-graduate programs too. But rarely, institutions that began with a post-graduate program started an under-graduate program (Singh & Srivastava, 2003).

Social Work has come to its present form because of the coming together of like minded people and their ideas. Many individuals and organizations have contributed greatly to bring about social work to its current state. Social Work has to take its stand in the society. It is looked upon social work education to produce efficient social workers since education is not merely a preparation for career but preparation for life. Through higher education there is a need to improve the quality of social work as a profession and as a discipline in Universities, so as to meet the requisite capacity to face the global problems and the need to make a distinct contribution in the society.

 

References

Hungman, R. (2010). Understanding International Social Work - A Critical Analysis. China: Palgrov Macmillan.

Jacob, K. K. (1994). Social Work in India: Retrospect and Prospect. New Delhi: Himanshu Publications.

Jha, J. K. (2009). An Introduction to Social Work. New Delhi: Anmol Publications.

Singh, S., & Srivastava, S. P. (2003). Social Work Education in India: Challenges and Opportunities. Lucknow: New Royal Book Co.

 

 

 

 

Growth, Evolution and Contemporary Perspectives of the Science of Economics with special Reference to Indian History of Economic Thought

By

Joshy K. J

PhD Scholar in Economics

Reg.No. 1341801

Christ University

Bangalore- 29.

 

Economics is a social science that deals with the economic activities of mankind. In other words, it is a social science of human wants and their satisfaction. It is social as it deals with society and human behaviour. It studies the production, distribution, consumption and exchange of goods and services. It is a science as it qualifies the important features of any scientific disciplines- it contains a systematic body of knowledge; it has numerous laws, models and theories with universal applicability; these laws can be experimented according to real life situations. The origin of the term economics is from a Greek word ‘oikonomia’, meaning ‘household management’. Thus the science of economics is as old as humanity. Economic thought dates from earlier Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, Persian and Arab civilizations. (D.K.Singh, 2012). Therefore, the subject matter and coverage of economic science has been evolved tremendously through different schools of economic thought. Great economists and thinkers contributed immensely to the growth of the subject into its present form. A school of thought can be understood as a group of people who share common beliefs or opinions or outlook about a particular discipline or philosophy.

The science of economics has been evolved through the philosophy and contributions of various thinkers and economists of different time periods. They have added their perspectives to the existing body of knowledge which further widened the horizons of the discipline. This essay is an attempt to describe prominent schools of thought in economics that contributed to the development and evolution of economics discipline over a period of several hundred years. Also this essay tries to familiarize the most significant figures pertaining to different schools of thought along with their contributions.

Classical School

Modern economic theory is customarily said to have begun with Adam Smith (1723-1790), who is widely considered to be the father of modern economics. He was influenced by a wide range of economic philosophers, going all the way back to the ancient Greek philosophers. For instance, the ideas and works of Aristotle had a profound impact on the thinking of Thomas Aquinas, who subsequently influenced the scholastic thinking to a great extent. (D.K.Singh, 2012).

It is true to say that the feudal economy rose from the remains of the slave economy of the Roman empire. There were some forerunners of classical political economy. The name of William Petty is very relevant in this context, who made an important innovation concerning the explanation of value. On the one hand, he completely abandoned the subjective theory of value and on the other he introduced the concept of natural value. It means the prices would tend to adjust to the natural value through small oscillations, though the mechanism of this convergence was not clarified. Another scholar John Locke was influenced by Petty who attempted to justify private property by making use of the labour theory of value. Locke’s basic idea was that individual liberty implied the right to control one’s own labour. (Zamagni, An outline of the history of economic thought, Second Edition, 2006). Two major groups, popularly called as ‘mercantilists’ and physiocrats influenced the development of the subject considerably. Both were associated with the rise of economic nationalism and modern capitalism in Europe. Mercantilism was an economic doctrine flourished from the 16^th to 18^th century which advocated that a nation’s wealth depended on its accumulation of gold and silver. If a nation doesn’t have the access of extracting them, then they should export goods and services in order to obtain them. They advocated for the need of importing cheap raw materials for making manufacturing goods for the purpose of exports and imposing protective tariffs on foreign goods and prohibiting manufacturing in colonies. Physiocrats, a group of 18^th century French thinkers developed the idea of circular flow of income and output in an economy. A significant aspect of Physiocrats’ ideology was that they considered agriculture as the source of all forms of wealth since agricultural production generates a clear surplus over the cost. The 18^th century saw important pre conditions for the industrial revolution in the form of the spread of capitalism in the country side, increase in agricultural productivity, technical innovations etc. (D.K.Singh, 2012).

 Classical school is the oldest school of economic thinking. Economists like Adam Smith, David Ricardo, J.S.Mill, J.B.Say, Thomas Robert Malthus etc have played important roles in this connection. Classical economists focus on the tendency of markets to move towards equilibrium position. They believed in the full employment equilibrium. It also focuses on objective theories of value.  Adam Smith who is widely considered as the father of modern economics published his famous book, ‘An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations’ in 1776. According to him, it is the division of labour that triggers growth process and capital accumulation that drives it. He was successful in convincing the invisible hand theorem. That is price mechanism is the driving force of the economy. The concept value was explained in the premise of scarcity and cost of production. In connection with this, in the later period, Marxian philosophy focused on the labor theory of value and Karl Marx considered it to be the exploitation of labor by capital. He introduced the term surplus value to explain his labour theory of value. (D.K.Singh, 2012). (It is important to note that the Marxian School directly descends from the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels which focused on labour theory of value and the exploitation of labour class by the capitalists. Therefore, this school handles the labor theory of value as a method for measuring the degree to which labor is exploited in a capitalist society, rather than simply a method for calculating price. Classical economists believed in the inherent capacity of an economy and they considered that the best way to achieve allocative efficiency is to leave the economy free without any government intervention. This was the basis of the so called laissez faire capitalism which became the foundation of their theoretical frameworks. While Adam Smith emphasised on the production and wealth creation, David Ricardo focused on the distribution of income among different factor owners. J.B.Say put forward the famous proposition that ‘supply creates its own demand’. Classical economists immensely contributed to the fields of economic growth and international trade. Thomas Robert Malthus used the idea of diminishing returns to explain low living standards. He also questioned the automatic market mechanism to ensure full employment. (D.K.Singh, 2012). In fact the starting point of international trade theories, the concepts of absolute advantage and comparative advantage were given by Adam Smith and David Ricardo respectively. (Mankiw, Principles of macroeconomics, Fourth Edition, 2011). J.S.Mill parted company with the mainstream classical economics due to the distinct difference between the market’s two roles; in allocating the resources and distributing the income. According to him the market might be efficient in allocating the resources but not in distributing income. (D.K.Singh, 2012). Classical economists believed that money plays only a neutral role in the economy in influencing the variables. Changes in money supply affects only the price level, so that only the nominal variables are changed; the real variables remain unchanged as they are affected only in the long run, because of changes in real factors like capital stock, labour force, efficiency of labour, technology etc. (Mankiw, 2012).

It is widely recognised that the Classical period lasted until 1870.

Neoclassical School

A body of theory later termed ‘neoclassical economics’ or ‘marginalism’ formed from about 1870 to 1910. The term economics was popularized by such economists as Marshall to substitute the earlier broader term political economy. The neoclassicals followed the footsteps of Classical economists. (D.K.Singh, 2012). The prominent economists of neoclassical school of thought are Alfred Marshall, Lionel Robbins, A.C.Pigou, William Jevons, Leon Walras, Clark, Pareto, Mrs.Joan Robinson etc. All of them have contributed immensely to the growth of economics in their own unique ways. Neoclassical economics synthesized supply and demand as joint determinants of price and quantity in market equilibrium, affecting both the resource allocation and income distribution. They evolved scientific methods with assumptions and hypotheses and attempted to derive general rules related to the behavior of consumers and firms. According to them the economics agents are rational, consumers try to maximize utility and producers try to maximize profits. Alfred Marshall defined economics as the science of material welfare. According to him wealth is only a means to achieve the ultimate objective of material welfare. Many economists following this school, consider utility concept of Marshall as his greatest contribution to the subject economics. A.C.Pigou studied the important aspects of wage structure. (H.L.Ahuja, 2012). The importance of scarcity and the problem of choice as pointed out by Robbins paved the way for thinking in new lines. Marginal productivity theory given by Clark, the quantity theory of money by Irving Fisher, Pareto optimality conditions, Walrasian general equilibrium model etc were some milestones of neoclassical school of thought. (H.L.Ahuja, 2012). Mrs. Joan Robinson’s contributions in the field of growth models have significant impact on economics of growth in the later periods.

Keynesian School and the Emergence of Macroeconomics

Before the so called ‘Keynesian revolution’ which led to the development of a separate branch of study in macroeconomics, it was existed under the name monetary theory. John Meynard Keynes has rewritten the history of economics and brought revolutionary changes in the field of economics. His teachers, including Alfred Marshall from the neoclassical school, taught the principles based on full employment, Say’s law of markets and Laissez faire capitalism. But he challenged all of them and proved that what they believed was not right. The Great Depression (1929-33) was a period of great turmoil in Europe and America. Their economies were shattered and unemployment mounted to unprecedented levels. Several economists attempted to analyse the scenario and came up with theories and solutions. Keynes, in his famous book, A General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was published in 1936, in which he had analysed the Great Depression of 1930s in a very convincing way. According to him the Great Depression was caused by the fall in aggregate demand which he referred to as effective demand. (H.L.Ahuja, 2012). As a result of fall in aggregate demand recessionary trend appears which culminated in a depression. Keynes refute the Classical economists’ viewpoints including full employment theory, monetary neutrality, Say’s law, saving investment equality and so on. According to him, during recession, monetary policy would be highly unsuccessful because the increase in money supply would be trapped in the economy as the interest rate is low. Keynes called it as liquidity trap in his theory of liquidity preference. Keynes advocated for massive Government intervention in reviving aggregate demand in the economy. Keynes emphasized the role of Government spending and private investment in determining the level of income and employment in the economy. For him, full employment equilibrium is only an ideal situation, but not common as Classicals believed. It can also be at below or above full employment levels. He considered that the major cause of inflation is the increase in aggregate demand above the full employment level, aggregate supply remaining constant. (D.N.Dwivedi, 2005). He has given the famous quote, ‘In the long run we all are dead’. His analyses are mostly based on short term in mind.

The success of Keynesian policy framework helped almost all economies to rebuild the economies after such a disastrous depression period. It led to the development of a separate branch of economics that is the so called macroeconomics. The Keynesian legacy was continued by his followers extending his principles to other areas of study. Economists like Hansen and Samuelson studied the application of Keynesian principles in different aspects. (Dornbusch, 2010). Harrod and Domar extended the Keynesian growth models into the long run development aspects of developed economies. (H.L.Ahuja, 2012). For many years it was widely believed that Keynesian solutions are the ultimate end of it which can resolve all the problems of modern economies. In 1970s an unprecedented phenomenon appeared in advanced economies, the existence of inflationary trend along with mounting unemployment. It is referred to as stagflation, since inflation is present when the growth is stagnant. Till that time it was believed that during high inflation unemployment tends to be low because of better productivity and higher profitability. Besides, Keynesian policy suggestions didn’t seem to be effective in this context and they were proved to bring more acute negative consequences. For instance, if Government spends more to curtail unemployment, inflation would increase further and the situation would be worse. Thus economics has grown much beyond Keynesian School of thought giving room for Post Keynesian Schools of economic thinking. (D.N.Dwivedi, 2005).

Monetarism and Chicago School of Economics

The old monetarists like Irving Fisher, Alfred Marshall, A.C.Pigou etc have contributed significantly to the development of modern monetary theories. All of them contributed to the age old quantity theory of money which stated that money supply is the sole variable affecting the price level. Any change in the money supply has a direct and proportionate relationship with price level. Fisher gave the famous equation of exchange which says, MV=PT. The same idea had been conveyed by the Cambridge economists Pigou and Marshall through the equation Md=kPY. (H.L.Ahuja, 2012).

The most important figure among modern monetarists is Milton Friedman of Chicago University. Other important names in USA include Anna Schwartz, Karl Brunner and Allan Meltzer. The prominent monetarists outside USA include David Laidler, Michael Parkin and Allan Walters. Modern monetarists explain not only the changes in general price level but also changes in output and employment. According to monetarists money supply is the prime determinant of nominal GDP in the short run and general price level in the long run. The output or real income is determined in the long run by the real factors like stock of capital, the level of technology, the propensity to save, natural resources, changes in human resources etc. However, inflation cannot occur without a more rapid increase in the quantity of money supply rather than an increase in output level. Monetarists refuted Keynesians argument that monetary policy is less effective in comparison with fiscal policies. According to them monetary policy should be conducted in a manner that money supply should grow at a constant rate. Money supply growth should be in line with economic growth targets. They believed in the inherent stability of the private sector and the cyclical fluctuations in the economy are mainly due to bad policies of the government. It is interesting to see that in monetarists’ view point the severity of Great Depression (1929-33) was mainly due to the failure of Federal Reserve in preventing bank failures and the consequent reduction in money supply across the world. If a country suffers from inflationary pressures, it is mainly due to rapid expansion of money supply at a higher rate than the level of output. (D.N.Dwivedi, 2005).

Supply side Economics

The supply side economics was emerged as an alternative to Keynesian demand management policies which were proved unsuccessful during the stagflation period. The supply side economists emphasized the role of managing the aggregate supply instead of aggregate demand. According to them stagflation is mainly caused due to leftward shift in aggregate supply curve cost push factors which increases the price level and curtails the output level. The problem can be resolved if we can raise the level of aggregate supply so that the aggregate supply curve would be shifted back to the previous level. (D.N.Dwivedi, 2005). Arthur Laffer has given the most important contributions in this field through drawing a connection between low marginal tax rates and high tax revenue. (H.L.Ahuja, 2012). The provisions of supply side economists include deregulation and delicensing, reduction of marginal tax rates and its positive effects on output, saving, investment and tax revenue, liberalization policies etc. It is better known to some people as ‘Reagonomics’, since US president Ronald Reagon popularized greater tax cuts to boost the economy.

New classical Economics

New classical macroeconomics dates from the 1970s. It uses the neoclassical microeconomic foundations for macroeconomic analysis. The original idea of rational expectations was developed by John.F.Muth, but it was popularized by Robert Lucas. It is an attempt to explain macroeconomic problems and issues using micro-economic concepts like rational behaviour, and rational expectations. In Friedman’s theory when aggregate demand increases, in the short run general price level increases, which induce firms to expand output and employment. In this nominal wages lag behind the changes in the general price level. (Mankiw, Principles of macroeconomics, Fourth Edition, 2011). According to Robert Lucas, a prominent figure associated with New Classical School, there is no reduction in unemployment rate since the increase in price level is correctly anticipated and incorporated by the workers and business firms into the wages. It is only the price level that rises, leaving the real output and unemployment unchanged. (H.L.Ahuja, 2012). The other leading economists who have worked immensely in this field are Thomas Sargent, Neil Wallace and Edward Prescott.

Contribution of Indian Economists and Philosophers to Modern Economics

The contribution of Indian economists and philosophers to the growth of mainstream economics is really immense. Indian Economic Association is the oldest and largest association of economists from all walks of life. It is the land with a great ancient civilization and a glorious past. Many of the Indian voices are well echoed in the international economic forums in modern days. The colonial rule over two centuries had a very strong impact on the philosophy of economics in India. It has been evolved through different phases, with the ideas of eminent persons of various time periods.

It is worth mentioning that recent researches indicate that the Indian scholar-philosopher Chanakya who was also called as Kautilya (340 BC-293 BC) as the forerunner of modern economics. He had written extensively on this subject, particularly on political economy. His great work, the Arthashastra (meaning the science of wealth) gave birth to many basic concepts in economics including opportunity cost, the demand-supply mechanism, public goods, diminishing returns, producer surplus, asymmetric information, short run and long run and so on. As the advisor to the Maurya emperor of ancient India, he spoke about the source, prerequisites and major obstacles of economic progress. He also gave emphasis on the role of tax incentives in encouraging growth. However it is quite unfortunate that modern economics doesn’t seem to have any indebtedness to Chanakya. (D.K.Singh, 2012).

The subject of poverty and welfare has dominated the economic scene in India during the last two centuries. An early 19^th century economic thinker and social reformer, Ram Mohan Ray (1772-1833) believed that the laissez faire policy would not help in improving the economic condition in India because of the abject poverty throughout the country. He firmly believed that the policy would only be beneficial to U.K. He was the first one to attack the British policy for the drain of wealth which became instrumental for the poverty of the nation. Dadabhai Naoroji (1848-1917) also rejected the free trade policy of Classical school and advocated protection policy for Indian goods and started ‘Swadeshi’ movement for popularizing Indian goods. He first raised the question of ‘drain of wealth’ in 1867 which became the basic theory of analysis of poverty by a well known economist of 19^th century, M.G Ranade (1842-1901). His analysis proved that about one-third of the national income of the country was being drained annually by the Britishers. (Sen, 2003).

Gandhian philosophy in 20^th century connected economics with social justice. He argued for gram swaraj (independence of rural economy). According to him the strengthening the rural economy should be the base of India’s growth strategy. Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India believed that industrialization was a key factor in enhancing the level of development. He initiated five year plans, followed a socialistic pattern of society giving adequate representation to private and public sectors. (V.K.R.V.Rao, 2008). To add to India’s growth strategies, the greatest revolution in terms of policy changes would be the introduction of new economic policies in 1991 under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, the then Finance Minister of the country. It has opened the doors of the economy not only to the flow of goods and services but capital and technology as well. It has earmarked a new era in the history of Indian economy by taking a large leap from protectionism to competitiveness.

Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate in economics in 1998, is perhaps the most popular face among economists at the beginning of the new millennium. He is the first economist who has won this great honour not only from India or Asia, but also from the entire third world. Sen developed the capability approach which talks about a human being’s ability of functioning in different capacities. Sen defines poverty in terms of capability failures. He has broadened the concept of entitlement which recognizes that the market can ensure entitlement provided, all people can get work and a reasonable wage. (Sen, 2003). There are many eminent economists in India whose contributions provide the country with new directions of growth. The names of Jagdish Bhagawati, Kaushik Basu, Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Raguram Rajan etc. are worth mentioning here. In fact the changes happening in the economic front are clear signs of the changing philosophy of the science of economics.

At present, most of the Indian universities and colleges offer courses at undergraduate and masters’ levels with all possible specializations in economics. But this was not the case till recently. It was mainly because of two different reasons; one, in India the science of economics has evolved into its present form only in the last century. Second, since the country was under the British Raj till 1947, the few universities functioning in the country, were following a system which are in their crude forms. For instance, Bombay University calendar during 1869-70 shows that it was offering only one subject related to economics as part of the BA course. Political economy paper was offered as an elective paper because the science of economics was in the initial stages of its evolution. (University, 1869). The Indian Economics department was established in the Madras University in 1912. (Madras). St. Agnes college was established in 1921 and economics was one of the subjects offered in all combinations in the humanities stream. The credit to start mathematical economics for the first time goes to this college.

Conclusion

In a closer analysis we can see that the growth and evolution of the subject economics happened systematically over a long period through additions and deletions by numerous economists, philosophers and policy makers. It is very important to note that economics is still an evolving subject as it deals with society and human behavior. It is the reason by which the domains of economics have been extended to new horizons. Interdisciplinary researches have been increasingly important in modern days. It also contributes to new thinking and new ways of finding solutions to existing problems. The issues pertaining to developing world are also widely addressed. The globalization and market integration moves have made it important to address issues globally rather than looking at issues at a micro level. The science of economics is still awaiting revolutionary changes that suit the current needs of the economies. It is nothing but the growth of the discipline under consideration.

References

N. Gregory Mankiw. (2012). Macroeconomics, 8^th  Edition, Worth Publishers.

D.K.Singh. (2012). History of Economic Thoughts, ABD Publishers, New Delhi.

H.L.Ahuja. (2012). Macroeconomics:Theory and Policy, 18^th Revised Edition, Sultan Chand Publishers.

M. De Vroey & P. Malgrange. (2011). The history of macroeconomics from Keynes’s     general theory to the present, Discussion paper 2011-28, ISSN 1379-244X D/2011/3082/028,  IRES, University of Louvaine.

N. Gregory Mankiw. (2011). Principles of macroeconomics, Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning India Private Limited, New Delhi.

Dornbusch, Fischer & Startz. (2010). Macroeconomics, 11^th  Edition, Tata Mc Graw Hill.

V.K.R.V.Rao (2008). Nehru’s Economic Philosophy, Mainstream, Vol.XLVI, No. 48

David Laidler. (2005). Keynes and the birth of modern macroeconomics, RBC Financial Group,  Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI) Working Paper Series, Number 2005-2.

Ernesto Screpanti & Stefano Zamagni. (2006). An outline of the history of economic thought, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, New York.

Ajit Kumar Sinha & Raj Kumar Sen. (2003). Economics of Amartya Sen, Edited Book, Deep & Deep Publications, New Delhi.

Dwivedi. D. N. (2005). Macroeconomics: Theory and Policy. Mc Graw Hill, New Delhi.

The Development of Commerce Discipline in India

Josephine Geetha

Commerce

History of Commerce Discipline

The first Commerce school was established in Chennai in 1886 by Trustees of Pachiyappa’s Charities. Commerce classes started in the Presidency College, Kolkata in 1903.The Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics was established in 1913 as the first institution for higher education in Commerce. Madras became a pioneer state where it started in 1886. In post-Independence period, Commerce education has emerged as one of the most potential pursuits in the wake of industrialization, economic development and techno-managerial revolution. Commerce has grown from a subject to a full -fledged faculty in most of the universities and had acquired a pride of place amongst different academic disciplines.   The Government of Madras laid the foundation of commerce education by setting-up commercial institute in Madras. Two other institutions were established during the next ten years (by 1896). One was set-up at Calicut and the other in the state of Kerala.

In the beginning of this century Calcutta Presidency College also introduced the teaching of commerce (1903). By about that time it was also introduced in Delhi. One more commercial institution was started in Bombay in 1912. At the graduate level the commerce education was introduced in 1913 in Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Bombay.

In 1920's (1921-22) the first Fiscal Commission was set-up and this commission made certain important recommendations In the light of these recommendations some major improvements were visible in various industrial fields especially in the field of iron and steel industry, sugar industry, tea industry, cotton industry and jute industry.

A very rapid growth of commercial educational institutions was observed during 1920-40. The Indian Institute of Bankers was established in 1926, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India was established in 1934. Later on in 1944, Institute of Works and Cost Accountants of India was established. In 1955, the Federation of Insurance Institutes was established.


To cope with the increasing demand for the trained people to transact commercial and governmental jobs, it became essential to introduce the commerce education at school level.

To start with the teaching of short-hand and typing was introduced in Government schools and aided schools and afterwards the teaching of commerce was introduced in such schools. Now the commerce education has been included in the school curriculum.

In the new scheme of education (I.C. 10+2+3 pattern of education) sufficient attention has been paid to commerce education in Indian schools.



Recent Developments in the Commerce Discipline in India

India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world, and has been witnessing healthy growth in its number of institutions and enrollment in the last few decades.

Indian School of Business (ISB) Established in 2001, ISB is a not-for-profit, independent management institution .It is ranked among the top 20 global business schools in the 2012 Annual MBA Rankings of the Financial Times in London.
It offers postgraduate, fellowship, post-doctoral and executive education programmesin management.ISB’s flagship programme, PGPM, had 770 student in 2012. Highlights ISB leads in terms of the author count of Indian faculty in the Financial Times’ list of top 40 management journals for the period 1990–2009.
ISB: 11 IIM Calcutta: 10 IIM Bangalore: 9IIT-Delhi: 5XLRI: 4 has achieved this in a relatively short period of time.



References:


Google search  - History of Commerce in India 

Higher Education in India: Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012–2017) and beyond FICCI Higher Education Summit 2012