Critical Iceberg Model
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Year
2022-Present
Background
The social work profession has unique opportunities and tensions associated with the multitude of research and assessment measures available through electronic databases, research clearinghouses, and internet searches.
Yet to date, our profession lacks a tool to train social work students in how to critically examine the measures we use. In response, I worked with a colleague to create the Critical Iceberg Model as a theoretically and pedagogically based teaching strategy grounded in social work values of critical inquiry, social justice, decolonization, and a strengths-based perspective.
The model is designed for social work educators working with graduate students (Master of Social Work [MSW] and doctoral students) to help students think more critically about the research and assessment measures used in social work clinical practice and research.
Overview
-
A teaching tool to support and anchor student critical thinking​​
​​
-
Uses the metaphor of an iceberg to illustrate that our experiences are deeply influenced by dynamics we cannot easily see​​
​​
-
Enables us to ask both the "visible" (i.e., explicit) and "invisible" (e.g., assumptions, implicit biases, values) questions about our measures
​​
-
The model has five core elements, each with a series of guiding questions: 1) Target construct, 2) Origin story, 3) Normed population, 4) Construction of the measure, and 5) Ecological level of the measure
Step 1: Target Construct
Step 2: Origin Story
Step 3: Normed Population
Step 4: Construction
Step 5: Ecological Level
Workshops
To investigate the impact of the critical iceberg model we have held workshops at a variety of educational levels. So far, we have led one workshop with doctoral students, and two with MSW students.
​
During these workshops we collaborate with students to choose a measure relevant to their issues and then walk them through the model using this measure. With doctoral students we encouraged them to bring measures they were using for their dissertation research so we could demonstrate how the model could be relevant to their work.
​
After each workshop, we held focus groups with the students who attended and received feedback about the experience of using the critical iceberg model.
Future Plans
The feedback we received from students centered on the helpfulness of the workshop, but a lack of confidence in applying the critical iceberg model without guidance.
​
In response, we wrote a manuscript that we have submitted to the Journal of Social Work Education for social work educators, that is essentially a lesson plan using the critical iceberg model to support students' critical thinking about research and assessment measures.
​
In the future, we hope to extend this work by creating workshops for social work clinicians and researchers in addition to students.
