This session WIC launched its first Social Work Pods program for Indigenous students studying social work in their first and second years. Held at the centre, the program aims to provide an opportunity for students to get together and network not only among themselves but with a series of weekly guests from both the university and the community.
The program kicked off in the second week of Autumn session with students coming together for an introductory session where they exchanged contact details, organised a digital space to talk outside of the weekly sessions, and learnt about the concept of Pods.
In a higher education space, the term ‘Pods’ comes from UOW’s Law Faculty where first-year students are placed together into groups. However, it is fitting for our local landscape as the whale is a prominent local dreaming creature that not only features in WIC’s logo but its relevance is connected to the local coastline where it travels up and down the ‘pods’. Over the session the WIC social work pods will take classes together and build interdependent networks, increasing their connections, opportunities, and aspirations from day one.
By identifying the challenges and highlights of doing a social work degree, and the high number of Indigenous students currently enrolled in the degree, planted the seed to create pods for social work students to enable them to build a professional network and personal support network.
Running for a total of five weeks, students will have the opportunity to sit down with Associate Lecturer Aunty Jeno Luland, Associate Professor Lynne Keevers, and other third and fourth-year Indigenous social work students.