Introducing Creativity into Social Work Managers' Curricula: Conceptual and Practical Aspects

Creativity is defined as generating new ideas, solutions or processes in order to tackle problems and address the new challenges of a context. The advent of New Public Management and neoliberal policies has increased the pressure on social work managers to develop skills in cost control and efficient service management. However, the evolving social needs, technological changes and service supply also require the ability to generate new ideas and elaborate original solutions to problems. Recognizing that creativity is a central component of the profession entails introducing into the curricula of social work managers conceptual elements and teaching practices that reinforce such competence. The chapter intends to develop this topic, firstly by addressing the question of what creativity is. Then discussed are the reasons for designing teaching programs intended to strengthen the creative skills of social workers. The following sections deal with the issues of teaching creativity. The conclusion of the chapter is that creative skills must form an integral part of the curriculum of future social work managers, and that this constitutes a very important challenge for future research on social work management education.