Social Work Diploma program

About this programme

The Blue Quills Social Work Diploma program is designed to prepare students for generalist social work practice, committed to addressing issues of social justice and oppression, and founded on Indigenous knowledge and practice. Students examine both Indigenous and Western paradigms, explore the environments that have shaped their own development, and identify helping and healing practices that flow from both world views. Through this intensive two-year program, students develop both personally and professionally and integrate the knowledge, skills, attitudes and judgment necessary to be effective social workers in a variety of settings such as child protection, family services, addictions, community development, community development, justice, schools, hospitals and more. This program is built upon the themes: study of self, self in helping relationships, self as change agent and self as leader. The structure of the program is iterative rather than linear – it progresses in a spiral that adds a little with each thematic repetition rather than building lockstep. The outcomes of this process are social workers intimately connected with the issues of community, vested with vision, grounded in knowledge of themselves, and equipped with the resources required for social action and advocacy. The UnBQ Social Work Diploma meets all provincial standards and licensing requirements. Our graduates are eligible for registration as social workers with the Alberta College of Social Workers and are able to transfer into BSW degree programs within Alberta.