Winnicott's "Potential Space" and the Jewish Study Hall for social work students, faculty and practitioners

The article addresses the potential interface and dialogue between academic and quasi-academic spaces. In particular, it examines the space of the Jewish Study Hall (Beit Midrash) as facilitative of the professional as well as personal development of social work students and practitioners in an Isra...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of social work practice 2018-07, Vol.32 (3), p.323-336
Main Authors: Ben Abu, Nava, Ranz, Rebecca, Moshe Grodofsky, Merav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
College faculty
College students
Judaism
Learning
learning space
Personal development
Potential space
Professional training
Religion
Religiosity
Religious beliefs
Religious literature
Social development
Social education
Social work
Social work education
social work training
Social workers
Spirituality
Training
Uniqueness
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The article addresses the potential interface and dialogue between academic and quasi-academic spaces. In particular, it examines the space of the Jewish Study Hall (Beit Midrash) as facilitative of the professional as well as personal development of social work students and practitioners in an Israeli college. We examine how Winnicott's potential space concept contributes to understanding the Study Hall's uniqueness as an extracurricular learning space within the School of Social Work. Twenty participants in the Beit Midrash for Judaism and Social Work took part in the study. Thematic analysis of transcribed sessions revealed three themes: (1) The Beit Midrash as a peaceful, safe and inclusive physical space; (2) The Beit Midrash as a space for playing out different realities; and (3) The Beit Midrash as contributing to social work training. Findings indicate that potential spaces that embrace the metaphysical world can help students engaged in religion and spirituality to complement and expand their academic training. We conclude by recommending that Winnicottian potential spaces that embrace the metaphysical world be integrated in social work programmes.
ISSN:0265-0533
1465-3885
DOI:10.1080/02650533.2017.1326472