INTRODUCTION

The development of professional social work education in India can be viewed in terms of three stages. The first stage is a period of relatively indigenous inception of professional social work education in India in the preindependence period (1936-47).The second stage is the period after independence (i.e., after 1947), when professional social work education in India took shape under American influence. The third phase is a reaction to the inadequacies of the emerged curative model of social work education in India, when suggestions for reforming social work education have been mooted. Thus, in this we will discuss the development of professional social work education in India.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN INDIA IN THE PREINDEPENDENCE PERIOD (1936-47) Clifford Manshardt, an American missionary, a graduate in theology from the University of Chicago, went to India in 1925 through the American marathi mission, a protestant Christian organization. This organization decided to undertake social work in slums and, with that objective, founded the Nagpada Neighborhood House in Bombay in 1926, headed by Manshardt. While working in the industrial metropolis of Bombay, the highly industrialized commercial capital of India, Manshardt felt the need of trained personnel for social work. Thus, when opportunity arose with financing from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Manshardt founded the sir Dorabji Tata Graduation School of social work in Bombay in 1936.This was the beginning of professional social work education in India. Thus, professional social work in India has been initiated through a combination of the religious impulse of charity and the modern sciencentific orientation of Tata, a pioneer in the field of industry in India (Ranade, 1987). In 1950 another school was established, as a part of University of Boroda. This school was not only a part of the university but a constituted an independent faculty(Gore,1956).Subsequently, several other schools came into being ,including the social work school in Madras and Lucknow in 1954 and another institution in Bombay in 1955.

In the period following independence, an attempt was made to develop professional social work in India through promoting American sponsored study tours for Indian social workers and appointing American trained social workers on the faculties of schools of schools of social work in India. One important scheme in this regard was the US governments Technical CoOperation Mission and Council of social work education exchange program. Under this program, during 1957-62, American social work educators worked as consultants or conducted faculty development program in the Indian schools of social work. In exchange, faculty members for Indian schools of social work went for study to the school of social work in the United States (Pathak 1975). A corollary was the extensive use of American books and journals in schools of social work (Nagpal, 1986). Social work education in India was a generic course in the preindependence period (1936-46).The introduction of specialization in social work emerged in the post independence period, primarily under American influence and partly as a result of felt need. An examination of the process of introduction of specialization at the Tata institution of social sciences, the pioneer of social work education in India, suggests that when a specialization was introduced at the Tata institution, either it was designed and developed by the American social work educator in the initial stage and handed over to an Indian social work educator was sent to the United states, or an Indian social work educator was sent to united states to take training in a particular specialization in India.(Desai,1987).This resulted in the correspondence of social work curriculum at the Tata institution with American social work education. It has been pointed out that social education in the developing countries in general has been influenced by the American model of social work. For instance, comparing social work education in five developing countries, Bringham (1984) noted that these countries which are predominantly rural had adopted an American urban model of social work education. Gore and Gore (1977) observe that as social work education in the United States leaned heavily on curative social work mainly through case work, The American influenced made social work education in India more concerned with method and techniques of work. It deemphasized the needs of social and economic development, promotion of preventative services and social actionthe prime need of the country in the post independence era.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ORIENTATION OF SOCIAL WORK The most prominent viewpoint regarding the remodeling of social work education is that it should take on a social developmental orientation. Time and again, it has been argued that social work education in India requires a social development orientation. However, this concern has been characterized by the fact that the meaning of social development orientation remained vague. Thus, Gore(1981) cautioned , I am afraid that unless we can think through clearly what social development means and what role social workers can play in bringing out such development, we only use the word as part of a rhetoric, without stating pragmatic implication for social work. One such rare exercise was undertaken by Sugata Dasgupta (1976) in an article where he provided an outline for a social development model of social work education. In this article Dasgupta argued that the nature of social work in India, in fact in all the less development countries should be different from that of the development industrial countries. In a developed country, the concern of social work is helping the margin section of deviant individuals or groups adjust to the society where as in the less development country the main concern should be to bring about changes in society that will mitigate the problems of the disadvantaged. Having made this point Dasgupta did not suggest any change in the major components of what he calls the classical model of social work education consisting of Classroom instruction Fieldwork Supervisory conference Research Dasgupta (1976) suggested that the subjects to be taught under social development model of social work education needed to be grouped under three broad categories. The first will include those subject which helps understanding of the society and of the individuals in the broader context of their being the creatures of this planet and the products of history. Second, social work should teach subjects which concentrate on the change process and on the whats and whys of this change, as well as the how- tos of it. This will be the course of method. Third, social work should deal with planning and a substantial reorientation of theories which would involve inclusion of

courses on cultural history, methods of changes, social philosophy, political sociology, environmental sciences, and others. This curriculum will train change agent and should lean heavily on case studies that depict the process of changes.

GORE FURTHER ADDS The wider field of social development in all its aspects can at best be added . As tertiary area adjacent to the area of professional concern social workers in this perspective, social work practice may be said to have three types of foci and settings The core area of welfare services directly oriented to handicapped sections of the population. The secondary area of social service in which social work skills can be practiced either fully as in medical social work, school social work and personal social work or peripherally as in the planning and administration of these services for handicapped segments of the population

PROMOTIONAL SOCIAL WORK According to Ramachandran (1989), these models of social work are committed to retaining the existing from of training system and institution, subject only to some redistribution of teaching courses and loads and consequently, some modification in the content of the existing training program. The other side of this divide, with Ramachandran calls promotional social work is strongly of the view the role of professional social work is to actively participate in reforming the system, the strange reflecting the belief that the role of professional social work should be to initiate such social changes as or desirable for one and beneficial to society Thus Ramachandran proposed there should be two major streams of social work training Curative social work Promotional social work

Thus, we observe that there is a school of thought which proposes such changes that cannot be accomplished within the existing frame of social work curriculum. Thus a separate stream of social work training has been proposed. The purpose of the proposed stream for social work training will be to prepare persons for social reform action.

CONCLUTION To conclude, in India a relatively indigenous beginning of social work education of social work education was made in the preindependence period. After independence, professional social work education in India has been shaped by American influence. Reflecting the need of that country, social work curriculum in America is predominantly curative. Being shaped under the influence of this curative model of American social work, social work education in India has become predominantly curative. However, it is still predominantly curative and the social work profession in India remains a shortcoming of the inadequate emphasis on broader developmental issues.

REFERENCES Brigham,T.M (1984) Social work education in five developing countries. In education for social work practices Dasgupta,S. (1976) Social work education: a critique of the classical model Desai,M (1987) Emergence and Debate Concerning Social work Specializations. Google Books: International handbook on social work education by Thomas D. Watts, Doreen Elliott, Nazneen Sada Mayadas