{"id":18870,"date":"2016-07-11T08:49:09","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T12:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/edc\/?p=18870"},"modified":"2021-08-13T10:11:42","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T14:11:42","slug":"becoming-comfortable-discomfort-spotlight-kenta-asakura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2016\/becoming-comfortable-discomfort-spotlight-kenta-asakura\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming comfortable with discomfort: Spotlight on Kenta Asakura"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cassandra Hendry, TLS staff writer<\/em><\/p>\n

In Prof. Kenta Asakura\u2019s classroom, it\u2019s not unusual to see a local actor milling about, getting ready for a performance. From the outside, it may seem that theatre class is about to begin. In reality, Asakura and the actors he works with are preparing for a second-year master\u2019s course in social work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my signature teaching pedagogies is the use of simulation,\u201d Asakura explains. \u201cI work with actors to assist them in enacting [clinical social work] cases I\u2019ve had in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

To ensure his students are ready to face the world outside of Carleton, he uses actors funded through a grant by the EDC to role-play as clients with his students. While Asakura admits that it can be an anxiety-inducing situation treating a client in front of the class, he says the students who interacted with the actors said it was useful overwhelmingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way for us to become comfortable with discomfort is to really dive into it and not be afraid,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Asakura, who just completed his first year as a faculty member at Carleton, is no stranger to this unique way of teaching social work theories. He has taught as a contract instructor using these methods at his alma mater, the University of Toronto, and also at the Smith College School for Social Work in Massachusetts. With the exception of the last year, Asakura has practiced as a social work clinician for 14 years in his own private practice as well as in group homes, outpatient counselling programs and LGBTQ centres, his area of speciality.<\/p>\n

For Asakura, the learning curve wasn\u2019t that steep coming to Carleton as he was able to use his expertise in an academic context with which he was familiar. While he says he\u2019s still getting used to local Ottawa hospitals and services, it\u2019s been going well.<\/p>\n

For him, it was a natural progression to use his years of hands-on experience as a teaching tool.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a practitioner, this is an important pedagogy. I\u2019d say it\u2019s the most effective way of teaching students how to integrate theories into practice,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This approach stems from the changing environment of the social work community, he says. More than a decade ago when Asakura was completing his master\u2019s program like his students are today, he says that local employers were able to provide more training for students entering the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose days are over. Agencies and hospitals are looking for students who are able to provide practice pretty quickly . . . that leaves a lot more responsibility for schools of social work to be able to better prepare our students for practice,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

One of the only stumbling blocks he encountered last year was assuming that his students knew more about assessment in social work, which he says he glossed over. After speaking with fellow Carleton professors and having a year under his belt, he\u2019s revised the syllabus to fit his students\u2019 needs to help them face the professional world soon after they leave.<\/p>\n

To find out more about Asakura’s experience using simulation in his social work courses, read his blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cassandra Hendry, TLS staff writer In Prof. Kenta Asakura\u2019s classroom, it\u2019s not unusual to see a local actor milling about, getting ready for a performance. From the outside, it may seem that theatre class is about to begin. In reality, Asakura and the actors he works with are preparing for a second-year master\u2019s course […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBecoming comfortable with discomfort: Spotlight on Kenta Asakura - 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