TEACHING STUDENTS THE TASK-FORCE APPROACH - A POLICY PRACTICE COURSE

In contemporary society, task forces are commonly used to deal with co mmunity-based social problems. Task forces develop, change, and implem ent policies at all levels of government, and within all types of orga nizations, including the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Unfor tunately, social work educators have not been involved in teaching the policy-practice skills of working on a task force. This article discu sses existing literature on task forces. Gersick's (1988) model of tas k group development is used to structure the teaching of the task forc e approach. An advanced policy course on homelessness is used as an il lustration, and a recommendation is made for adjusting educational req uirements to cross-reference courses in the social work curriculum tha t teach substantive topics and, at the same time, use innovative metho ds to teach group skills.