Abstract:

After the necessity to construct a knowledge system of social work in China became the consensus in academic circles, the way of construction has become a hot topic. Based on the perspective of practical knowledge within a post-modern context, this paper emphasizes the production of local social work knowledge based on practice. By focusing on the practice of frontline social workers, it summarizes and presents four knowledge patterns currently existing in China’s practice field: narrative knowledge, metaphor knowledge, physical knowledge, and conceptual knowledge. The connotations and features of these different knowledge patterns are clarified. These patterns reflect the practical wisdom and knowledge of social workers and are crucial to China’s own knowledge of social work. The summarization and research of the patterns of social work knowledge in China’s practice field will lay an empirical foundation for the construction of China’s own social work knowledge system.

Key words: practice field, social work, knowledge patterns, knowledge system