ABSTRACT
The field of social work is driven by values of respect, integrity, dignity and social justice. This daily calls for professionals to come alongside people in trying situations, within a context that requires the professionals to have developed important relational skills. In a like manner, approaches that encourage the involvement of service users at the heart of the intervention process are currently important in the field of social work. Within a school of social work, these approaches guide and are reflected in necessary pedagogical choices in the education of future social workers capable of overcoming relational obstacles and achieving the requirements of the professional practice. In light of these considerations, the School of Social Work at the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada) has been working over the past few years to create an academic program structured by and for the involvement of service users within its undergraduate and graduate programs. In this context, the goal of this chapter is therefore to present findings concerning the involvement of users in the academic training of future social workers. So, the main projects that we have conducted since 2015 will be firstly presented. Following this, the acquired understanding and benefits of such involvement for the service users and students will be explored as well as the associated challenges. We will conclude with keys that seem to us fundamental for user involvement projects.
