ABSTRACT
The challenges and needs of faculty in countries with emerging professions require specific interventions to promote professional development, grounded in the cultural contexts and specific needs of the faculty. This chapter describes the Social Work Education Enhancement Program’s (SWEEP) efforts to train Vietnam’s faculty. Vietnam’s faculty have similar requirements to produce scholarship in order to progress to non-probationary status. The Fellows reported that senior faculty maintain tight control over the topics chosen by junior faculty, and that their research agendas are subject to approval by university administrators. To address the Fellows’ identified needs related to professional development, the training agenda included activities and material on professional development in five areas: developing skills as teachers, developing skills as researchers, engaging in collegial collaboration, leveraging technology to facilitate teaching, scholarship and collaboration, and developing a long-term career trajectory. Technology was a very important part of all aspects of the SWEEP project.
