Ideathons as anti-oppressive social work pedagogy: a case study with counternarrative

Abstract

Anti-oppressive practice is central to social work, yet social work education offers limited opportunities for students to negotiate power and practice collective responses to structural oppression. This qualitative case study examined participants’ experiences of the Digital Justice Ideathon, a two-day event addressing racialized school surveillance. Data from one focus group with five social work students and one coach and a separate interview with another coach were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Campbell’s framework for anti-oppressive pedagogy provided the deductive analytic structure, while Critical Race Theory and counternarrative informed interpretation. Participant accounts reflected four of Campbell’s five domains and emphasized structured facilitation, collective problem-solving, and learning alongside others committed to social justice. An inductively identified subdomain, *community who cares about the same issues*, extended Campbell’s affective learning domain. A counternarrative complicated the predominant account by revealing failures to recognize racial specificity, disability, and power within the collaborative process. Findings suggest that ideathons have the potential to function as anti-oppressive social work pedagogy when participatory and anti-racist design principles are paired with opportunities for participants to provide input, raise concerns, and shape the process as it unfolds.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Social Work Education, 2026 · DOI ↗