Acknowledgements
One of the best parts of writing in the open education world is the ease with which I can include students in the work. I am so grateful to the students who have been reading this book since its inception in September 2020. Those students are continuing their journeys in university education and in the helping professions. I am inspired by you! Thank you for your intellect, your supportiveness, and your contributions to making this a better book for all future students.
Kelechi Wright, MEd, LCPC, LPC; Kortney A. Carr, LCSW, LSCSW; and Becci A. Akin, PhD, all associated with the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas have contributed to the most unique feature of this text. Their seminal work “The Whitewashing of Social Work History: How Dismantling Racism in Social Work Education Begins With an Equitable History of the Profession” appeared in the openly licensed Advances in Social Work peer-reviewed journal in 2021.I, a white author and scholar, am indebted to these authors who openly licensed their work. This made it possible to adapt their wisdom and expertise to the human services profession for an introductory textbook. To my knowledge, this perspective does not appear in any introductory textbook; this adaptation has the potential to make an equity-focused contribution to the foundational knowledge of beginning students.
The Open Oregon Educational Resources (OOER) team is incredibly smart, supportive, and fun. They made complex work flow smoothly. I’d especially like to acknowledge Michaela Willi-Hooper, Phoebe Daurio, Amy Hofer, Veronica Vold, Stephanie Lenox, Heather Blicher, Valencia Scott, and Kim Puttman. You’ve each taught me how to be a better professional and I will always be grateful.
All of the contributing authors of this text made it better, not only by writing both with specific chapters, and by educating me on your specialized knowledge. Thank you especially to Yvonne Smith and Alexandra Olsen who have helped me wrangle challenging decisions all along the way.
Linn-Benton Community College colleagues are the best! Meg Roland and Oriana Mulatero made it possible for me to flex my workload and participate in this OOER project. Deron Carter, with whom I have co-taught for the past year, is an inspiration and helper related to teaching, writing, and thinking about equity,
Invaluable advice in becoming a writer came from Nana Osei-Kofi and from Karelia Stetz-Waters who sustains me in most challenging writing moments.
Mostly I want to thank my partner, Liz Baker. She is absolutely there for me in every situation. She rescues me from myself when I need it, strides by my side through daily living, and celebrates successes, large and small. This book wouldn’t exist without her.
–Elizabeth B. Pearce