Bonnie Bryant

Biography

As a charter faculty member in the Department of Social Work, Bonnie has a passion for developing future social workers for practice in the field. In order for education to be real, she believes students learn best when they have opportunities for development of a strong knowledge and skill base evidenced by critical thinking and operationalization of the core values of the profession, articulated by the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW). She believes in challenging and stretching students to think outside of the box and look at creative solutions which prepares them for the demands of employment upon graduation. Therefore, the program is grueling academically, personally and professionally as students become aware of who they are as people and what they bring to the social work profession.

Research Interest

Bonnie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelor of Social Work from McMaster University and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Manitoba. Prior to joining the faculty of Social Work, she worked in a range of fields of practice. These included medical, aging, mental health, addictions, at-risk youth, perinatal, child abuse, family violence and staff development. She was instrumental in program development and securing funding for prevention services during her employment as Executive Director in a number of community agencies. She has a keen interest in program development combined with program evaluation. She dreams of the day the social work program is accessible in a distance education format worldwide giving the opportunity to develop social workers across Canada and throughout the world who otherwise would not have the opportunity for professional training.