Coming at the cusp of 20 years of social work training in Russia, this article analyses why education in universities is still so disconnected from the field of social work practice. Our attention focuses on institutional dynamics that shape the national regulation of social work education, limited practice content in curricula and the mixed impact of international co-operation. The research highlights that achieving broad agreement on the need for practice skills, service user prioritization and a strong values base must be the key focus when developing training in contexts where social work is relatively new.
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