• Summary: This article examines the issue of orality and
literacy and reflects critically on their relevance, challenges and opportunities in
relation to social work practice and education.
• Findings: The findings from language studies on the effects of
literacy on individuals are examined, identifying the significant features of the
oral and literate mind-sets. Using these findings, the hiatus between the literate
mode of education and oral mode of practice in social work, and its possible
effects, are scrutinized. Three types of incompatibility are identified: between
clients and social workers; between direct and indirect practice; and between
education and practice.
• Applications : Empirical studies can be conducted in education
and practice based on the deliberations of this article to test the validity of the
assertions and the heuristic tools suggested. Social work educators and
practitioners may want to redress the balance between the oral and written modes of
communication in curriculum design, methods of assessment and accounting for
practice, with due recognition of the orally mediated mode of knowledge construction
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