Thus far, there has been little discussion about how we construct, define or accept human rights. What rights should actually count as human rights for social work practice? Do we simply accept the Universal Declaration, do we add to it, do we subtract from it, or do we reformulate it? On reading the Universal Declaration (see website for details), one is struck by how many of the rights contained in it are violated daily for millions of people. This applies not only to developing nations or nations with a ‘human rights record’ that is seen as ‘poor’. It also applies to the so-called ‘developed’ world, where the rights outlined in the Universal Declaration are certainly not all adequately met for the whole population. What country, for example, can clearly demonstrate the full realisation of the right to equality before the law, the right to work and to free choice of work, higher education equally accessible and inclusive for all for desire to attend, and other rights?

Undergraduate research education is increasingly important for social work practitioners given the demands for evidence-based practice in social service delivery. Increasingly research competency or new knowledge integration into practice has been identified as a professional responsibility. However, social workers eill often not use or engage in research in their practice settings, tasking social work educators to address this gap through developing innovative undergraduate curricula through which student learners can be engaged. This chapter examines the literature in this area and identifies several proposed engagement strategies such as incorporating research tasks directly into coursework, creating research assistant positions or internships, developing partnerships with community-based agencies to provide applied research opportunities or through case study scenarios and guest speakers, and using ‘real’ research datasets for qualitative/quantitative training. Building mentorship opportunities through research teams including undergraduate and graduate students to facilitate both teaching and learning opportunities in research may also be of benefit.