Empowering reflective practitioners: academic freedom and critical thinking in the design of social work curricula in Portugal

Social work education is normatively structured by commitments to human rights, social justice and ethical practice, while also requiring practitioners capable of independent critical judgement. This study examines how critical thinking and related professional competencies are represented in the intended learning outcomes of 18 accredited undergraduate Social Work programme records from Portuguese accreditation cycles. A quantitative content analysis used verified programme-level binary coding across 11 competency domains. Theoretical and general knowledge appeared in 94.4% of programme records, ethics/social responsibility/diversity/sustainability in 72.2%, personal development/lifelong learning in 61.1%, and critical thinking in 55.6%. Cross-classification showed that seven programmes explicitly represented both critical thinking and the ethical-social domain, while six represented the ethical-social domain without making critical thinking explicit. These documentary patterns do not measure teaching, student capability, academic freedom in practice, or openness to dissent. Instead, they reveal uneven formal curricular visibility. Interpreted alongside recent debates on critical thinking, academic freedom and intellectual pluralism in professional education, the findings suggest that normative professional commitments and critical inquiry should be treated as complementary educational requirements. The study clarifies the distinction between intended curriculum, pedagogical conditions and demonstrated student capability.IMPACT STATEMENTThis study examines the formal visibility of critical thinking and ethical-social competencies within Portuguese undergraduate Social Work curricula. By analyzing 18 accredited degree programme records, it reveals an asymmetry where ethical commitments are more frequently made explicit than critical thinking capabilities. The work highlights that normative professional values and critical inquiry are complementary rather than conflicting educational needs. It offers higher education policymakers, curriculum designers, and accreditation bodies a clear framework to ensure that normative commitments in professional education are systematically paired with explicit reasoning skills, supporting independent professional judgment and intellectual pluralism in social work practice.