Social work lecturers are professionals who exercise dual roles, on one hand they practice the academic discipline that provides social services, such as counselling, therapy or advocacy, to individuals or groups of people. On the other hand they are part of the academic world providing professional education, engaging also in research and knowledge development, contributing to solutions concerning complex social problems and innovative approaches to ameliorate those problems. They teach social work knowledge, skills and values for preparing students to engage in culturally competent social work practice with diverse populations and communities.