Contextualizing Practice in Cambodia: A Hidden Living Place with Practice Insight

This article is not a first-person narrative but rather a cultural reflection after a study-abroad program in Cambodia that aimed to provide an approach for promoting a deeper appreciation of international social work practice. We (the authors) describe and analyze our interactions with residents in the “floating city” of Chong Khneas using a contextual approach. We categorize these exchanges into context recognition, context analysis, and context management. We focus additional analyses on four contextual environments (people-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered environments) to develop a cross-cultural practice framework. Our reflection supports two practice principles for social work practice: learning through human interactions and assessing with positivity.