Competency development based on best scientific knowledge, practice effectiveness, and the adoption of ethical standards has guided the development of social work training programs. For some instructors, the growing influence of the scientific perspective has significantly impacted this training to the detriment of postmodern educational approaches that would be more attuned to the core values of social work. The issues inherent to the profession do indeed influence how curricula are conceived, designed, and delivered. Some instructors employ pedagogical strategies supporting the development of their students’ self-knowledge in order to prepare them to make judicious use of the self in their practice. This article examines these emerging pedagogical practices focused on the development of self-knowledge and seeks to identify the pedagogical perspectives on which they are based. To do so, the article explores the various and sometimes contradictory philosophical conceptions of education that have shaped social work pedagogy and examines the leading pedagogical trends that have influenced this. Reflection is also initiated around the concepts of self and use of self in social work training.