scholarly journals First practice placement

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-32
Author(s):  
Wing Hong Chui
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Shed Light

This paper presents the findings of a small-scale study examining the expectations and anxieties of social work students regarding supervision for fieldwork instruction. A cohort of students in their first year of a postgraduate programme for professional training was questioned about their aspirations and anxieties as they approached their first period of practice placement assessment. Their responses were wide-ranging and varied, and shed light on what they wanted from their supervisors and supervision. Students” concerns related to supervision as a vehicle for compliance and performance issues rather than as a purveyor of culture and values for social work. It is viewed by the respondents as an important site of learning and development whose opportunities for promoting self-awareness and the skills of critical reflection must be safeguarded. This paper argues for the importance of listening to students in order to shape the delivery and mode of fieldwork supervision, and posits supervision as a means of fostering notions of social work values that are prerequisite for practice.

Social Work Students’ Experiences of Ethical Difficulties in Field Placements: A Qualitative Study in China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Wu ◽  
Yunong Huang ◽  
Qiang Chen ◽  
Yu Shi
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Field Staff ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Supportive Environment ◽  
In The Beginning

Abstract Field placements provide social work students with opportunities to learn to handle ethical difficulties in a professional manner. In many developed countries, field staff are generally employed to supervise social work students’ field placements. ‘Code of Ethics’ and other ethics documents have also been developed to guide students’ professional activities. However, there is a lack of field staff, ‘Code of Ethics’ and other ethics documents in China, which may lead to ethical difficulties amongst students during their field placements. Based on the interviews of twenty-four social work students who completed field placements in 2016 at a university in China, this research revealed that students encountered many ethical difficulties in field placements. They tried to handle the difficulties in the beginning, but gradually adapted to the difficulties passively due to the lack of support. Most students also reported that they adhered to social work values and ethics in field placements and learned from field placements. The findings suggested that social work profession associations, Departments or Schools of Social Work, social work agencies and social work academia in China need to collaborate to create a more professional and supportive environment for students’ field placements.

scholarly journals What do social work students think social work research is?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Anita Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Social Work Values

In New Zealand, social work students often undertake social work research training as part of their first qualification in social work. The focus of this article is to consider what social work students think social work research is and whether they think social work research should be part of normal, everyday practice or not. Forty-three social work students from Otago University participated in a small research project during 2009 aimed at exploring their constructions of social work research. They emphasised that social work research should be compatible with social work values like empowerment and social justice, and bring about positive change of benefit of service users. 

The Practice Pyramid: A model for integrating social work values, theory and practice

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Jean Gordon ◽  
Gillian Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
Extensive Evaluation

The Practice Pyramid is a learning tool that supports social work students’ ability to integrate their understanding of personal and professional values, theory and practice during field placements. Although it has been used by practice educators in Scotland for over 20 years, it is not well known elsewhere and has yet to be evaluated. This paper, written by a practice educator and a student social worker, describes the Practice Pyramid and provides a case example to illustrate how it contributed to one student’s learning during a practice placement. Four factors that appear to contribute to its success are proposed: its model of pedagogy, the visual and accessible nature of the tool, flexibility and the support it gives to collaborative learning processes. It is suggested that the Practice Pyramid may usefully support learning in a range of social work and non social work contexts, and would benefit from more extensive evaluation of its role in supporting practice - theory integration.Keywords: Practice Pyamid; social work students; field placements; Scotland; collaborative learning

scholarly journals Enhancing Self-Awareness: A Practical Strategy to Train Culturally Responsive Social Work Students

10.18060/482 ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nalini J. Negi ◽  
Kimberly A. Bender ◽  
Rich Furman ◽  
Dawnovise N. Fowler ◽  
Julia Clark Prickett
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Culturally Responsive Practice ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Competence Training ◽  
Self Discovery

A primary goal of social justice educators is to engage students in a process of self-discovery, with the goal of helping them recognize their own biases, develop empathy, and become better prepared for culturally responsive practice. While social work educators are mandated with the important task of training future social workers in culturally responsive practice with diverse populations, practical strategies on how to do so are scant. This article introduces a teaching exercise, the Ethnic Roots Assignment, which has been shown qualitatively to aid students in developing self-awareness, a key component of culturally competent social work practice. Practical suggestions for classroom utilization, common challenges, and past student responses to participating in the exercise are provided. The dissemination of such a teaching exercise can increase the field’s resources for addressing the important goal of cultural competence training.

scholarly journals Screencasting: A tool to enhance workplace feedback practices and improve employee learning and performance?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah McCartan ◽  
Angela Short
Keyword(s):  
Employee Performance ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Employee Perceptions ◽  
Job Quality ◽  
Performance Evaluations ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Audio Feedback ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Employee Learning

Feedback is an essential part of organisational quality assurance in employee learning and development. Yet, employees report that the feedback they receive on their performance is not timely and often lacks structure and clarity: this makes it difficult for them to narrow the gap between current and desired performance. However, technology can support the delivery of constructive and actionable feedback in the workplace, the sharing of knowledge using this medium supporting employee growth and development. This small-scale exploratory study piloted the use of Screencasting to deliver feedback to employees on job quality reviews. The research addresses the gap in literature on the application of technology for workplace feedback and performance processes. Adopting a qualitative approach and using focus groups, the research evaluated employee perceptions of screencast feedback.Results confirm the efficacy of screencast feedback as a reusable learning resource (RLO) for sharing employee performance evaluations prompting employees to engage with and act upon same. Audio feedback necessitates a thoughtful approach on the part of the Manager or Supervisor, to the challenging task of performance evaluation. Screencast feedback delivers a human, often kinder experience for the learning receiving the evaluative judgements, the humanising of the message recognising the sensitive and emotional nature of performance evaluations.

scholarly journals Personal Change of Social Work Students through Establishing the Relationships in Professional Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Ramune Bagdonaite-Stelmokiene ◽  
Vilma Zydziunaite
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Personal Change ◽  
Collection Method ◽  
Beliefs And Values

<p><em>The article presents the results of qualitative research carried out with</em><em> 53 social work students</em><em> in Lithuania.</em><em> The research focused on the personal change in social work students taking place during the professional practice in which students establish relationships with different participants in the practice. . The use of unstructured reflection as a data collection method enabled students to remember, think over and put their practice experiences in writing. The data were analysed by applying grounded theory </em><em>(Strauss &amp; Corbin, 1990). Findings revealed that social work students differently experience the establishment of relationships in the professional practice. These experiences lead to students’ professional growth and personal change. The findings provide an opportunity to deepen the knowledge about students’ experiences of relationships. These new experiences can promote students’ self-awareness, the change of worldviews, beliefs and values as well as adding the new trends for the analysis of goals in professional practice of social work.</em></p><p> </p>

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