Continuing Education as an Effective Linkage Between Schools of Social Work And the Practice Community
Abstract Establishing viable linkages between social work education and practice has been a constant concern of educators and practitioners. Traditional linkages such as agency field placements and agency-based research have not materially strengthened relationships. Continuing education can be an effective linkage between schools and practitioners, providing two conditions are met. First, continuing education programs must be centrally administered as part of the mainstream of the school's curriculum. Second, both practitioners and administrators must be engaged actively in curriculum planning, implementation, and evaluation. The Extramural MSW Program and the Child Welfare Training Project at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, are used as illustrations.
Development of a Profession: Field-Instruction Correlates
This article discusses field instruction in social work with reference to the development and maturation of professions. The premise is that professions go through phases as they develop starting with heavy reliance on the field for practice skill acquisition, proceeding to an equal sharing between the field and the university, and culminating in the assumption of major responsibility by the university. It is suggested that social work is in the middle phase. Professional maturation will require increased responsibility by schools of social work for the transmission of the skills of practice to students. Various approaches and formats to achieve this are discussed and diverse training methods, including service and training centers and skills laboratories, are described.
Responsible Entry into the Profession—Some Current Issues
objectives of the educational system; man power demands; school enrollment and ex pansion in response to manpower needs; factors related to financing the educational program; and finally, alternative courses of action to be instituted in response to the issues raised, it is found that several schools and many agencies have already moved out in several directions.1 A larger proportion still have these major decisions on the table. For those still in the process of reexamina tion of concepts and ideas, discussion of several larger issues may prove helpful. Here are five such ideas for further exami