Social work field education in a global world, views from educators
Social Workers in the field are operating under significant stress as workplace ideologies and neo-liberal market principles (Agllias, 2010) place pressure on the human service industry to focus on efficiencies rather than effectiveness (Chiller & Crisp, 2012). Schools of social work are also under pressure which is derived mainly from the need to graduate highly skilled and competent professional social workers within the confines of a neoliberal funding model which dictates that universities do more with less. Of particular concern is the effect on field education placement or practicum, the point where service providers and schools of social work join forces to enhance student learning. The current climate makes it increasingly difficult to source and maintain placements offering quality social work learning environments, particularly for some groups of students. It is therefore necessary to seek new and creative ways of working in partnership with the service providers to secure placement opportunities and enhance the experience for both service provider staff and social work students on placement. Informed by the experiences of field education academic staff from around Australia this presentation offers insight into some of the potential solutions to challenges faced in the current climate, with a focus on rural and remote placements, overseas placements and supporting students from culturally diverse backgrounds. In particular it provides practical strategies and argues for schools of social work and particularly field education staff to work more closely together to share information and guide the development of field education standards and requirements.
Student to Practitioner: A Study of Preparedness for Social Work Practice
Abstract Australian social work graduates face an increasingly complex work environment where the role of the social worker is often overlooked or misunderstood. In order to examine the anticipated and concrete practice reality for social workers, this qualitative study examined the expectations of social work students preparing to enter the workforce (n=29) and the experiences of new social work graduates in the workplace (n=9). Findings suggest that undergraduates have a realistic understanding of the challenges they would encounter in practice, including anticipated value and ethical conflicts, and allied professions' conceptions of the social work role. They did not anticipate the busyness of the workplace or the level of supervision offered.
In-services and empty threats: The roles of organizational practices and workplace experiences in shaping U.S. educators' understandings of students' rights.
This paper applies theoretical frameworks from organizational sociology and sociolegal studies to examine factors associated with educators' conceptions of students' rights to due process in disciplinary actions. We analyze a unique representative data set of 402 teachers and 200 administrators in U.S. high schools to investigate how educators understand the rights to due process articulated in the Supreme Court case of Goss v. Lopez (1975). We then examine whether individual characteristics and participation in organizational processes are associated with educators' understandings of students' due process rights. Findings suggest that educators' understandings of students' entitlements to due process vary with educators' level of education, experience of school-related legal threats, and participation in district or diocese in-service training programs on students' rights. Results point to organizational climate as a key factor in shaping educators' rights conceptions and the role of law in American schools.