Developmental Social W ork Education & Innovative Fieldwork

1. Developmental Social Work Education & Innovative Fieldwork By Prof R Mupedziswa, PhD Presented at Joint World Conference Stockholm, Sweden 8-12 July,2012

2. Organisation of Paper • Introduction • Common issues in field training • Study finding – common fieldwork challenges • Responding to the challenges – innovative appoaches • Conclusion

3. Introduction • It has been argued (e.g. Midgley, Osei-Hwedie, Gray, Mupedziswa, etc. ) that social work education and training relevant to Africa should emphasise social development issues rather than individual pathology. • The calls for relevance have, apart from focusing on the need for a rethink on classroom instruction methods, etc., also implied the need to introduce relevant field placements in both rural or appropriate urban settings.

4. Introduction (Continued) • However, social work educators heeding the calls for appropriateness realised that availability of relevant field placements remains a major challenge. • This was confirmed in findings of a recent study done in Southern and East Africa (Hochfield, Selipsky, Mupedziswa and Chitereka, 2009). • The purpose of this paper is to suggest alternative ways of dealing with the identified challenges; it calls for the need to seriously consider introducing innovative fieldwork (practicum) approaches.

5. Overview of the Broader Study • Study was collaborative and conducted by 3 institutions (University of Johannesburg, University of Botswana and National University of Lesotho in 2008/2009. • The focus of the broader study was on establishing the extent to which social work institutions in Southern and East Africa had embraced the developmental approach. • Questionnaires were sent to 42 institutions in 21 countries and responses were received from 25 institutions . • The current paper isolated for analysis only the field practicum component of the findings from the broader study.

6. Challenges Identified by Social Work Institutions in the Study • The most common challenges identified were: • Inadequately trained supervisors (68%), • A shortage of relevant placements (64%), problems of timing of the field component (50%), • Poor quality of field supervision (41%), • A lack of field supervisors with a social work background (36%), • Part-time students do not have time to fulfil fieldwork requirements (18%). (Hochfield, Selipsky, Mupedziswa and Chitereka, 2009).

7. Proposed Innovative Strategies • Innovative strategies tried out elsewhere urge social work educators to ‘think’ outside the ‘box’. • Equally there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Strategies tried elsewhere include: • ‘Floating’ placement; (Kendall, 1974). • The ‘workshop’ (Kendall, 1974) • ‘Village camping’; (Bogo and Herington, 1986; Ankrah, 1986). • ‘Community centre’ (Mupedziswa, 2001)

8. Advantages of Proposed Innovative Approaches • Locale might be the scene of disaster, a slum are, a neighbourhood, refugee camp, etc. • There is no need for a field supervisor.; supervision is done by school supervisors. • The placements are macro in nature and hence often consistent with a developmental approach.