1 / 14

University of the Fraser Valley Masters Degree in Social Work 450 hour field practicum

A Crisis in Field Education: Examining COA Documents and Identifying Issues Meryl Smith, MSW, RSW. University of the Fraser Valley Masters Degree in Social Work 450 hour field practicum. Introduction. “A signature pedagogy” “It is the heart of social work education”

sonia-alvarado
Download Presentation

University of the Fraser Valley Masters Degree in Social Work 450 hour field practicum

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. A Crisis in Field Education: Examining COA Documents and Identifying Issues Meryl Smith, MSW, RSW

  2. University of the Fraser Valley • Masters Degree in Social Work • 450 hour field practicum

  3. Introduction • “A signature pedagogy” • “It is the heart of social work education” • “The fundamental way through which theoretical knowledge is translated into practice”

  4. Background of Field Education • “In 1919 the United States and Canada formed the US Association of Training Schools for Professional Social Workers to develop standards of social work education” • In the 1950s the Canadian social work system felt that their unique needs were being overlooked and the needs of the American organizations taking precedence or, were superseding by the needs of the American… (Jennison & Lundy, 2011p. 23-25).

  5. Literature about Field Education • “What is the most important component of social work education, academic knowledge or practice experience?” • Another tension in field education identified in the literature is the challenging role of the field coordinator/director.

  6. Literature about Field Education (con’t) • Neoliberalism • The roles of social work deans and program directors are being redefined • Standardizing Field Education and those who believe that this process hinders field education

  7. The Commission on Accreditation • CASWE-ACFTS is responsible for the promotion of social work education in Canada at a BSW and MSW level. • The Association is comprised of individual and institutional members.

  8. Project Methods Phase 1 • Association stakeholders • Identified Field experts participated in telephone discussions • Telephone conference in which a group of Field Coordinators took part.

  9. Phase 2 • Reviewed the COA documents that included Reader’s Reports, Progress Reports, Self-Study Reports and Site Visit Reports of the 23 accredited English speaking schools of social work. • These themes were reviewed in light of the literature reviewed as well as upon reflection of the summation provided by the Field Committee to the Deans and Directors.

  10. Strengths • Accommodation for students with (dis)Abilities • Community engagement • Feedback opportunities • Support and Management of resources • Technology • Increased student applications

  11. Identified Challenges • Shortage of resources • Faculty • Program cuts • Research capacity • Field capacity • Student readiness • Demands and capacity

  12. Discussion • Image of field • Schism between practice and academia • Role of Field Coordinators/Directors • Neoliberalism • Increase in responsibility and less support • Standardization

  13. Conclusion • Commitment “If these respondents are representative of field instructors in general, the heart of social work is beating vigorously indeed.” (Homonoff, 2008, 163).

  14. Thank you / Merci Meryl Smith: merylgsmith@yahoo.ca

More Related