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Armed with their mission—the teaching of social work—

Into this new world go field educators.

Update your syllabus: EPAS[1] are still with us;

Develop more internships—now and not later!

Don’t just work face-to-face; practice in cyberspace![2]

Embrace innovation: no time to be stodgy.

Placements in Moscow?[3] Or check out the OSCE[4], for

You have been dubbed “signature pedagogy.”[5]

 

As we all must aver, students are customers:[6]

Adapting to various groups is essential.[7]

Do they like their advisors? And their supervisors:[8]

Are they onsite or offsite? Do you know their credentials?[9]

 

Evaluation’s a smooth operation;

Competencies render assessment much clearer.[10]

Interns must give good service or you will be nervous:

You’re liable because of respondeat superior.[11]

 

Heed, if you can, a tip: write a few manuscripts.

Research gets tenure, improves your school’s ranking.[12]

Though you may say you know what is “the ratio,”[13]

If you have free time, it’s your Dean you’ll be thanking.[14]

 

Ours not to criticize; ours just to field-advise,

Marshaling resources, doing our part,

Building connections from theory to practice,

Of social work teaching, field is the heart.

 

[1] Council on Social Work Education (2008). Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Alexandria, VA

[2] Leyva, V. (2012) Online supervision in field education. Field Educator 2(1); Pringle-Hornsby, E., Gray, B. & Richardson, L. (2012). Field learning in online social work programs. Field Educator 2(1).

[3] Hunter, P., & Hollis, C. (2013). Exploring international internships. Field Educator 3(1).

[4] Bogo, M., Katz, E., Regehr, C., Logie, C., Mylopoulos, M., & Tufford, L. (2013). Toward understanding meta-competence: An analysis of students’ reflection on their simulated interviews. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 32(2), 259-273.

[5] Wayne, J., Bogo, M., & Raskin, M. (2010). Field education as the signature pedagogy of social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 4(3), 327-339.

[6] Molesworth, M, Scullion, R., & Nixon, E. (2011). The marketisation of higher education and the student as consumer. London, UK: Routledge.

[7] Selber, K., & Chavkin, N. (2014). Inside/outside training: A campus-based field unit approach for working with veterans. Field Educator 4(1). Retrieved from: http://fieldeducator.simmons.edu/article/ insideoutside-training-a-campus-based-field-unit-approach-for-working-with-veterans

[8] Williams, K. (2014). Field placement: What students need from their field supervisors: A student’s perspective. New Social Worker.  Retrieved from: http://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/field-placement/Field_Placement%3A_What_Students_Need_From_Their_Field_Supervisors%3A_A_Student’s_Perspective/

[9] Sienkiewicz, M., & Perlstein, J. (2013) Off-site supervision. Field Educator 3(1).

[10] Council on Social Work Education (2008) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Alexandria, VA

[11] “Let the master respond”: Cole, B., & Lewis, R. (1993). Gatekeeping through termination of unsuitable social work students: Legal issues and guidelines. Journal of Social Work Education, 20(2), 150-160.

[12] Standiford, S. (2005). Reputation among peer academic institutions: An investigation of the US News and World Report’s rankings. Corporate Reputation Review, 8(3), 233-244.

[13] Of students to advisors, or administrative to other duties (EPAS)

[14] Buck (2012). Complex and competing demands in field education: A qualitative study of field directors’ experiences. Field Educator 2(2).