We would be hard-pressed to release an issue of this journal without acknowledging the global pandemic that has all but stopped the world in its tracks, and taken thousands of lives along the way. One day we were all going about our business, and the next (or so it seemed), our work worlds became virtual, our personal stories complicated and pained, and the future uncertain.
As social work educators, we find ourselves in a moment that will take its place in history. We have frantically worked to assemble plans to accommodate our students’ learning while simultaneously tending to the fragility in our own lives. The lessons are being lived, in some cases with significant trauma and loss. Social justice issues scream at us. The scope is wider and deeper than anything we have witnessed. Yet we are called to carry on with the mission of educating while we have barely begun to digest the storm that surges around us.
There is much to be said in time, but for now we are in survival mode. Times like this tend to elicit a sense of unity that, at other times, seems more elusive. That unity has been profoundly felt in the common mission of field educators across the United States and beyond. From the sharing of ideas and resources to the concern for each other and our collective students, the caring and collaboration have been so meaningful. As we launch this issue, a bit later than scheduled, we thank our field education colleagues for the shared heart, knowledge, and creativity. It is yet another time to have pride in our profession.
We wish you safety, comfort in your grief, and the hope of a world that will heal – from far more than a devastating virus.