*Author’s Note: Throughout this article, we have intentionally used the language “practicum education” instead of “field education.” This change comes from our awareness of the harmful history of unpaid, oppressive “field work” in the United States. This terminological change is also part of the present article’s ongoing efforts to advance explicitly antiracist approaches to practicum education within social work. We would like to thank our colleagues J.P. Przewoznik, Karon Johnson, Michele Patak-Pietrafesa, and Ronni Zuckerman for their contributions in designing, structuring, and facilitating the book discussion group and JEDI PLC.
Antiracist and antioppressive practice must be at the heart of any social work curriculum that seeks to produce professionals who can dismantle oppressive systems and work with clients and communities to advance social justice (Council on Social Work Education, 2022). Yet numerous scholars have documented the ways in which social work education has failed to center antiracist principles and practices, instead perpetuating white supremacist ideals and in turn harming students, colleagues, and the very communities we seek to serve (Abrams & Detlaff, 2020; Brady et al., 2019; King-Jordan & Gil, 2021; Leotti et al., 2023; Murray-Lichtman & Elkassem, 2021). As social work educators, we must make intentional efforts to identify and revise biased educational practices into practices that better express the social justice mission of our profession. Situated at the intersection of academia and real-world practice settings, practicum education is uniquely positioned to translate classroom knowledge about the mechanisms of oppression and structural racism into a concrete, antiracist practice skill set. This article describes a model developed by one university’s social work program to build social work practicum instructors’ knowledge and skills in providing Masters of Social Work (MSW) students with opportunities for antiracist and antioppressive supervision and practice opportunities in their practicum, and explores the challenges encountered while implementing the model.
This article describes and analyzes a new approach to employment-based field education for Masters of Social Work (MSW) students. In this study, we collected qualitative feedback from multiple perspectives, including students, field educators, and faculty liaisons. We found that students and community organizations mostly benefited from employment-based field placements. Students reported that they could devote more time and attention to coursework, often experienced enhanced professional opportunities, and could more quickly apply course concepts at their field placement. Field educators noted that they modified their approach to supervision to maximize student learning opportunities. Emerging best practices related to employment-based field placements are offered.
Keywords: field education; employment-based; higher education; supervision
The purpose of this quantitative exploratory research study was to determine if field internships influence graduating Master’s in Social Work (MSW) students’ perceptions about their level of cultural competence when working with diverse populations in their field internships. The participants were graduating MSW students enrolled in Historical Black Colleges and Universities and two public Predominantly White Institutions located in the Southeast area of the United States. The Multicultural Counseling Inventory was used to measure participants’ perceived level of cultural competence, and the Questionnaire Subscale was used to measure participants’ field internship experiences. A simple regression analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between the two variables. The conclusions from this study are preliminary and further research is needed to determine which factors actually predict graduating MSW students’ perceived level of cultural competence in their field internships.
Keywords: field education; cultural competence; social work
Natalie Beck Aguilera, DSW
St. Edward’s University
Warren K. Graham, MSW
Stony Brook University
Tanya Voss, MSW
The University of Texas at Austin
[Editor’s note: Field Finds is a regular feature of Field Educator. These concise literature reviews provide information and guidance to field educators and field instructors. Each review concludes with three discussion questions as inspiration for further thought on the subject matter.]
This edition of Field Finds explores the issue of paid internships. The format for this article differs from that of a traditional literature review, in that it includes a combination of peer-reviewed research and grey literature and information. This novel approach was required because of the limited peer-reviewed research on this subject.
In July, the lead author sent out a query on the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) field directors’ listserv, asking for field directors to contact her to discuss best practices in paid internships. The following review includes the perspectives of and examples from three field directors from across the United States. Critical questions and case studies provide a blueprint for other social work faculty who are interested in generating new ways of engaging in the discussion and implementing paid internships.
As we publish Field Educator for fall 2023, I am struck by how deeply the context for social work education is shaped by an urgent and growing concern about the impact of long-standing societal inequalities on individuals, families, and communities. Increasingly, social work educators are grappling with how to meaningfully educate current and future social work students to fully embrace a commitment to dismantling systems of oppression at the micro and macro levels. Indeed, the CSWE 2022 EPAS is a call to action for all educators to examine and reinvigorate their curriculum to more genuinely teach the skills, knowledge, and values associated with antiracist social work practice. Specifically, Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in practice, embodies this crucial learning goal. Field education is particularly challenged with effectively teaching Competency 3 because field learning resides not in the classroom but in widely varied agency settings. Within these settings are community social workers who have differing levels of exposure to and experience with ADEI practices, yet who are responsible for creating the learning activities and supervising a student’s work. This model of learning creates a unique set of responsibilities for field education faculty. How do we, as field educators, ensure that a field instructor is prepared to teach the skills needed to practice within an antiracist framework?
Katharine Dill, PhD Marist CollegeEugenia Knight, MSW Simmons University
Episode 2: A Conversation About Incorporating the 2022 EPAS Competency 3 in Field Practicum Learning
Field Talks host, Dr. Katharine Dill of Marist College, interviews Eugenia Knight, MSW, about her work as the Director of MSW Practicum Education at Simmons School of Social Work, including the challenges of incorporating an anti-racist framework into all aspects of practicum learning.
This article shares the results of a study designed to identify the most significant challenges in social work field education from the perspectives of Canadian field educators and students. A web-based survey was conducted with 155 participants, and the findings were analyzed thematically. The most significant challenges included lack of preparation, support, and training; the burden of multiple responsibilities and roles; communication and supervision challenges; administrative challenges; COVID-19–related changes to online learning and practice; equity, inclusion, diversity, and access (EIDA); and competition and unfair placement selection procedures. The findings provide insight to inform change in social work field education.
Keywords: field education; practicum; social work; most significant challenges; Canada
