In social work education failing placement is a seismic event. There are many complex reasons why placements fail; the student fails the placement, the placement fails the student, the practice teacher fails the student, the student fails themselves and the university fails or upholds all. With a failed placement the spotlight falls on the student, the practice teacher, tutor and the university. There are professional standards, reputations, academic policies and procedures at stake, notwithstanding the protection of the service user as the central concern. This article presents four failed Masters in Social Work placement assessments, two case examples from practice failures and two from portfolio failures. Analyses and reports are shared from initial difficulties and procedural organization, through to the forensics of final decision. Consideration is also given to current research and a ‘what happened next’ section is included.
The aim and objective of this study is to examine and compare how schools in Galway, Republic of Ireland and Derry in the North of Ireland, [Cities located within two independent jurisdictions in Ireland], manage and respond to bereavement. The 'Loss in Schools' questionnaire (Holland, 2001) previously been administered in studies in Hull, contains ten questions designed to unearth pertinent issues including the needs and concerns of schools. Sixty questionnaires were administered in both Galway and Derry with a return of thirty-eight and thirty-five respectively. This study illuminates important aspects of the topic. The schools in both Galway and Derry rate bereavement (and parental separation) as highly important in terms of priorities. In terms of policy, some respondents in both study sites report that loss is included in their school's policy documents but not formally included in the curriculum. A designated staff member [for bereavement issues] is evident in thirtyseven percent of Derry schools and twenty-three percent of Galway schools. Some members of staff in both study sites have attended training in bereavement. Schools request assistance from other agencies outside the formal schools arena in times of need. In Galway, the psychology services are most commonly consulted; in Derry, 2 the Western Education and Library Board (WELB) Bereavement Counselling teams and Cruse Bereavement Care are identified as additional resources from which help is sought. This paper outlines recommendations on schools' training needs in the area of child bereavement and the request for support to help further develop and formalise school policies.
Why does a student fail? What will be the student’s learning needs in any repeat placement? How does the student reflect on their previous placement experience? Can the Practice Teacher provide the appropriate learning experience and facilitate the student to attain the competencies needed to pass a repeat placement? So many questions for all of those concerned with the reality of a failed and repeat placement.This paper emanates from a presentation by both authors at the Glasgow Conference on Practice Teaching and Field Education in Health and Social Work in April 2014. It will examine the processes of social work placement failure and the task involved in finding a repeat placement for the student. Interesting topics for discussion include: What prompts Practice Teachers to take students who have previously failed? What preparations and conversations take place previous to the student started the repeat placement? How important is the involvement of the student’s Tutor in the planning of this next placement? A small sample of practice teachers’ experiences who offered placements to students (who had previously failed a placement) will be explored, as will conversations with students who had themselves previously failed. The conclusions attained by the authors both of whom are University Fieldwork Coordinators in researching this topic will be presented, with some interesting results.
This paper introduces the use of new technologies and creative practices in teaching groupwork within two applied Irish postgraduate MA courses (Social Work and Community Development). By reflecting on experiences of teaching groupwork through the use of visual biographies, mask making, aural and video podcasting, the authors argue that creative teaching works to integrate experiential, practical and theoretical knowledge of groupwork. A more widespread adoption and evaluation of creative technologies in teaching groupwork to enhance student learning and affirm professional competencies is proposed.Keywords: social work; community development; creative technologies; podcasting; mask-making; visual biographies; group work; groupwork
his innovative project set out to develop a series of seven ‘wraparound’ multi-touch electronic ebooks to support pre-placement training within a professional social work course. The aim and main focus concentrated on developing and presenting the wisdom of practice teachers, social work students and tutors in a multimedia content, encompassing aural and visual podcasts. This was further enhanced by including expert topic based opinion, theory and supportive slide presentations. The concept of making the ebooks was to change the delivery of the fieldwork pre-placement module, refocusing it from a didactic lecture based delivery to a more modern technology enhanced relevant method of improving the pre-placement knowledge, skills and values of social work students.Keywords: e-learning; podcasting; social work; fieldwork practicum; practice teachers,
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