Asking the Critical Questions: An Evaluation of Social Work Students' Experiences in an International Placement

Reflective Learning and Teaching in Social Work Field Education in International Contexts

“…This is confirmed in another study that shows that students can learn better by returning to and reflecting on their placement experiences, by attending to feelings through utilising positive feelings and removing obstructing feelings, and by re-evaluating experience through association, integration, validation and appropriation (Boud et al, 1985;Pawar et al, 2004;Pawar and Anscombe, 2015). On similar lines, Cleak et al, 2014 suggest the need for more interactive and creative approaches to facilitate learning. Thus, it is important to enquire further (Noble, 2003) as to what innovative learning approaches (Cleak et al, 2014) students can employ in international placements, since these often challenge students' and field educators' assumptions and learning theories (see Lam et al, 2007;Lough, 2009).…”

“…In an increasingly globalising world, social work students and educators now need to have international perspectives in their practice irrespective of whether they are engaged at national or international levels (Cleak et al, 2014;Caragata and Sanchez, 2002;Cox and Pawar, 2013;Healy, 2008;Lager et al, 2010;Payne and Askeland, 2008). Recognising this need, some professional associations have included an international perspective in their accreditation standards (for example, the Council on Social Work Education in the USA (CSWE), 2008; and the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), 2012, pp.…”

“…Smith (2004) asserts that social work students and new graduates themselves can contribute towards building the social work knowledge base. There has therefore been an increase in the number of relevant publications in the past decade, such as books by Gilchrist et al (2009), Lager et al (2010 and Cox and Pawar (2013), and several articles (Barlow, 2007;Cleak et al, 2014;Crabtree et al, 2014;Das and Anand, 2014;Gilin and Young, 2009;Hawkins and Knox, 2014;Heron, 2005;Heron and Pilkington, 2009;Jung and Tripodi, 2007;Kreitzer et al, 2012;Lalyants et al, 2015;Lam et al, 2007;Lindsey, 2005;Loakimidis, 2011;Nadan, 2014;Nuttman-Shwartz and Ranz, 2014;Pawar et al, 2004;Pettys et al, 2005;Wehbi, 2009).…”

“…Experiences of international exchange students have shown that, although language and cultural barriers are important factors that affect communication, the use of an interpreter (Bennett, 2003;Noble, 2003), paper and pen (Albertson, 2003) and alert observation (Hammond, 2003;Nadan, 2014) can help to overcome these barriers to some extent. Many students have also acknowledged that international placements offer challenges in reconciling their current social work education with the realities of ISW practice (Myles, 2003;Cleak et al, 2014) and also that they help to challenge their prejudices regarding how certain people should be treated (Beck, 2003) and enhance self-knowledge, personal growth and self-confidence (Hammond, 2003;Beck, 2003;Pawar et al, 2004).…”

A Retrospective Appraisal of Teacher Induction

“…While retrospective evaluation has been used to evaluate programs in different areas, such as programs for preparing doctors (Ochsmann, Zier, Drexler, & Schmid, 2011;Pabst & Hermann-Jose, 1997) or training programs for social workers (Cleak, Anand, & Das, 2014), few studies have examined retrospective evaluations of teacher induction programs. One of these studies was a follow-up investigation, conducted 10 years after participation in induction (Davis, & Waite, 2003).…”