What makes a good placement? Findings of a social work student-to-student research study

Abstract

Social work fieldwork placements are recognised as a key component of social work education. This article analyses the experiences of students who have completed one social 2 work placement and examines what they felt was most effective in aiding their learning. The innovative methodology used for the research enabled first year students to design an on-line survey which they administered to their second year student colleagues. As a result the first year students gained experience in designing and administering a piece of research, but also gained a greater understanding of what previous students have found assisted their learning on placement. This cross-sectional research surveyed accessed the 2014/15 cohort of year 1 and year 2 Masters in Social Work (MSW) students. It was conducted in two phases: in the first phase a year 1 student-staff team surveyed year 2 students who had just completed their placements, and in the second phase staff researchers surveyed both year 1 and year 2 students who had just completed their placements.Students reported how prepared they felt for placement and also who or what facilitated their learning on placement. Students' perception of the volume of learning on placement was strongly correlated with satisfaction. It is argued that being able to clearly identify types of interaction that enhance students' learning, leads to more positive outcomes for all involved in the placement experience.

Preparing students for social work practice in contemporary societies: insights from a transnational research network

“…In many ways this student opened up a new pathway of enquiry about how students bring together the different elements of their lives to successfully traverse their social work placements (Flanagan & Wilson, 2018). The takeaway message from this situation for academics could be about how to better support students on placement.…”

“…There is an extensive literature emphasizing the importance of field education in the professional learning of students (Hay, 2019;Chilvers, 2018), and it is argued that the first practice placement for all students is expected and demanding (McSweeney & Williams, 2019;Flanagan & Wilson, 2018). It is less discussed that practice placement is challenging and demanding for educators and practice teachers too, even after several years of experience.…”

Starting a conversation about racism with teenagers: using the social work research Dialogue Approach

“…The Dialogue Approach to research (Flanagan and Wilson, 2018;Wilson and Flanagan, 2021;2022;Flanagan et al, 2021) draws on the strengths of participatory research, experiential learning and dialoguing with others in teaching research methods. The approach was originally devised by the authors to provide experiential and publication opportunities for social work students within the confines of a semester-long module, and was adapted here for application outside a university setting.…”

Challenges of Social Work Student Conducts A Practice on Family in Context of “Relationship of Social Worker – Client”

“…Social work graduates are expected to be able to perform various case interventions as stated by social work scholar, Zastrow (2009), that a social worker has been trained to work skilfully with various individual's problem, families, groups, organisations, and communities. Field work is recognised as a key component for students to gain a better understanding and skills application in-person related to the subject studied (Flanagan & Wilson, 2018). As stated by Bogo (2015) for clinical social work, the ability of social work education to graduate ethical, competent, innovative, effective social workers is highly reliant on the quality of the field experience (Amadasun, 2021).…”