Social Work Competencies At Masters Level: Lessons Learned From Social Work Students Of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
SOCIAL WORK COMPETENCIES AT MASTERS LEVEL:
Lessons Learned from Social Work Students
of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Muhamad Fadhil Nurdin, Azlinda Azman, Syarif Muhidin
Abstract
The development and building of social work competencies among graduate students is also
imperative in the social work practice. Field practice at the Masters’ level is greatly needed in
order to allow students to be able to apply knowledge, values, ethics and skills that they have
learned theoretically into real life situations. Both the social work educators and the students
must be actively involved in the supervision process, which can enhance the student
competencies in dealing with various target groups. This paper will address some of the USM’s
best practices in providing field practicum to the social work students currently pursuing their
Masters degree in social work. It will also highlight some of the advantages experienced by the
students themselves when undergoing or experiencing field practice. Students’ and alumni
perception and expectations on the pertinent issues, challenges as well as recommendations on
the improvement of the field practice will also be discussed and presented in greater detail.
Key words: Master Social Work; MSW practicum; Social work competency
Introduction
The purpose of the social work profession is to promote human and community
wellbeing. As known, the social work practicum is a fundamental aspect of social work
education and practice that provides students with the opportunity to apply the
theoretical foundations learned in class into the real situational context. In fact,
practicum is considered to be a central aspect of social work education (Maidment,
2000) and has even been described as the “signature pedagogy” of the profession
(Council of Social Work Education, 2008, p. 8). Practicum or evidence-based practice
was first introduced into social work education in the 1990s, although earlier models for
integrating research and practice did exist.
The social work profession relies heavily on the social work educational programmes to
produce competent and ethical professional practitioners. Consequently, University
Sains Malaysia’s social work programs function as the gatekeepers for the profession
and are seen by the general public as accountable for the quality of social work services
available in the community. Social work educators recognize their responsibility to
ensure that graduating students have achieved a level of performance for beginning
practitioners. For instance, the USM social work programme has designed a
comprehensive curriculum offered in the social work academic courses, field practicum,
and research experiences, where students can integrate and acquire the needed
knowledge, values, and skills for any form of social work practice. A range of teaching
approaches and methods of assessment of student learning are used in these domains
of the curriculum, all with the aim of preparing social work students to be ready and
able to enter the field of practice or in other words the ability in providing the direct
practices to the various group.
In any helping professions, it is recognized that knowledge for practice is continuously
evolving and changing. Hence a lifelong learning to ensure continuing competency is
necessary. A range of educational approaches have been developed to address this
needs, which includes the on-going supervision, agency-based educational workshops,
and continuing educational courses.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was the only university in the country offering Bachelor
Degrees in Social Work (BSW), since 1975. Not until the 1990s, many other Malaysian
higher learning institutions begin to follow the foots-teps of USM in offering social work
degree programmes. Currently, USM is still the only institutions that offers Masters in
Social Work coursework beginning 2006 in Malaysia. Being the first, the programme
took the responsibility in preparing social work students to become a competent social
work practitioners. This is possible through its rigorous practicum training that provides
students the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge into practice.
Competencies Required for Students
Undergoing for Practicum Training
Students undergoing practicum in any settings will be engaged in both direct practice
and indirect service provision. All social workers, whether engaged in direct or indirect
practice are expected to display basic competencies. The Educational Policy and
Accreditation Standards of the Council on Social Work Education (2008) clerly outlines
the central competencies that are considered essential for the development of the social
work student. These include the application of the social work values and ethics; the
use of critical thinking for decision-making; the acceptance and understanding of
diversity in practice; the advancement of social justice; the participation in the
development of policies that impact social service provision; and the engagement,
assessment and intervention with individuals, families, groups as well as communities.
The aim of this paper is to identify the perception of the current and former MSW
students regarding their practicum experience thorough in-depth interviews. The
students were asked about their opinions on the importance of practicum, the role of
the field instructors, their expectation after completing their practicum and their
experiences during practicum training either in the government or non-government
(NGOs) agencies.
The Importance of Practicum
Students were asked about the view on the importance of the practicum.
Presented below are the some of the students’ views or opinions with regards to the
importance of practicum:
“Field practicum is very important component in social work practice because it
provided an opportunity for students to integrate classroom education with
experiential learning.”
“Practicum is compulsory to every student in order to fulfill requirement in order
to obtain Master’s Degree in social work. Generally, practicum tries to give initial
working experience to students and to prepare them with working environment.”
“Honestly, I feel the practicum is very useful, significant, and powerful learning
experience in my formal social work education in USM. What I am trying to say is
during the practicum, the concepts, principles, and theories discussed in the
classroom come to life. The most interesting part is I have worked with the real
clients and I have the opportunity to apply the knowledge, value, skills and
intervention techniques that I previously learned and exercise in the classroom
role playing and simulations.”
From the above statements, it clearly regarded that practicum will allow students
to apply their knowledge and understanding regarding social work in the real world
situations. Social workers will get the opportunity to practice and apply all the
knowledge, values and skills in real working environment. In order to be effective and
efficient social workers, classroom education without experiential learning are not
sufficient to build and produce excellent social work in the field. This, field practicum is
regarded as the essence in the training of any social workers.
Lack of Qualified Field Instructors
The students also gave their opinions about the role of the field instructors.
Presented below are some of the pertinent opinions:
“Based on my field work experience, the lack of highly qualified field instructors
has been universally identified as the most critical problem. Field instructors are
often experienced workers, but they do not have much knowledge of social work
theories. Surprisingly even some of them do not have background in social work
but they work in the social work field. When the field instructor does not have
knowledge in social work it will definitely give some negative impact to the
practicum students. Based on my observation and experience, most of the social
work practicum students are asked to do office work such as typing letters and
sorting the files.”
“In my personal opinion, field instructor plays a very important role in order to
educate the students undergoing for their practicum training. Therefore, I would
suggest that the field instructor must have at least a Bachelor in Social Work
from an accredited institution with a reputation for professional competence.
The field instructor must have an understanding of and support for social work
education, and the field instructors must have enthusiasm for experimental
education, as well as interest in working with students of diverse backgrounds.”
“There are some challenge while I was doing my practicum such as there is no
specific social work unit or staff with social experience. They also do not have
any idea what is social work specific task. I found some difficulty to practice what
I have learnt in classroom. They also gave task to help them in administration
work because of the lack of staff and most of the staff do not have background
in social work.
“There are also conflict between the roles of the counselors and social workers.
In my opinion as a social work student, there is a clear differences orientation
between this two professions. Counselors problem solving approach is solely
through providing services through direct counseling. While social workers are
more to tapping into various systems, developmental/life span approach, and
applying the knowledge, values and skills which had been taught thoroughly..
There were some differences in curriculum too, but I do see that there were
more similarities than differences. In this, the combination of the counselors and
social worker perhaps will gain positive output.”
“On the other hand, the minimum knowledge on what is social work does come
into issues during the practicum training. Most of the instructor or the
administrative staff have zero knowledge on social work. Perhaps, with the
introduction of the social work act inMalaysia in the future will make enhance
people’s understanding about social work.
The lack of qualified field instructors has been the main problems in every social
work settings globally. In Malaysia, there have been drastic movements to manage
these situations not only by the authorities but also by the NGO’s. The upcoming Social
Worker’s Act is one of the blue prints and can be considered as the best alternative for
the time being. The main purposes of this act is to prepare and provide train social
workers in the various field.
Expectations
Students were also asked about their expectation after completing their
practicum training. Reported below are some of the statements given:
“I believe that practicum help prepare student before they involve in real
working fields. So, I hope that by doing my practicum, at least I gained some
experience that gives me some idea how real social work is practice. I also hope
that I will gain as much data that will then help me in writing my dissertation on
orphanage. In that way, I will contribute something in social work especially
social work practice with orphans.”
“Through the three months compulsory practicum of MSW programme, I have
had the pleasure of completing my final year practicum at a school in Penang. I
knew that I was interested in community development, but I didn’t have a solid
understanding of what this huge field term truly meant. I was hoping that this
practicum would provide me some answers to it. In addition, I was determined
to complete my final practicum at Penang Free School (PFS) not only because of
the school’s exceptional work, but also because I knew that I could learn more
about school social work, which would prepare me for my role as a social
worker”.
“As a MSW’s student, my expectation is to get some working experience to
prepare myself while working after finish my study. During practicum, I have
been exposed with direct and indirect working systems, communication skills, job
scope, roles, services provided by Wisma Anak Yatim as well as their working
culture. After I graduated from the masters’ programme I hope I will be able to
apply all the social work knowledge, value and skill in my daily life. In addition, I
hope in the future, social work programme in Malaysia is comparable with the
social work programme at the international level.”
The students emphasizes that field practicum do help students to gain some
experience and the most importantly, it offer students the opportunity to apply and
react properly in handling real case work. Students will have the chance to collect any
kind of data or knowledge in completing their dissertation requirement.
Fieldwork is a supervised learning experience. The fieldwork experience allow the
linking of skills and knowledge acquired in the classroom with direct practice is very
critical in becoming a competent social workers.
Students will have better
understanding regarding how the real world works and enable them to react
accordingly to the situations, conflict or problems. Having the real life experiences will
help to build or mold students to be able to serve any clientele more effectively.
Experiences
The students also reported on their experiences when undergoing practicum
training. Presented below are some of their experiences:
“Based on my practicum experience, I have learned to integrate theory into
direct social work practice, develop and enhance self-awareness and the
conscious use of self in providing social work services. I also able to enhance my
social work skills to provide services to individual, group and communities.
Besides that, I have also increase the awareness of the variety of opportunities
available of the field of social work. In addition, I have developed my skill and
confidence in providing social work services to diverse client groups with a wide
variety of needs and concern.”
“The practicum experience is very meaningful for me because upon completion, I
was able to engage the client systems appropriately and used professional
assessment and planning skills, utilizing applicable theory, assessment
instruments and methods to design appropriate intervention or service plans to
achieve realistic goals within the limit of client system, worker and agency
capability. In addition, I was able to demonstrate my interpersonal skills and
appropriate techniques to implement intervention or service plans to achieve
realistic goals with individuals, families, small groups, organizations and
communities.”
“This practicum experience has solidified my goal of being a school social worker.
Even though the definition of “school social worker” will take on several
meanings throughout my social work career, I am committed to finding ways to
improve the communities through community development initiatives. Finally, I
believe that social work is one of the hardest professions and therefore it is
essential that workers are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need in
order to carry out the job effectively. Skills in areas such as problem-solving,
empowering individuals, encouraging independence, promoting a better quality
of life for individuals and protecting them from harm are crucial.”
Field experience in social work is designed to give students first-hand experience
working in some area of applied social work. In recent years, students have received
supervised experiences in hospitals, community welfare centers, and day treatment
facilities, schools, correctional facilities, and other agencies. Students have worked with
a wide variety of clients. In addition, field experience can help students discern future
career goals. For some people, field experience confirms their interest and passion in
pursuing a career in the helping professions. For others, field experience helps them
realize that such a career does not fit their personality or disposition. Both realizations
are equally valuable to students' professional development.
Finally, field experience can assist in students' personal development too.
Working in the helping professions can foster greater humility, compassion, empathy,
and respect for the inherent rights and dignity of others. At the same time, field
experience can allow students to recognize personal strengths and weaknesses,
increase professionalism, and foster a sense of identity.
THE CHALLENGES: A PROFESIONAL SOCIAL WORKER
According to Allen (1976), designing work placements and supporting teachers
guidelines and techniques can be applied flexibly by the universities in various context.
Each teaching method engages students in different ways, thus in order to create and
maintain a supportive atmosphere for learning, students are encouraged to develop
self-confidence and confident in experimenting and creatively reflect and employ
different theories in their work and study. Utilization of technical field work skills is an
important function in social work education and is critical to encourage innovative and
constructive knowledge leading to intellectual self-sufficiency to face the challenges of
contemporary complex. Besides, respecting the student’s personal experience is crucial
to the development of professional practice in helping the students to recognize and
adopt an individualized theory or concept. However, social work competencies at
master’s level as a lifelong learning for example requires not only social work skills, but
also knowledge and application of theories in various contexts.
Thus, it is very important to learn about the social work practices including the
knowledge, skills and values of the community within which field practicum takes place.
For instance, supervisors is important to guide students and help orient the student to
the agency context in which they work. A clear definition of students’ roles is also
important because so that they can benefit fully from the educational opportunity to
provide appropriate service to both clients and agencies. On the other hand, faculty
liaisons can assist everyone’s needs and an opportunity to integrate the classroom
training with ‘real world’ experiences.
Hence, a fruitful social work practicum able to shape students in becoming a
professional social worker. In reality, resources are limited (included personnel, time
and money) in the context of developing countries, universities may consider the use of
online communication between field supervisors and individual field instructors, as well
as group supervision in order to support for better professional development (Ghipiu &
Maghiar, 2011).
CONCLUSION
This paper discussed some of the pertinent issues, advantages and experience
by the MSW students during their practicum training, and provide some
recommendations in order to improve the field practicum. As a whole, field practicum
was designed to help students integrate the theoretical concepts learned in the
classroom into actual clients’ situations within an agency setting (Council on Social Work
Education, 2001; Saks, 2002). In addition, more skillful social work students were
trained to provide resources and services to the individuals and groups of people who
are underserved and disenfranchised. In summary, comprehensive practicum training
will allow social work students to be competent in order to provide the best services for
the various target groups, particularly those who are vulnerable groups.
References
Allen, D. (1976). Extending the practicum: Problems in integrating theory and practice.
Canadian Journal of Education, 1(3), 43-51.
Council on Social Work Education. (2001). Educational policy and accreditation
standards.
Council on Social Work Education. (2008). Educational policy and accreditation
standards.
Retrieved from http://www.cswe.org/File.aspx?id=13780.
Ghitiu, M. & Maghiar, A. (2011). Field instructors on key issues in social work
education: A comparative approach. Social Work Review/Revista de Asistenta
Sociala, 4, 73-84.
Maidment, J. (2000). Methods used to teach social work students in the field: A
research report from New Zealand. Social Work Education, 19(2), 145-154.
Saks, L. V. (2002). A field search engine: Helping students explore placement sites via
the web. Paper presented at the 48th Annual Program Meeting of the Council on
Social Work Education, Nashville, TN.
Lessons Learned from Social Work Students
of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Muhamad Fadhil Nurdin, Azlinda Azman, Syarif Muhidin
Abstract
The development and building of social work competencies among graduate students is also
imperative in the social work practice. Field practice at the Masters’ level is greatly needed in
order to allow students to be able to apply knowledge, values, ethics and skills that they have
learned theoretically into real life situations. Both the social work educators and the students
must be actively involved in the supervision process, which can enhance the student
competencies in dealing with various target groups. This paper will address some of the USM’s
best practices in providing field practicum to the social work students currently pursuing their
Masters degree in social work. It will also highlight some of the advantages experienced by the
students themselves when undergoing or experiencing field practice. Students’ and alumni
perception and expectations on the pertinent issues, challenges as well as recommendations on
the improvement of the field practice will also be discussed and presented in greater detail.
Key words: Master Social Work; MSW practicum; Social work competency
Introduction
The purpose of the social work profession is to promote human and community
wellbeing. As known, the social work practicum is a fundamental aspect of social work
education and practice that provides students with the opportunity to apply the
theoretical foundations learned in class into the real situational context. In fact,
practicum is considered to be a central aspect of social work education (Maidment,
2000) and has even been described as the “signature pedagogy” of the profession
(Council of Social Work Education, 2008, p. 8). Practicum or evidence-based practice
was first introduced into social work education in the 1990s, although earlier models for
integrating research and practice did exist.
The social work profession relies heavily on the social work educational programmes to
produce competent and ethical professional practitioners. Consequently, University
Sains Malaysia’s social work programs function as the gatekeepers for the profession
and are seen by the general public as accountable for the quality of social work services
available in the community. Social work educators recognize their responsibility to
ensure that graduating students have achieved a level of performance for beginning
practitioners. For instance, the USM social work programme has designed a
comprehensive curriculum offered in the social work academic courses, field practicum,
and research experiences, where students can integrate and acquire the needed
knowledge, values, and skills for any form of social work practice. A range of teaching
approaches and methods of assessment of student learning are used in these domains
of the curriculum, all with the aim of preparing social work students to be ready and
able to enter the field of practice or in other words the ability in providing the direct
practices to the various group.
In any helping professions, it is recognized that knowledge for practice is continuously
evolving and changing. Hence a lifelong learning to ensure continuing competency is
necessary. A range of educational approaches have been developed to address this
needs, which includes the on-going supervision, agency-based educational workshops,
and continuing educational courses.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was the only university in the country offering Bachelor
Degrees in Social Work (BSW), since 1975. Not until the 1990s, many other Malaysian
higher learning institutions begin to follow the foots-teps of USM in offering social work
degree programmes. Currently, USM is still the only institutions that offers Masters in
Social Work coursework beginning 2006 in Malaysia. Being the first, the programme
took the responsibility in preparing social work students to become a competent social
work practitioners. This is possible through its rigorous practicum training that provides
students the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge into practice.
Competencies Required for Students
Undergoing for Practicum Training
Students undergoing practicum in any settings will be engaged in both direct practice
and indirect service provision. All social workers, whether engaged in direct or indirect
practice are expected to display basic competencies. The Educational Policy and
Accreditation Standards of the Council on Social Work Education (2008) clerly outlines
the central competencies that are considered essential for the development of the social
work student. These include the application of the social work values and ethics; the
use of critical thinking for decision-making; the acceptance and understanding of
diversity in practice; the advancement of social justice; the participation in the
development of policies that impact social service provision; and the engagement,
assessment and intervention with individuals, families, groups as well as communities.
The aim of this paper is to identify the perception of the current and former MSW
students regarding their practicum experience thorough in-depth interviews. The
students were asked about their opinions on the importance of practicum, the role of
the field instructors, their expectation after completing their practicum and their
experiences during practicum training either in the government or non-government
(NGOs) agencies.
The Importance of Practicum
Students were asked about the view on the importance of the practicum.
Presented below are the some of the students’ views or opinions with regards to the
importance of practicum:
“Field practicum is very important component in social work practice because it
provided an opportunity for students to integrate classroom education with
experiential learning.”
“Practicum is compulsory to every student in order to fulfill requirement in order
to obtain Master’s Degree in social work. Generally, practicum tries to give initial
working experience to students and to prepare them with working environment.”
“Honestly, I feel the practicum is very useful, significant, and powerful learning
experience in my formal social work education in USM. What I am trying to say is
during the practicum, the concepts, principles, and theories discussed in the
classroom come to life. The most interesting part is I have worked with the real
clients and I have the opportunity to apply the knowledge, value, skills and
intervention techniques that I previously learned and exercise in the classroom
role playing and simulations.”
From the above statements, it clearly regarded that practicum will allow students
to apply their knowledge and understanding regarding social work in the real world
situations. Social workers will get the opportunity to practice and apply all the
knowledge, values and skills in real working environment. In order to be effective and
efficient social workers, classroom education without experiential learning are not
sufficient to build and produce excellent social work in the field. This, field practicum is
regarded as the essence in the training of any social workers.
Lack of Qualified Field Instructors
The students also gave their opinions about the role of the field instructors.
Presented below are some of the pertinent opinions:
“Based on my field work experience, the lack of highly qualified field instructors
has been universally identified as the most critical problem. Field instructors are
often experienced workers, but they do not have much knowledge of social work
theories. Surprisingly even some of them do not have background in social work
but they work in the social work field. When the field instructor does not have
knowledge in social work it will definitely give some negative impact to the
practicum students. Based on my observation and experience, most of the social
work practicum students are asked to do office work such as typing letters and
sorting the files.”
“In my personal opinion, field instructor plays a very important role in order to
educate the students undergoing for their practicum training. Therefore, I would
suggest that the field instructor must have at least a Bachelor in Social Work
from an accredited institution with a reputation for professional competence.
The field instructor must have an understanding of and support for social work
education, and the field instructors must have enthusiasm for experimental
education, as well as interest in working with students of diverse backgrounds.”
“There are some challenge while I was doing my practicum such as there is no
specific social work unit or staff with social experience. They also do not have
any idea what is social work specific task. I found some difficulty to practice what
I have learnt in classroom. They also gave task to help them in administration
work because of the lack of staff and most of the staff do not have background
in social work.
“There are also conflict between the roles of the counselors and social workers.
In my opinion as a social work student, there is a clear differences orientation
between this two professions. Counselors problem solving approach is solely
through providing services through direct counseling. While social workers are
more to tapping into various systems, developmental/life span approach, and
applying the knowledge, values and skills which had been taught thoroughly..
There were some differences in curriculum too, but I do see that there were
more similarities than differences. In this, the combination of the counselors and
social worker perhaps will gain positive output.”
“On the other hand, the minimum knowledge on what is social work does come
into issues during the practicum training. Most of the instructor or the
administrative staff have zero knowledge on social work. Perhaps, with the
introduction of the social work act inMalaysia in the future will make enhance
people’s understanding about social work.
The lack of qualified field instructors has been the main problems in every social
work settings globally. In Malaysia, there have been drastic movements to manage
these situations not only by the authorities but also by the NGO’s. The upcoming Social
Worker’s Act is one of the blue prints and can be considered as the best alternative for
the time being. The main purposes of this act is to prepare and provide train social
workers in the various field.
Expectations
Students were also asked about their expectation after completing their
practicum training. Reported below are some of the statements given:
“I believe that practicum help prepare student before they involve in real
working fields. So, I hope that by doing my practicum, at least I gained some
experience that gives me some idea how real social work is practice. I also hope
that I will gain as much data that will then help me in writing my dissertation on
orphanage. In that way, I will contribute something in social work especially
social work practice with orphans.”
“Through the three months compulsory practicum of MSW programme, I have
had the pleasure of completing my final year practicum at a school in Penang. I
knew that I was interested in community development, but I didn’t have a solid
understanding of what this huge field term truly meant. I was hoping that this
practicum would provide me some answers to it. In addition, I was determined
to complete my final practicum at Penang Free School (PFS) not only because of
the school’s exceptional work, but also because I knew that I could learn more
about school social work, which would prepare me for my role as a social
worker”.
“As a MSW’s student, my expectation is to get some working experience to
prepare myself while working after finish my study. During practicum, I have
been exposed with direct and indirect working systems, communication skills, job
scope, roles, services provided by Wisma Anak Yatim as well as their working
culture. After I graduated from the masters’ programme I hope I will be able to
apply all the social work knowledge, value and skill in my daily life. In addition, I
hope in the future, social work programme in Malaysia is comparable with the
social work programme at the international level.”
The students emphasizes that field practicum do help students to gain some
experience and the most importantly, it offer students the opportunity to apply and
react properly in handling real case work. Students will have the chance to collect any
kind of data or knowledge in completing their dissertation requirement.
Fieldwork is a supervised learning experience. The fieldwork experience allow the
linking of skills and knowledge acquired in the classroom with direct practice is very
critical in becoming a competent social workers.
Students will have better
understanding regarding how the real world works and enable them to react
accordingly to the situations, conflict or problems. Having the real life experiences will
help to build or mold students to be able to serve any clientele more effectively.
Experiences
The students also reported on their experiences when undergoing practicum
training. Presented below are some of their experiences:
“Based on my practicum experience, I have learned to integrate theory into
direct social work practice, develop and enhance self-awareness and the
conscious use of self in providing social work services. I also able to enhance my
social work skills to provide services to individual, group and communities.
Besides that, I have also increase the awareness of the variety of opportunities
available of the field of social work. In addition, I have developed my skill and
confidence in providing social work services to diverse client groups with a wide
variety of needs and concern.”
“The practicum experience is very meaningful for me because upon completion, I
was able to engage the client systems appropriately and used professional
assessment and planning skills, utilizing applicable theory, assessment
instruments and methods to design appropriate intervention or service plans to
achieve realistic goals within the limit of client system, worker and agency
capability. In addition, I was able to demonstrate my interpersonal skills and
appropriate techniques to implement intervention or service plans to achieve
realistic goals with individuals, families, small groups, organizations and
communities.”
“This practicum experience has solidified my goal of being a school social worker.
Even though the definition of “school social worker” will take on several
meanings throughout my social work career, I am committed to finding ways to
improve the communities through community development initiatives. Finally, I
believe that social work is one of the hardest professions and therefore it is
essential that workers are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need in
order to carry out the job effectively. Skills in areas such as problem-solving,
empowering individuals, encouraging independence, promoting a better quality
of life for individuals and protecting them from harm are crucial.”
Field experience in social work is designed to give students first-hand experience
working in some area of applied social work. In recent years, students have received
supervised experiences in hospitals, community welfare centers, and day treatment
facilities, schools, correctional facilities, and other agencies. Students have worked with
a wide variety of clients. In addition, field experience can help students discern future
career goals. For some people, field experience confirms their interest and passion in
pursuing a career in the helping professions. For others, field experience helps them
realize that such a career does not fit their personality or disposition. Both realizations
are equally valuable to students' professional development.
Finally, field experience can assist in students' personal development too.
Working in the helping professions can foster greater humility, compassion, empathy,
and respect for the inherent rights and dignity of others. At the same time, field
experience can allow students to recognize personal strengths and weaknesses,
increase professionalism, and foster a sense of identity.
THE CHALLENGES: A PROFESIONAL SOCIAL WORKER
According to Allen (1976), designing work placements and supporting teachers
guidelines and techniques can be applied flexibly by the universities in various context.
Each teaching method engages students in different ways, thus in order to create and
maintain a supportive atmosphere for learning, students are encouraged to develop
self-confidence and confident in experimenting and creatively reflect and employ
different theories in their work and study. Utilization of technical field work skills is an
important function in social work education and is critical to encourage innovative and
constructive knowledge leading to intellectual self-sufficiency to face the challenges of
contemporary complex. Besides, respecting the student’s personal experience is crucial
to the development of professional practice in helping the students to recognize and
adopt an individualized theory or concept. However, social work competencies at
master’s level as a lifelong learning for example requires not only social work skills, but
also knowledge and application of theories in various contexts.
Thus, it is very important to learn about the social work practices including the
knowledge, skills and values of the community within which field practicum takes place.
For instance, supervisors is important to guide students and help orient the student to
the agency context in which they work. A clear definition of students’ roles is also
important because so that they can benefit fully from the educational opportunity to
provide appropriate service to both clients and agencies. On the other hand, faculty
liaisons can assist everyone’s needs and an opportunity to integrate the classroom
training with ‘real world’ experiences.
Hence, a fruitful social work practicum able to shape students in becoming a
professional social worker. In reality, resources are limited (included personnel, time
and money) in the context of developing countries, universities may consider the use of
online communication between field supervisors and individual field instructors, as well
as group supervision in order to support for better professional development (Ghipiu &
Maghiar, 2011).
CONCLUSION
This paper discussed some of the pertinent issues, advantages and experience
by the MSW students during their practicum training, and provide some
recommendations in order to improve the field practicum. As a whole, field practicum
was designed to help students integrate the theoretical concepts learned in the
classroom into actual clients’ situations within an agency setting (Council on Social Work
Education, 2001; Saks, 2002). In addition, more skillful social work students were
trained to provide resources and services to the individuals and groups of people who
are underserved and disenfranchised. In summary, comprehensive practicum training
will allow social work students to be competent in order to provide the best services for
the various target groups, particularly those who are vulnerable groups.
References
Allen, D. (1976). Extending the practicum: Problems in integrating theory and practice.
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Council on Social Work Education. (2001). Educational policy and accreditation
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Council on Social Work Education. (2008). Educational policy and accreditation
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Ghitiu, M. & Maghiar, A. (2011). Field instructors on key issues in social work
education: A comparative approach. Social Work Review/Revista de Asistenta
Sociala, 4, 73-84.
Maidment, J. (2000). Methods used to teach social work students in the field: A
research report from New Zealand. Social Work Education, 19(2), 145-154.
Saks, L. V. (2002). A field search engine: Helping students explore placement sites via
the web. Paper presented at the 48th Annual Program Meeting of the Council on
Social Work Education, Nashville, TN.