1. McMaster University School of Social Work
Do we have (the)Heart? Preparedness for Practice: Bridging Field and Classroom in Social Work Education McMaster’s School Wide Initiative
CASWE/ ACFTS Conference, Congress of Social Sciences and Humanities, Calgary May 31, 2016
Janice Chaplin Jennie Vengris Sheila Sammon
McMaster University School of Social Work

2. Developing disciplinary ‘habits’(L. Shulman)
All disciplines
Habits of thinking
Professional disciplines
Habits of the heart
integrating values frameworks; developing & refining ethical sensibilities
Habits of the hand
Developing & refining capacities for practice - for acting & interacting effectively in practice contexts

3. Goals for today: Provide context What do we mean by preparedness?
Shifting from “field” only to “School wide”
Changes/strategies put in place to date
Our “review”
Next steps and things to continue to puzzle about…

4. The Context

5. Current Concerns (Some) Students Less prepared for direct practice
Less focus on social justice
Less life experience
Less insight / reflexivity
More barriers affecting success in class and field
School
Struggling with Gatekeeping
Worried about excluding students and perpetuating inequities AND
Worried about graduates who are ill prepared for the complexities of practice
Potential hurt/harm to students
Potential harm to service users
Field
Less time/opportunity to know the student and help develop skills and reflexivity
Less societal and organizational support for combining ‘justice’ practice with direct service
Less organizational support for student placements
More stress

6. Neo-Liberal Context Efficiencies Constraints
Field
Efficiencies
Constraints
Decrease in social action/advocacy/ prevention
Decrease in Jobs
precarious employment
Complex needs
Regulators
Competition from other professions
Challenges to support students who are traditionally excluded from PSE
Universities
Schools across country have Increased enrolment = competition for students and placements
Faculty pressures
Predicted decrease in university enrolment
Students
Tuition costs
Multiple responsibilities
Anxiety re future
Less practice / life experience
Service Users
Changing demographics
Complex and depth of issues
Impact of social forces
Sense of hopelessness
Much of how we envision field education was developed during the years that we refer to as the “welfare state” today’s context, the neo liberal context challenges what we experienced as field education in the past.
UNIVERSITIES move to faculty role related to valuing field. Eg. Conversation with Nick

7. What do we mean by Preparedness?

8. What do we mean by preparedness?
Reflexivity
Responsiveness to Feedback
Social justice values
Ethics
Social work skills = purposeful conversations; analysis; planning; ‘interventions’
Critical analysis
Integration of theory and practice
Work readiness
Presentation skills
Small group skills
Writing

9. Our Initiative School Retreat “Student Readiness for Field” May 2015
Course Syllabus Changes Sept. 2015
Standing Item for Faculty Meetings ‘its everyone’s responsibility’ Sept. 2015
Enhanced orientation to social work program upon admission including discussion re: preparedness for practice Fall 2015
Fall “Gathering” with Field Instructors October 2015
Report from students: “Enhancing Accessibility and Disability Inclusion” Fall 2015
Working Groups:
Revise content and method of Social Work Admission Test Completed Winter 2016
Revise first year Intro to Social Work Course (students not yet admitted to the School) Summer 2016
Revise Theory, Process and Communication course (first year for students admitted to the School) Summer 2016
Enhanced Field Instructor Courses
Enhanced ‘Matching’ process for placements Winter 2016
Confidentiality Agreement started in placement seminars Spring 2016
Review Process Spring 2016
Clearer feedback to students about concerns

10. Changes to the Course Syllabus
Clarity about ‘Essential Course Requirements’ (Including the field placement which is a course) i.e. the knowledge and skills necessary to pass the course and to do social work
Recognizing and Revising ‘Access Skills’ i.e. those skills developed & necessary to do an assignment or class exercise but not essential.
Make it clear that each course has different essential requirements—otherwise, different responses to accommodation requests are experienced as inconsistencies

11. EX: Social Work with Groups
Assignment – facilitate your tutorial group and write an analysis of group process
Access skills (= skills required to do the assignment, and thus unintentionally ‘tested’)
Attend tutorial
Group work skills
Writing
Analysis of group process.
Target skills/ essential course requirements (= what the assignment is designed to assess)
Group work skills
Analysis of group process

12. EX: Social Work with Groups Accommodation & Accessibility
Assignment – facilitate your tutorial group and write an analysis of group process
Accessibility : consider multiple ways students can fulfill essential course requirements
Access skills (= skills required to do the assignment, and thus unintentionally ‘tested’)
Attend tutorial
Group work skills
Writing
Analysis of group process.
Target skills/ essential course requirements (= what the assignment is designed to assess)
Group work skills
Analysis of group process
Student Accessibility Services:
All students must meet
essential course requirements

13. Our Review

14. Steps to the Review Clarity about purpose of the review
Transparency with students
Feedback from faculty and field instructors
Faculty Field Coordinator Meetings with
Students
Review lists of students with marginal failing or incomplete grades

15. New Model: Concerns about a student comes to the Review Team
Director
Undergraduate Chair
Faculty Member
Administrator
School’ s
Field Coordinator

16. Still To Do
For students identified as potentially not ready for practice:
clear + consistent feedback (who, how? Documented?)
attention to whether/ how feedback is integrated
Failure ‘on the table’
Clearer pathways for/ communicated possibility of: delayed placement; extended placement; particular kind of placement (concurrent vs block; specific settings); leaves of absence; counseling out; failure

17. Still To Do For Faculty:
Refine processes of identifying students-regular reminders and discussion at Faculty meetings
Tracking our responses in order to balance consistency in response with individual student needs
Refine process of relaying information back to Faculty
Continue to work at defining “essential requirements” and beginning to have field instructors do this for field placement settings

18. Thanks for Listening and Puzzling!