Help or hindrance? Outcomes of social work student placements

Heather A. Barton · Karen Bell · Wendy Bowles

53 citations0/0 files storedAustralian Social Work

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Social Work Education and Practice Higher Education and Employability Social Sciences and Policies

Abstract

This paper discusses the findings of a pilot project exploring the benefits and costs of social work student placements to host agencies. In this qualitative study, 43 supervisors were interviewed about their experiences of the costs and benefits of having a student on placement. Overall, the benefits were assessed as outweighing the costs. The main benefit identified was the work undertaken by students, such as counselling, research projects, evaluations, group work and staff training. Importantly, enhancement of the supervisors’ own professional development and reflection on practice was the second most frequently identified benefit. An unanticipated benefit was that placements appear to function as pre‐employment trials, with 60% of respondents reporting that students were subsequently employed by the practicum agency. The major costs included time spent in student supervision and student use of agency resources.

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1997The Changing Context of Social Work Practice 2000The Future of Social Work in the United States 2003Problems experienced by students on field placement: using research findings to inform curriculum design and content 2004Social workers in the new human services marketplace: Trends, challenges and responses 2004Power, status and marginalisation: Rural social workers and evidence‐based practice in multidisciplinary teams

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2014“What Are They Really Doing?” An Exploration of Student Learning Activities in Field Placement 2010Talking about (Re)Generation: Practice Learning as a Site of Renewal for Social Work 2018Empirical Support and Considerations for Social Work Supervision of Students in Alternative Placement Models 2016A fundamental rethink of practice learning in social work education 2014Getting to Know the Context: The Complexities of Providing Off-Site Supervision in Social Work Practice Learning 2021Simulation and Skills Development: Preparing Australian Social Work Education for a Post-COVID Reality 2019The changing face of social work: social worker perceptions of a neoliberalising profession

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