On Friday, October 25th, my colleague Daryl Fraser and I presented on our process for developing an integrative field seminar at the Council on Social Work Education 65th Annual Program Meeting in Denver, Colorado. For those who were unable to attend, below is the information about our session:
Introduction
Have you ever wanted to develop an integrative field seminar? If so, this oral presentation is for you. Participants will be immersed in the change process for developing an integrative field seminar. Concepts discussed include: data collection methods, analysis, workload considerations and course development strategies.
From Needs Assessment to Implementation
Social work programs have the responsibility to prepare students for practice in an ever-changing world. As the signature pedagogy of the social work profession, affirmed by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), it is imperative that this part of the curriculum help students to “connect the theoretical and conceptual contribution of the classroom with the practical world of the practice setting” (CSWE, 2015a, p. 12). However, despite having the label of “signature pedagogy,” field education programs face the paradox of operating with minimal resources, inadequate staffing, and limited power in the overall hierarchy of social work education (CSWE, 2015b). Furthermore, Dalton (2012) cited that the CSWE does not mandate a uniform structure for field education delivery.
While many tenured and/or tenure-track faculty do not teach within field education programs, they can be very influential in decisions that impact field education pedagogy. With many larger institutions changing their focus towards research, most faculty teaching in field education are full-time professional faculty and/or part-time adjuncts. Furthermore, Dalton (2012) posited that social work programs with large MSW graduating classes were less likely to have seminars due to less financial resources per student, less time for student contact, and difficulty coordinating large seminars.
An office of field education (OFE) at a large urban social work school in the south with a physical MSW program, distance education MSW program and BSW programs decided to update their field education program by adding an integrative seminar component to help students marry theory and practice skills learned in their courses with their experiences in field. To do so, this OFE developed a plan to strategically garner buy-in and support from faculty, students, and field instructors. The process included a literature review on the effectiveness of field seminars and elicited input from students, faculty, and field instructors in the form of faculty meetings, focus groups, and surveys. The OFE solicited feedback from other schools of social work to determine whether: 1) they offered field seminar; 2) the frequency of seminar; and 3) for what level/programs was field seminar offered. The director of field education worked with the dean and the dean’s cabinet to develop workload limits for faculty liaisons who would also teach the seminar course.
Sixty-six current field instructors completed a survey regarding the office of field education’s quest to implement an integrative field seminar. The OFE gave participants a definition of integrative seminar to help conceptualize the seminar. Of the 66 respondents, only 55.4% were “moderately familiar” or “extremely familiar” with the content taught in their student’s social work courses. Based on the definition given, 81.2% (n=52) strongly or somewhat favored adding integrative field seminar to the field education program. Additionally, programmatic assessment from both the undergraduate and graduate programs indicated that areas for improvement were research and policy integration at the field placement. Sixty percent of respondents were somewhat, slightly, or not comfortable at all helping students integrate research, while 69% were moderately or extremely comfortable helping students integrate policy concepts at their field placement.
Field faculty subscribed to the CSWE field directors and social work distance education field education listservs provided feedback about their programs’ field seminar. Thirty-three field faculty responded. 84.8% (n=28) of respondents have a field seminar, with 46.4% having seminar occurring either weekly or bi-weekly. 62% (n=17) separate the credits of their field practicum/placement from their field seminar.
Data from Fortune, Rogers and Estella (2018) postulate that students who complete an integrative field seminar self report “better critical thinking… and more satisfaction with their field education” (p. 94). After reviewing the literature, collecting data from stakeholders and the director of field education discussing with the dean’s cabinet, the office of field education proposed the following be adapted by the school:
- BSW seniors and MSW generalist students will complete 200 hours per week at their field practicum/placement concurrently with other courses with 1 seminar meeting per month lasting two and a half hours.
- MSW specialization students will complete 300 hours per week at their field practicum/placement concurrently with other courses with the option of taking topical based field seminar electives in place of traditional curriculum electives.
The poster we used to present this information is above the title of this post.
References
Council on Social Work Education. (2015a). Educational policy and accreditation standards. Retrieved from https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/Accreditation/ Accreditation-Process/2015-EPAS/2015EPAS_Web_FINAL.pdf.aspx
Council on Social Work Education (2015b). State of field education survey. Retrieved from https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/05519d2d-7384-41fe-98b8-08a21682ed6e/State-of-Field-Education-Survey-Final-Report.aspx
Dalton, B. (2012). “You make them do what?”: A national survey on field seminar assignments. Advances in Social Work, 13(3). Retrieved from https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ advancesinsocialwork/article/view/1994/3910
Fortune, A. E. , Rogers, C. A. & Williamson, E. (2018) Effects of an integrative field seminar for MSW students, Journal of Social Work Education, 54(1), 94-109, DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2017.1307149