Introduction to Field Education

The primary purpose of field education is to provide students with educational opportunities that lead to competent practice. The field education experience is intended to complement MSW curriculum objectives. The provision of generalist practice opportunities for all students in both macro and micro practice methods is mandatory in field instruction for the foundation year. The second practicum experience builds on the foundation practicum and provides for the acquisition of in-depth knowledge and skills in social work roles in a concentration area, either Community Empowerment & Program Development or Family Centered Practice.

The School of Social Work continues to develop quality practicum placement sites across the region. All sites are selected through a prescribed process of site evaluation and contractual agreements between the agency and the University of Georgia. Student experiences in practicum are designed to meet objectives specified in the practicum syllabus for each semester placement. Hence, the MSW practica is educationally directed, is implemented through a vital partnership of the School with selected human service organizations and is individualized to meet student learning needs and goals. Throughout the foundation and concentration practicum sequence, a student’s experience is developed, directed, monitored, assessed and educationally supported by the School of Social Work faculty.

The goals for competence training in field education include:

• Technical proficiency in a concentration area.
• Application and testing of theory and knowledge in natural social work settings.
• Incorporation of knowledge and skills necessary for understanding and utilizing social work ethics, values, and goals in day-to-day practice and refinement of professional awareness, judgment, and decision-making abilities.
• Understanding of the interdependence of the range of social work roles and skill, from interpersonal to macro levels, within various settings and fields of service.
• Engagement in practice with diverse cultural and racial groups and with groups who have been consistently affected by social, economic, and legal bias or oppression.