A stepping stone into a social work career

Fort Worth, TX

3/28/2008

The Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences’ department of social work is dedicated to providing students a well-rounded education to prepare them for graduate school or a career in the field of social work. Part of that education requires senior social work majors to practice their knowledge and skills learned in the classroom in a field education program.

This program is a part of the requirement for accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education, by which TCU’s Harris College is accredited.

The Council’s purpose in field education states it, “is an integral component of the social work education anchored in the mission, goals, and educational level of the program. It occurs in settings that reinforces students’ identification with the purposes, values, and ethics of the profession; fosters the integration of empirical and practice-based knowledge; and promotes the development of professional competence.”

At TCU, Leslie Lovett, the Director of Field Instruction, organizes all field education internships and supervises them as students complete their senior year and move toward graduation. Although the CSWE does not tell the department how to teach, it does dictate what to teach, and field education is an important capstone to students’ foundation of social work, Lovett said.

Each senior takes classes in policy, practice, human behavior, research and ethics dealing in social work, and the field education program allows them to put into practice all that he/she has learned in class. A field instructor, who is a professional in the field and a volunteer for the program, is assigned to each senior, and throughout the year they work together in a social work agency to further the skills of the student in the field, as well as with a research project.

The research project is often generated around a specific question that the student would like to answer about work in their chosen agency. Together with the help of Lovett and the field instructor, the student will conduct research to answer the question. These projects are often helpful not only for students, but for the professionals as well.

One student is currently researching on the success of helping victims of crimes through the police department, Lovett said. Not only will her research help to further her understanding of social work, it will also help the police department to access their victim assistance.

Students must demonstrate competency in their agency, and show a clear integration of the classroom knowledge applied to an agency setting, Lovett said. Without succeeding at the expected level of competency, a student cannot graduate.

“In this way, the program acts as a gatekeeper in the field of social work,” Lovett explained. “The field instructors provide a check to see if our curriculum is satisfactory, and we provide a check to see if our students are ready for the field education program before they are able to graduate.”

This year, Lovett supervises 20 seniors, each of which has a field education internship with a different agency. Agencies include, police departments, high schools, nursing homes, cancer care, probation offices, alternative high schools, the Lena Pope Home, Alliance for Children, Child Protective Services and AIDS outreach.

Although most students are continuing on to graduate school, some students have found that the field education program has spurred them into careers after graduation. “One student has been offered a position at the agency where she is completing her field instruction,” Lovett said.

Lovett has already been preparing for next year’s group through the junior application and evaluation process. The junior evaluation process examines if students are truly ready for field instruction. After students apply, Lovett discusses their interests and how she may be able to fit those interests into field instruction.

After placing students in agencies, it is the responsibility of the student and agency to see if it would be a good match, and if it is, the process can begin. Each year students apply and complete the field instruction program, and each year students learn invaluable knowledge and skills that will be used as the foundation for their future careers.

The field education program provides a stepping stone for students into their careers as social workers.