Field Education for International Students in Australia: Preparing students and the sector
Keywords:
Field education, Social work, Innovation, Rural, School wellbeingAbstract
This article presents a case study which explored strategies utilised by staff of the Masters of Social Work program at the University of South Australia to support some international students in meeting the requirements of their first field education placement. Strategies included curriculum redesign, the introduction of a hurdle requirement, student integration seminars, field educator training and the establishment of a campus-based community centre. The multipronged approach aimed to improve students’ spoken and written English language skills, introduce them to social work practice in the Australian context, develop their confidence and increase the number of students accepted into placements at their first interview. The lessons learned and feedback received from students, field teachers and academic staff involved are presented with recommendations for future developments.
References
Australian Association of Social Workers. (2010). Code of ethics. Canberra, ACT: Author.
Australian Association of Social Workers. (2013). Practice standards (pp. 1–19). Canberra, ACT: Author.
Australian Education Network (AEN). (2014). Australian Education Network university and college guide. Student numbers in Australian universities. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government. Retrieved from http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/ directory/student numbers
Australian Government Department of Education and Training (2015). Study pathways of international students in Australia, no. 2015/3 [Research paper] (pp. 1–14). Retrieved from https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/research-papers/Documents/ Study%20Pathways%202015_2.pdf
Australian Government Department of Education and Training. (2017). Study locations of international students across Australia in 2016. Research snapshot. Retrieved from https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/Research-Snapshots/Documents/ Location%20of%20International%20Students%20in%202016.pdf
Back, K., Davis, D., & Olsen, A. (1996). Internationalisation and higher education goals and strategies. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Barretta-Herman, A., Leung, P., Littlechild, B., Parada, H., & Wairire, G. (2016). The changing status and growth of socail work education worldwide: Process, findings and implications of the IASW 2010 census. International Social Work, 59(4), 459–478. doi:10.1177/0020872814547437
Bartoli, A., Kennedy, S., & Tedam, P. (2008). Practice learning. The Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning, 8(2), 75–90. doi:10.1921/81134
Cleak, H., Anand, J., & Das, C. (2016). Asking critical questions – An evaluation of social work students’ experiences in an international placement. The British Journal of Social Work, 46(2), 389–408.
Cleak, H., & Wilson, J. ( 2013). Making the most of field placement (3rd ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Thomson.
Crawford T., & Candlin, S., (2013). A literature review of the language needs of nursing students who have English as a second/ other language and the effectiveness of English language support programmes. Nurse Education in Practice, 13( 3), 181–185. doi. org/10.1016/j.nepr.2012.09.008
Dutton, P., & Colbeck, R. (2015). Australia increasingly a destination of choice for international students. [Joint media release] National Parliament Canberra, 27 October, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.minister.border.gov.au/peterdutton/2015/pages/ Australia-increasingly-a-destination-ofchoice-for-internationas-students.aspx>
Erichsen, E. A., & Bollinger, D. U. ( 2011). Towards understanding international graduate student isolation in traditional and online environments. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 59(3), 309–326.
Gornisiewicz, W., & Bass, O. (2011). Supporting international students to meet assessment expectations. Australian Journal of Engineering Education, 17(3), 157–162.
Hanlen, P. (2011). Community engagement: Managers’ viewpoints. In C. Noble & M. Hendrickson (Eds.), Social work field education and supervision across Asia Pacific (pp. 221–241). Sydney, NSW: Sydney University Press.
Harrison, G., & Felton, K. (2013). Fair go in the field: Inclusive field education for international students in the social sciences (pp. 1–41). Sydney, NSW: Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education.
Harrison, G., & Ip, R. (2013). Extending the terrain of inclusive education in the classroom to the field: International students on placement. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 32(2), 230–243.
Lillyman, S., & Bennet, C. (2014). Providing a positive learning experience for international students studying at United Kingdom universities. Journal of Research in International Education, 13(1), 63–75.
Mak, A., Bodycott, P., & Ramburuth, P. (2015). Beyond host language proficiency: Coping resources predicting international students’ satisfaction. Journal of Studies in International Education, 19(5), 460–475. doi.org/10.1177/1028315315587109
Manikutty, S., Anuradha, N. S., & Hansen, K. (2007). Does culture influence learning styles in higher education? International Journal of Learning and Change, 2(1), 70–87.
Mathiesen, S., & Lager, P. (2007). A model for developing international student exchanges. Social Work Education, 23(3), 280– 291.
McCluskey, K. (2012). The absolute necessity for a working model to support pre-service teachers of a non-English speaking background, Journal of Education for Teaching, 38(5), 571–584. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.739793
Meng, Q., Gray, M., Bradt, L., & Roets, G. ( 2018). Emergence of social work practice in rural China: A way forward?
International Social Work, 1–11. doi/10.1177/0020872818755859
Morley, C., & Dunstan, J. (2013). Critical reflection: A response to neoliberal challenges to field education? Social Work Education, 32(2), 141–156. doi:10.1080/02615479.2012.730141
Murray, N. (2012). Ten “good practice principles” … ten key questions: Considerations in addressing the English language needs of higher education students. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(2), 233–246, doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2011.555 389
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2008). Education at a glance 2008, OECD Indicators (pp. 1–519). Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-school/41284038.pdf
Rai, G. (2002). Meeting the educational needs of international students: A perspective from US schools. International Social Work, 45(1), 21–33.
Ryan, J. G., & Dogbey, E. (2012). Seven strategies for international nursing student success: A review of the literature. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 7(3), 103–107.
Smith, R., & Khawaja, N. (2011). A review of the acculturation experiences of international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(2011), 699–713. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.08.004
Wolfsfeld, L., & Haj-Yahia, M. (2010). Learning and supervisory styles in the training of social workers. The Clinical Supervisor, 29(1), 68–94.
Zuchowski, I., Hudson, C., Bartlett, B., & Diamandi, S. (2014). Social work field education in Australia: Sharing practice wisdom and reflection. Advances in Social Work and Welfare Education, 16(1), 67–80.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Advances in Social Work & Welfare Education by Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research (ANZSWWER) is licensed under CC BY 4.0
