Field education organisational roles and responsibilities
A snapshot of Australian social work providers
Keywords:
: Neo-liberalism; Quality Field Education; Roles and Responsibilities; SustainabilityAbstract
Considerable research has been conducted on the changing context of Australian social work field education including availability and types of placements and supervision models. The purpose of this study is to contribute to this research by exploring how social work education providers are structuring their organisational processes and practices in response to these contextual changes. All Australian social work education providers were invited to participate in an online survey aimed at producing a snapshot of contemporary social work field education roles and responsibilities and contextual issues. The study findings identify 22 different roles and responsibilities performed by a large number of staff including social work academics, Work Integrated Learning teams and other professional and administrative staff teams. Often these roles and responsibilities overlap or are shared. This highlights the need for close collaboration, given that many of these staff do not report to the Head of the Social Work Academic Organisation Unit. Key contextual issues are also explored.
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