Developing Simulation-Based Learning for Forensic Social Work

Abstract

Simulation-based learning is emerging as a pedagogy to teach and assess specialist competencies in social work education. At present, the use of simulation-based learning in forensic social work education is unexplored in published literature. Forensic social workers regularly engage with a range of vulnerable and high-risk client groups and in scenarios fraught with hostility and difficult conversations. Utilising simulation-based education, educators can control the exposure and learning specifics to support emerging practitioners. This article explores the design process for creating a simulation activity representing a social work interview with a justice-involved client. This includes the creation of an outcome measure framework using holistic competency measures and metrics/indicators as structured benchmarks to determine and set educational expectations for both learners and educators. The findings suggest that simulation-based learning can be integrated to enhance student competence within forensic social work education.