Field Education

Field education in social work is a component of social work education programs where students learn to practice social work through educationally focused service experiences in agency and community settings. Field education is also referred to as field instruction and field practicum, and earlier it was known as fieldwork or student supervision. The term “practice learning” is used in the United Kingdom to refer to field education. The aim of field education is to promote practice competence through students’ learning to integrate and apply the knowledge, values, and skills of social work while also offering services to individuals, families, groups, and communities. Students can also do field work in administration, planning, or policy development activities. An experienced social worker, usually an employee of the service setting, provides educationally focused field instruction and is accountable for services provided to clients. Schools of social work provide orientation and training for field instructors and linkage to the program through some form of faculty field liaison or field seminar. Field education is expected to be systematic, with educational objectives or outcomes specified as practice behaviors, the provision of relevant learning activities, and assessment of students’ mastery of practice competencies.