Field education in crisis: experiences of field education coordinators in Canada

Ayala, Jessica; Drolet, Julie; Fulton, Amy; Hewson, Jennifer; Letkemann, Lorraine; Baynton, Myra; Elliott, Grace; Judge-Stasiak, Angela; Blaug, Carrie; Tétreault, Alice Gérard; Schweizer, Elizabeth

doi:10.1080/02615479.2017.1397109

Cited by 65 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Despite these caveats, it seems clear that the findings from this study signal the need for a comprehensive examination of the social work field education context in Aotearoa New Zealand. While not declared a crisis, at this point, the similarity of issues across the Canadian and New Zealand contexts is sobering (Ayala et al, 2018). Previous Aotearoa New Zealand research called for a "sector wide workforce strategy that endorses the importance of students for development of the profession and recruitment" (Hay et al, 2016, p. 52) and the findings presented here would validate such a process.…”

Section: Qualitative Researchsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…A recent study (Ayala et al, 2018) explored the perspectives of field education coordinators on the declared crisis in field education in Canada. They identified placement saturation as a critical issue and described this as "… the lack of sufficient numbers of practica to accommodate the increasing demand for placements from expanding social work education programmes" (p. 265).…”

Section: Original Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…They identified placement saturation as a critical issue and described this as "… the lack of sufficient numbers of practica to accommodate the increasing demand for placements from expanding social work education programmes" (p. 265). Their claims of significant shortages of placements has led to recommendations to considering alternative approaches to existing models of field education and enhancing collaboration between tertiary education programmes (Ayala et al, 2018).…”

Section: Original Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As Zuchowski's (2015) Australian research testified, tertiary educators must understand not only individual student needs, but also the regulatory and programme requirements and the organisational context to facilitate effective placements. The unfeasibly high workloads of tertiary educators have been identified as a critical element in the Canadian field education crisis (Ayala et al, 2018); however, there is a notable absence of published literature on the workloads of field education tertiary educators and how they manage the complexities of their role in Aotearoa New Zealand.…”

Section: Role Of the Tertiary Educatormentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

"There is competition": Facing the reality of field education in New Zealand

Hay

2018

ANZSWJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

INTRODUCTION:Anecdotal evidence of increasing competition for field education placements has raised concerns about the availability of quality learning opportunities for students and so it was considered timely to examine stakeholder perspectives. METHOD:In late 2014, 15 tertiary educators from 11 tertiary institutions and 31 social work students from three Aotearoa New Zealand tertiary institutions engaged with the researcher in individual or focus group interviews on aspects of quality field education. FINDINGS:Overall, the tertiary educators revealed considerable pressure on them to secure quality student placements due to competition with other tertiary providers, limited placement opportunities in some locations, high workloads and inadequate funding. Students recognised these pressures but questioned whether the educators are adequately supported by the tertiary institution. Placement availability was also affected by organisations experiencing funding pressures, placement fatigue, limited space and physical resources, and high workloads.CONCLUSIONS: These qualitative findings raise questions for all the key stakeholders in field education: tertiary institutions, educators, social service organisations, the professional associations, the regulatory body and students. The findings from this study signal the need for a comprehensive, sector-wide examination of the social work field education context in Aotearoa New Zealand.

show abstract

Section: Qualitative Researchsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Original Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Original Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Role Of the Tertiary Educatormentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

"There is competition": Facing the reality of field education in New Zealand

Hay

2018

ANZSWJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Research into field education indicates that social work students undertake placements in a diverse range of organizational settings (Author, 2014). Accessing enough field placements to allocate to students is a well-worn subject in the social work literature within a climate of placement shortage and agency saturation (Ayala et al, 2018;Author, 2014).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Feeling Lucky: The Serendipitous Nature of Field Education

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Field education and the supervision that occurs during this process cements learning and enhances preparedness for a career in social work. Graduate readiness for social work practice is however a contested subject in New Zealand with recent criticism focusing on the adequacy of social work education. This paper reports on findings from focus groups with twenty-seven faculty members and thirty-five students from 8 Schools of Social Work in New Zealand which explored aspects of the taught and learned curriculum. Overall, students and faculty revealed some dissatisfaction with the taught curriculum on supervision that occurs on campus prior to the placement experience. Many students reported irregularity of placement supervision and associated quality supervision with being lucky. We propose a series of recommendations to address these concerns, emphasizing that students should be able to consistently access effective placement supervision rather than consider this a matter of luck.

show abstract