Simulation in Social Work: Creativity of Students and Faculty during COVID-19

Abstract

Simulation learning plays an important role in social work education, allowing students to explore how theory and practice parameters can be integrated into actual situations they are likely to experience in the field. The arrival of COVID-19 and the sudden cessation of in-field practicum opportunities raised challenges for students to gain needed practice experience. Simulation offers an opportunity to enhance learning in place of some direct experience when that is not available. This paper reports on a simulation development practicum, where students, not able to be in an agency, sought out ways to achieve learning through the development and implementation of simulation learning. This was combined with a literature review. Results showed that student-generated simulation could be used to support direct practice learning. This project also illustrated that social work simulation can be used to help students safely explore areas of practice that they may not be exposed to in practicum through scenarios that cause them to examine how to work with clients where cross-cultural needs exist, and challenge ethical dilemmas in a ‘real-world’ situation while being required to face their biases.

A Feasibility Study of the SAFE Pilot Program: A University–School Board Partnership in Ontario

“…In response, many placement opportunities were supported and supervised within the university. Most of these university-led placement opportunities encompassed student-led learning opportunities, research projects ( Lomas et al, 2022 ; Morley & Clarke, 2020 ), or simulations, in which students engage with actors in the role of client, as an alternative to field placements ( Jefferies & Mason, 2021 ; Kourgiantakis et al, 2019 ; Kourgiantakis & Lee, 2020 ; Tortorelli et al, 2021 ).…”

COVID-19 Impacts on Social Work and Nursing Now and into the Future: National Administration Plans

“…For both disciplines there is a need to find creative ways of enabling students to complete their education on schedule despite the suspension of clinical and community placements. Social work researchers Tortorelli et al (2021) explored alternative placements and simulation.…”

An Analysis of the Role-Playing Mode in the Teaching Process of Social Work Methods

“…After that, this method was introduced into the teaching process of school classroom by some teaching theory researchers. Later, after continuous development, role-playing has become a popular teaching mode in the world [3][4][5][6][7][8], which is widely used in the teaching of different disciplines, such as psychology [9], pedagogy [10], social work [11,12], medicine [13,14], tourism management [15], etc., and is carried out by mock court, story performance, situational dialogue and so on.…”