Social work field education supervision: pilot study utilizing MSW teaching assistants as external field education supervisors for 3rd year BSW practicum students

Abstract

Social work field education is considered by many the signature pedagogy of social work education as it is how professional knowledge, skills, ethics and practice are taught. There is growing evidence that supports a field education crisis in Canada and globally, resulting from a shortage of field education placements and qualified field education supervisors. The purpose of this study was to understand and evaluate the impact of a pilot project from the perspectives of BSW and MSW students, along with the Field Program Coordinator and MSW Coordinator in the School of Social Work at Laurentian University regarding the implementation, feasibility and challenges of implementing an innovative field education supervision model. This mixed- methods study used a non-probability purposive sample to focus on the program development and evaluation activities of a pilot project that added an innovative field education peer-style supervision component utilizing Master of Social Work (MSW) students with graduate teaching assistant (GTA) positions to provide field education supervision to 3rd year Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students. The findings suggest that the transformational learning that was obtained through this peer-style field education supervision model is a promising way to assist students with the main tenets of field education supervision including theory to practice, socialization to the profession, reflexivity and social work ethics. It also revealed that through training and exposure to field education supervision, MSW participants were more likely and comfortable with providing field education supervision in the future, potentially building field education supervision capacity in the community. This is a promising innovative field education supervision model that deserves attention in social work education and could help ease the crisis in field education supervision.