Enhancing students' learning in social work field practicum

Abstract

Social work education comprises an indispensable part ߝ the field practicum, as revealed in the curricula of social work degree programmes all over the world. Here the question is about the positivist curriculum design and fieldwork assessment, which reduces human understanding to matters of technicality. There is a growing discussion about the reflective paradigm – practice wisdom – in human professions, which may be deemed to be more desirable for accommodating the nature of social work practice. A four-dimension framework is developed for the epistemological understanding of practice wisdom, in order to guide research on unravelling how practice teachers exercise pedagogical practice wisdom in advancing students' learning. The findings reveal student factor that might hinder or facilitate practice teachers in bringing pedagogical practice wisdom to their teaching. Implications for those concerned with the enhancement of students' learning in social work field practicum, particularly social work educators, are discussed.