Course Description
In this course students will undertake assigned social work roles and tasks within a social service organization under professional supervision. In these field activities students will practice and demonstrate their ability to integrate social work skills, ethics, values, theory, and research in their work with clients, colleagues and the broader community. Students will report and reflect on their field experiences with faculty and peers throughout the semester in small group seminars and within individual assignments. Students learn about a range of social work field settings through their participation in seminar.
This course is linked to SOWK 3240 (Practicum II) and students will maintain their placement and seminar group throughout both courses.
Course Content
Course content will be guided by research, empirical knowledge and best practice. The following values and principles, consistent with professional standards, inform course content.
- Field experience is fundamental to social work education and the development of a professional identity.
- Social work values and ethics are integral to good practice.
- Social work skill, theory, and knowledge are integrated through practice, experimentation, critical reflection, and feedback from others.
- The ability to form a strong working alliance with a wide variety of clients is an essential element of social work practice.
- Collaboration with colleagues is an essential element of professional growth.
- Professional practice requires the ability to reflect and critically evaluate one’s work and relationships with clients and colleagues.
Learning Activities
Field practice
Reports
Self-evaluation
Supervision
Discussion
Reflection.
Means of Assessment
Practice report
Seminar discussion
Research paper
Field assessment
Self-evaluation
Reflective journal
Presentation (individual or group).
Learning Outcomes
Following the successful completion of this course, the student will be able to demonstrate the following skills in a manner consistent with the ethics and values of social work. Students are expected to demonstrate increasingly advanced skills throughout the progression of all practicum courses.
- Engage one’s client(s) in an effective working alliance
- Apply social work theory and knowledge, as well as personal experience, to assess situations
- Make accurate assessments of observed/experienced situations and systems
- Develop plans for intervention and be able to modify one’s perspective and actions based on critical reflection, feedback, and new information
- Consider multiple perspectives as a method of learning and self-evaluation
- Communicate one’s own ideas and describe one’s actions for the purpose of learning, supervision of practice, and developing ethical practice
- Adapt and demonstrate the effective use of a variety of communication, documentation, and reporting methods as needed
- Apply administrative policies to one’s area of work; meet administrative requirements
- Develop networks of professional relationships and resources to serve the clients of the agency
- Assess and discuss the effectiveness of program services including the extent to which a program addresses client needs and goals; identify limitations
- Assess and discuss the extent to which system processes and outcomes are consistent with social work values and ethics
- Identify the main administrative and program delivery roles within the organizational structure and describe key organizational processes
- Accurately self-assess competence in performing the skills decribed above
- Identify practical learning goals for professional development
Textbook Materials
Text(s) such as the following, the list to be updated periodically:
Baird, B. (2014). The internship, practicum and field placement handbook: A guide for the helping professions. Toronto: Pearson.
Clark, N., Drolet, J. & Allen, H. (2011). Shifting sites of practice. Toronto: Pearson Press.
Heinonen, T., & Spearman, L. (2010). Social work practice: Problem-solving and beyond (3rd ed.). Toronto: Nelson.
Maclean, S. (2010). The social work pocket guide to reflective practice. London: Kirwin Maclean.