Educational and disability support collaboration to overcome field practicum barriers

Val Clark and Liz Shanley
The University of Newcastle

Overview of presentation
•	Our roles – University of Newcastle
•	Social Work field education
•	Disability and field education
•	Collaborative practice
•	2 brief examples
•	Conclusion

Our roles
Val
Lecturer in Social Work
•	classroom learning
•	support individual students
•	assessment of academic work
•	establish, support & assess field placements

Liz – Disability Liaison Officer
•	assistance to students with disabilities: practical, emotional support, advice, advocacy
•	consultant to academics and university management re disability issues. 

NB: DLO is not assessor - therefore students can sometimes be more candid - DLO can assist to draw out problem areas and negotiate difficult issues

Social Work Field Education
•	Core for all accredited BSW programs
•	3 x placements of 50 days / 350 hours
•	Wide range of health / welfare govt. / non govt. agencies
•	Supervision by qualified social work practitioner – ”Field Educator“
•	Professional practice standards, competencies, values & ethics, theory/practice integration, communication, self awareness, etc.
•	Learning Plan – agreements between student, agency and university – goals, tasks and assessment strategies.
•	Ongoing assessment and key assessment points – mid and end.

Disability and field education
•	Same issues as for all students embarking on a field placement
•	Additional issues for the student with a disability
•	Disability issues for the field educator / agency
•	Disability issues for the assessor

Collaborative practice
•	Field education - 3-way partnership - student, University & field educator/agency
•	DLO ensures student is supported and ‘reasonable adjustment’ is made
•	Individualised
•	Problem solving
•	Support to both students and field educators
•	Developmental – amount and type of support changes over time
•	Stages – pre, during and post placement

Example 1
Pre placement negotiation
•	Discussion with student 
•	Identification of possible suitable agency
•	Discussion with field educator / agency
•	Agency visit and problem solving

Example – 2 
During placement
•	Arising concerns re student performance
•	Exploration of disability issues impacting on student + agency barriers
•	Student task to learn to manage their disability issues – end aim to produce competent professionals
•	Post placement

Student disclosures:
1.	“Invisible” disability - anxiety
2.	Student rights re privacy
3.	Support in coming to terms with “failure”

Conclusion
•	DLO & academic collaboration provides enhanced support for students in field education
•	Anything & everything happens in the ‘real’ world – we need to be flexible and responsive to situations as they arise
•	Field education is preparation for workforce participation
•	A student with a disability needs opportunities to learn how to be a professional with a disability