Abstract
Fieldwork placements are a critical component of social work education. During the 1980s student units were a common model for placements across the statutory social work sector in New Zealand. While these units were replaced in the 1990s and 2000s with a more individualistic approach to social work supervision and placement education, the Site Manager of Child Youth and Family Palmerston North initiated the development of a new unit in 2006. A full-time fieldwork educator was employed to work with social work students on placement. Several benefits of the unit were apparent; however, due to reprioritisation within Child Youth and Family, it was disestablished in 2009. This article traces the establishment and the demise of this student unit and offers comment on the perceived effectiveness of the unit for all of the key stakeholders, that is, the students, Massey University and Child Youth and Family.
Highlights
The most important influence on social work students during their study towards a professional qualification is their fieldwork placements (Maidment, 1997; Shardlow and Doel, 1996)
Nine Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and six MSW(a) students were placed in the PN Child Youth and Family (CYF) Student Unit
Comments from CYF staff during a review process in 2007 indicated that they viewed the experience of placement positively due to the recruitment of the students, the high-quality induction the students received, and from having a dedicated Fieldwork Educator
Summary
Rob Teppett is currently the Registration Advisor for Child Youth and Family, but previously the Field Work Educator for social work students undertaking placements in the Manawatu and Greater Wellington area. The authors would like to acknowledge Michelle Chinn, Rebecca Dale, Nicola Kook, Selina Moore and Meleane Tohi for their involvement in the initial writing of this paper, and Dr Michael Dale for his reflections on earlier drafts
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