Complexities in Student Placements Under COVID-19 Moral and Practical Considerations

Raluca Sarbu,Peter Unwin

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.654843

Abstract

The work placement experiences of MA and BA social work students at an English university during a pandemic were explored by way of an online survey. Thirteen students responded and reported that the moral and practical consequences of a sudden forced move to the “new normal” of online working and assessment raised serious issues about the boundary between home and work life, and about the relationship-based nature of the career they thought they were entering. Experiences of moral and practical support from agencies were mixed, and a lack of consistency across different placement agencies led to feelings of unfairness in the students’ experience. Opportunities for incidental and tacit forms of learning were lacking in online working environments and students were strong of the belief that the future of social work would entail a permanent locus shift from community work to online interaction regarding the people (service users and carers) with whom they worked. This shift was largely perceived in terms of loss and a further diminution in relationship-based practice in English social work services, which have increasingly been dominated by a task and performance management culture before the onset of COVID-19.

Highlights

Reviewed by: Ines Zuchowski, James Cook University, Australia Jonathan Parker, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom Malcolm Payne, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
The associated prohibition of non-essential personal contact meant that methodologies comprising focus groups, observations, or face-to-face interviews were not feasible, and it was appreciated that social work students carried heavy workloads, both academic and practice
Ensuring that social work teams were safe and practiced ethically during these unprecedented times of pandemic was clearly difficult, and the integration of students within this environment led to many dilemmas, made worse by ever-changing government directives

Summary

Introduction

Reviewed by: Ines Zuchowski, James Cook University, Australia Jonathan Parker, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom Malcolm Payne, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom. Opportunities for incidental and tacit forms of learning were lacking in online working environments and students were strong of the belief that the future of social work would entail a permanent locus shift from community work to online interaction regarding the people (service users and carers) with whom they worked This shift was largely perceived in terms of loss and a further diminution in relationship-based practice in English social work services, which have increasingly been dominated by a task and performance management culture before the onset of COVID-19. The 70-day placement is usually in a voluntary agency, whereas the 100-day placement is usually in a state agency where the role, whether in children’s or adults’ services, is likely to encompass more formal work around issues of risk and vulnerability In regard to their practice capabilities (British Association of Social Work [BASW], 2018), both MA and BA students are expected to demonstrate the same levels of ability

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion