International field placement in social work: Relevant for working in the home country

Abstract

Our concern in this article is how to transform learning experiences in international field placement into sustainable social work knowledge for future practice. International field placement provides unique experiences that contribute to contextual understanding of social work and prepare students for practice in a multicultural setting. We have used focus group interviews and seen international experiences in light of domestic ones. In analysing the knowledge transformation process of the learning experiences, we use experiential learning theories. We conclude that students’ learning process from experience to theory and from theoretical knowledge to practice would benefit from following a transformation of knowledge cycle through the study programme.