International students’ experience of supervision during social work field placement: troubling or transformative?

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ABSTRACT In Australia, international students have continued to enroll in social work programs for more than a decade. While there is an emerging interest in international students’ learning during field placement, their specific needs in the supervisory space have been largely neglected in the social work education literature. This article examines international students’ experience of field placement supervision, focusing on an analysis of the student perspective. The dataset is drawn from a recent doctoral study that explored international students’ professional learning during social work field placement. Sixteen international students from Master of Social Work programs in Victoria, Australia, were recruited and interviewed on three occasions using a semi-structured, in-depth interview format. Initial and focused coding within a constructivist grounded theory methodology produced three thematic categories: ‘valuing supervision’, ‘seeking safety/finding risk’, and ‘engaging in group supervision’. Key findings suggest that further research is required in relation to ensuring that supervision pedagogies are responsive to the distinctive learning needs of international students during social work field placement. Furthermore, a more detailed analysis is required to ensure that field placement supervision is a safe, productive, learning space for international students, whilst simultaneously considering the implications for the training and support of Field Educators.