Standardization of Human Rights–Based Workforce Induction Curriculum for Social Work Field Supervisors

Abstract

Field practicum is the signature pedagogy of the social work profession Ketner et al. (2017); CSWE (2015); Boitel and Fromme (2014), yet field programs struggle to find adequate field placements, in quantity and quality Maynard et al. (2015), especially those that highlight human rights and social justice advocacy as core programming. The authors propose a standardized 1-day eight-segment orientation and training, informed by Frimpong, Banks, and Brodie’s (2019) onboarding model, designed to cover 6 hours of in-person class time, operationalizing human rights and social justice practice into social work students’ field practicum experience. Social work competencies and standards from the International Association of Schools of Social Work, International Federation of Social Workers, and the Council of Social Work Education are embedded in the Standardized Field Supervisor Orientation and Training to help social work field students and agency staff employ human rights informed engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation with clients, constituents, and communities. By focusing on the important role of the Field Supervisor in emphasizing human rights and social justice, this paper fills a gap in the literature by offering an exemplar to cultivate a human rights and social justice practice paradigm in field education settings. The standardized training advances social work’s core mission and values of upholding and defending human rights.