Dilemmas in Social Work Field Education
Decision Cases
Terry Wolfer author Melissa Reitmeier author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Columbia University Press
Published:3rd Aug '21
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Field education is social work’s signature pedagogy, the essential preparation for professional practice. Its success depends on field educators—field instructors, task supervisors or preceptors, and faculty field liaisons—to guide and assess student learning and maintain the pedagogical integrity of the field experience. Despite its importance and complexity, few resources exist for orienting and preparing field educators.
This anthology presents decision cases that depict the actual experiences of social work field educators and students. They showcase the complex dynamics of field education and highlight a range of dilemmas experienced by novice and seasoned field educators. In various combinations, the dilemmas include interpersonal boundaries, emotional reactivity, initiative, expectations, role confusion, inadequate performance, accountability, interpersonal conflict, personal values, and impairment. The cases show how other field educators have navigated the issues that typically arise, with greater or lesser success. The cases portray the intricacy and rewards of this educational role and are selected for their ability to facilitate in-depth discussion among field educators during their initial training or continuing education. Guided discussions of these cases can bolster supervisory competence and confidence. They enable field educators to develop important problem-solving and critical-thinking skills related to their overlapping roles as instructors, supervisors, mentors, advisors, colleagues, and role models, helping them thrive and continue to serve the profession.
An accompanying instructor manual provides extensive information for each decision case and also includes guidance for field directors on how to use the case method of teaching and sources for additional information.
I highly recommend [this] current volume as compelling and useful. Wolfer and Reitmeier shed light on dilemmas that we field educators need to address. -- Urania Glassman Wurzweiler School of Social Work Yeshiva University * Social Work with Groups *
Dilemmas in Social Work Field Education weaves together intersecting components of field education, providing engaging case material for teaching field educators and students. This book stands alone in terms of its comprehensiveness, content, and form. -- Beth Lewis, director of field education at Bryn Mawr College
So happy to finally see this book. Social work programs routinely use the previous decision books in practice classes, and now we have a book that reflects the complexities that arise in field placements. It is a bonus to also have an additional resource to use in training field instructors. -- D. Lynn Jackson, Texas Christian University
Wolfer and Reitmeier provide engaging decision cases that tap into an experiential method of learning, which encourages the reader to consider the multilayered dimensions of cases. Each case will spur rich discussions whether the audience is field instructors, field directors, or students. -- Janet Bradley, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
ISBN: 9780231201445
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
224 pages