Shifting Sites of Practice: Field Education in Canada

 Shifting Sites of Practice: Field Education in Canada is the first text in its field to provide examples of practice in a Canadian context. It offers current theoretical concepts and perspectives that will shape field education program in social work, human service, or child and youth care. Designed to build critical knowledge and practical skills, its reflective approach encourages students to question not only their own values and assumptions but also those of their profession.

        As an edited text with chapters written by leaders from a variety of fields, the text captures different theoretical, geographic, and sites of learning to provide a rich overview of the many contexts in which learning and field education take place. “Voices from the Field” and “Case Scenarios” are designed to present you with real-world experiences and situations. Exercises and Discussion questions are meant to deeply engage students with the material. Checklists and tips are intended to help you get the most out of their practical placement.

Julie Drolet is an Assistant Professor and Field Education Coordinator in the BSW program at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. Julie is a member of the Field Education Committee of the Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE) and a member of the Task Force on International Exchanges and Research of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). She is the inaugural Director of the Centre for International Social Work and Research at TRU, and engaged in research on international field education, international social work, and Indigenous field education funded by SSHRC and CIHR.

Natalie Clark is a Faculty and Field Education Coordinator for the Human Service Program at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. She has extensive experience as a field instructor in the community and as a faculty liaison, in addition to her role as Field Education Coordinator. Natalie is a strong proponent of research and field education. Together with Julie Drolet and other colleagues, she currently holds a SSHRC project grant for Indigenous field education and cultural safety; she is also partnering on research regarding rural and remote field education and intra-professional practice.

Helen Szewello Allen is the Vice-President Education at Vancouver Community College. Helen has extensive experience in field education in Canada, having been the Director of Field Education at the McGill School of Social Work and Field Education Coordinator for the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia. She has developed field education manuals for students, field evaluation tools, reflective practice tools, and training for field instructors in the community. Helen conducted a research project on field education in child welfare in British Columbia in 2000, surveying students and field instructors to identify best practices in preparation for the development of the child welfare specialization in social work and child and youth care degree programs in British Columbia.

Contributors:

Marion Bogo, Glen Schmidt, Joanna Pierce, Shelly Johnson, Paul René Tamburro, Duane Seibel, Mary Harber-Iles, Sandra deVink-Leblanc, Linda Turner, Brian Carty, Ransford Danso, Jessica Ayala, Myra Baynton, Ellen Perrault, Jeanette Robertson, Sara Greene, Grant Larson