Graduate Field Program

Social Work, as an applied discipline and profession, requires emphasis upon planned field experience as a vital component of the educational process. Students at the masters level of social work education spend at least one-third of their total school time in field practica under the supervision of agency-based field instructors. This experience is often a major determination of the student's future effectiveness as a social worker. Field placements are designed to involve the student, field instructor, and faculty field liaison in a partnership of preparation for clinical practice. Material is provided in this Web site to help strengthen that partnership through providing resources to better plan, guide, enrich, and evaluate MSW field practica on both the foundation and clinical level and better achieve the objectives of the field education program:

FIELD EDUCATION OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the College of St. Catherine/University of St. Thomas field education program are:

Agency

1. To understand and work within the structure and function of an agency service delivery system and understand how to promote change within the system.

Ethics and Justice

2. To practice in accord with social work values and ethics and critically analyze agency policies in terms of social work values and ethics.

3. To examine factors that contribute to and constitute being at-risk, to understand the dynamics of risk factors, and how group membership influences access to resources.

4. To apply to practice the strategies and skills of change that advance social and economic justice.

Self-Awareness and Communication

5. To facilitate increased self-awareness and an understanding of how one?s personal values, history, styles, and issues influence practice.

6. To use communication skills differentially with a variety of client populations, colleagues and members of the community.

7. To learn to consult, share information and give support to colleagues and to provide leadership to the profession and the community.

Practice Methods

8. To apply the knowledge and skills of generalist social work perspective to practice with systems of all sizes.

9. To apply clinical knowledge and skills with individuals, groups, and families.

10. To develop knowledge, analytic, and practice skills that are sensitive to client systems that differ in social, cultural, racial, religious, spiritual and class backgrounds, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and age.

Supervision and Evaluation

11. To critically examine and evaluate one's own clinical social work practice in relation to professional social work standards, clinical practice and research literature.

12. To develop goals and strategies for assessing one's professional growth and development with emphasis on accountability.