Building policy practice into foundation field placement: experiences and outcomes

• Published in: Social work education 2022-01, Vol.41 (1), p.105-118
• Main Authors: Collins, Mary Elizabeth, Dixon, Zita, Zimmerman, Trudy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Competence; Competency based learning; Data; field education; policy advocacy; policy competency; Policy practice; Practice placements; Ratings & rankings; Social justice; Students
• ISSN: 0261-5479; 1470-1227
• DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2020.1807495

Effective engagement in policy practice is a critical component in achieving social justice. Field education settings provide important opportunities for students to learn policy practice skills. This paper describes an initiative aimed at building policy competencies for all foundation students in field education by targeting supports for field instructors to provide guidance to students. Evaluation of the project used three sources of secondary data: (1) student competency ratings by field instructors, (2) student reports of their projects, and (3) review of student products completed as a result of the initiative. Quantitative data indicate that thus far there has been little overall effect on student competency in policy practice. Bivariate analysis found an association between highly rated student projects and higher competency rating. Qualitative descriptions of project activities and students' assessments of them provide some indications of progress toward competency, facilitators and barriers of policy learning, and additional considerations for furthering the project aims over the long term.