Preparing Students for Complex Humanitarian Contexts

ABSTRACT

The future is unfolding now, framed by unprecedented trends of complex humanitarian contexts. To prepare for this as a profession, social work education faculties need to respond to the current call for the scaling up of well-prepared social work practitioners. The Preparation for Complex Humanitarian Contexts for Pre-Service Social Work Students education framework offers a hybrid experience for social work students and includes an internationalized curriculum, practical hands-on experience through field education, and a meaningful field education Preparation Program. Successful implementation of the Preparation Program provides unparalleled opportunities to engage with students to become social workers for the future who will be well suited to work in complex humanitarian contexts and to be the mainstays of an uber workforce. Autoethnography is used in this article as a qualitative research method. Autoethnographical narratives are used to interpret the author’s experiences as a humanitarian worker and as a university academic supporting students during field education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Annie Townsend

Annie Townsend is a social worker working for international Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and the United Nations (UN) in South East Asia, East Africa and Central Africa.