Narrative reasoning and coherent alignment in field placement

ABSTRACT

In social work, field placement is considered an essential component to prepare students for professional practice. A significant degree of disjunction between academic and practical learning also is asserted. The present study aims to explore how students develop their professional competence in field placement and relate their learning outcomes across the university setting and the field. Data from students’ learning contracts and placement reports and a focus-group interview are analysed. Concrete practical experiences and the complexity of problems in specific contexts seem to provide inputs on the development of students’ knowledge, skills and personal competence outside the university setting. Although the students were asked to account for these three dimensions separately, the findings demonstrate their ability to connect and integrate them in the narrative reasoning that characterises students’ reflections on their learning from placement. Moreover, our findings show that all three dimensions are developed in both the university setting and in field placement. Preparing students properly for placement training and calling for specific reports on learning outcomes allow access to meaningful connections that are created and developed between the university setting and field placement.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work education
• field placement
• learning contract
• learning outcome
• apprenticeships
• modes of thinking

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our colleagues in the project group for their comments and criticisms of earlier versions of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study is part of the project “Contradictory institutional logics in interaction”, funded by the Research Council of Norway (ref. 239967).

Notes on contributors

Jorunn Vindegg

Jorunn Vindegg is an associate professor and head of the BA-program in social work at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Social Work and Social Policy. Her research interest include professional learning in education and work, knowledge for practice - the knowledge foundation for social work and child wefare as well as practice-based research and reasearch-based practice within social work and child welfare.

Jens-Christian Smeby

Jens-Christian Smeby is a professor at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University, Centre for the Study of Professions.  His reasearch interest include professional learning in education and work, research-based education as well as the nature of professional knowledge and expertise. He is the editor in chief of Professions and Professionalism.