“…It’s Just Very Hard To Fail A Student…”: Decision-Making And Defences Against Anxiety – An Ethnographic And Practice-Near Study Of Practice Assessment Panels

Abstract

The practice learning site is an important place of determining suitability for social work practice and as such is a key site of gate keeping. Research, both international and multi-disciplinary have consistently highlighted the challenging emotional processes involved in failing a student in a practice learning setting. This research has largely focused on practice educators. What has been not been explored however, are wider decision-making processes about students who have failed the placement, namely, what is known in the UK as the Practice Assessment Panel (PAP). The paper thus documents findings from an ethnographic study of four PAPs in England, utilising a practice-near analytical approach. Findings centre around three key themes; the deferring of difficult decisions, powerful voices and the unacknowledged emotional climate. The paper concludes that the PAP can be theorised as a powerful projective field and suggests possible ways forward in light of the themes to emerge.

Keywords:

• failing students
• decision-making
• practice-near
• ethnography
• defences against anxiety
• practice assessment panels

Notes

^1. In acknowledgement of a global readership, it is imperative to make explicit the UK specific terminology used in this paper. The term “placement” or “practice learning setting” is used interchangeably in this discussion to describe what is referred to in other countries as the practicum or the field placement.

^2. The term practice educator is used in this paper to describe the person tasked with undertaking the assessment of the student in the field and is a UK term. It is recognised that internationally, other terms are used, for example field instructor is used in North American contexts

^3. It is important to note, that there are differences in assessment regulations across the UK with regard to the placement component. Some programmes can override the normal academic assessment regulations regarding the right to resubmit or re-take a module. This is not the case in all universities where students have a right to repeat a failed placement unless suitability issues are raised.

^4. An on-site supervisor refers to the person who supervises the student as well as working in the agency. This might be a qualified social worker who feels they don’t have the time to be a practice educator but usually is an alternatively qualified practitioner.

^5. An off-site practice educator is a qualified social worker (as well as practice educator) and will visit the student every other week to undertake the assessment/supervisory task. The supervision is shared with the on-site supervisor.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Higher Education Academy.