Building policy practice into foundation field placement: experiences and outcomes

ABSTRACT

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy practice
• policy competency
• field education
• policy advocacy
• competency-based learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Council on Social Work Education [n/a].

Notes on contributors

Mary Elizabeth Collins

Mary Elizabeth Collins is Professor and Department Chair of Social Welfare Policy at Boston University School of Social Work.  She is a scholar of child welfare policy and the author of Macro Perspectives on Youth Aging out of Care and numerous published articles and chapters.

Zita Dixon

Zita Dixon is a Doctoral Candidate in the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.  Her scholarly interests focus on social welfare policy, social justice and advocacy, and educational equity.

Trudy Zimmerman

Trudy Zimmerman was the Assistant Dean for Field Education at Boston University School of Social Work until her retirement in 2019.  She has expertise in social work education, clinical practice, and social work ethics.