Integrating Practice Research into Social Work Field Education in Canada

ABSTRACT

Given the increasing value placed on research among social work practitioners, and that field education is primarily responsible for the integration of social work values, knowledge, and practice, it is essential that research skills be incorporated into BSW and MSW field practica. In 2020, a team of faculty co-investigators and students explored the integration of research activities into Canadian BSW and MSW field practica through the review of online field education materials of all accredited programs. We make the argument that not only is it essential for professional social workers to receive training in practice research, but also that there is much room for us to integrate such research into field education. We begin with a review of the literature regarding social work student attitudes toward research, widely known to be hesitant and even hostile, before discussing the limited international literature (English and French) on the experience of integrating research into field education. After describing our methods, we then present our findings in terms of BSW and MSW programs at Canada’s anglophone and francophone universities. We conclude with a discussion of the implications in terms of ways to increase the role of research in field practica.

KEYWORDS:

• Field education
• applied research
• student attitudes
• social work
• Canada

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the contributions of Drs. Daniel Wulff, Sally St. George, and Grant Charles for reviewing, critical reflection, and editing, as well as to E. Poon, J. Holt and J. Bosire for their early work in identifying relevant literature.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Canadian Association of Social Workers – Association canadiennes des travailleurs sociaux: https://www.casw-acts.ca/en

2. The TFEL partnership (2019–2024) is supported through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s (SSHRC) Partnership Grant, with additional contributions from project partners.

3. Canadian Association for Social Work Education – Association canadienne pour la formation en travail social: https://caswe-acfts.ca/

4. Wherein:

I. social work students acquire knowledge and skills to critique, apply, or participate in social work research;

II. social work students at both levels of university education are prepared to apply social work knowledge, as well as knowledge from other disciplines, to advance professional practice, policy development, research, and service provision;

III. MSW students acquire knowledge and skills in conducting social work research and competence in evaluating professional practices (CASWE-ACFTS, 2014, p. 11).

5. The 13% of anglophone BSW programs without a mandatory research course may respond to CASWE accreditation standards by including research skills transversally across courses.

6. The numbers for second practicum include those offered before the first practicum.

7. A more substantive review of learning objectives and activities will be published in a future paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [795-2019-1003].