Fieldwork in Social Work Education: Challenges, Issues and Best Practices

Abstract

Fieldwork has always been part of social work and an integral component of social workeducation. Fieldwork is based on the philosophy of ‗learning by doing‘ and its purpose isfundamental to a sound education in social work. Fieldwork opportunities take the students to avast variety of ground realities around the world. It is critically important for social work studentsto acquire, in a classroom environment, practice principles, values and ethics and the scientificbasis for practice. Equally important is the need to apply the theoretical content covered in theclassroom, to real life situations as part of a student‘s preparation to become a professional socialworker. In this perspective began the evolution of field action projects (presently referred to associal labs or live labs) by the leading social work institutions in the country. These initiativesprovide both meeting the needs of the target population and a platform for the students topractice. This paper looks into the major challenges faced by the students, teachers and theagencies/live labs in providing the training for the students. It also draws light on the differentissues in the entire process of fieldwork in Kerala. Finally it also highlights the best practices thatcan be replicated for the benefit of the students and professionals.