Field Projects

QUICK FACTS - TILL DATE

5123

Field Projects

Introduction:

The field practicum gives students the opportunity to take on professional roles in order to learn skills, render services and participate in the provision and development of social work service. The hands-on experience reinforces the student’s identification with the purposes, values and ethics of the profession; fosters the integration of empirical and practice-based knowledge; and promotes the development of professional competence. Field Practicum is the field education program designed to integrate classroom study with practice in a social work setting. Students spend time in an agency while being supervised by a field instructor. Through practicum, students translate knowledge from all areas of the curriculum into practical skills and competencies.

Objectives:

Through the practicum students will gain direct experience in some of the following areas:

Understanding the interconnectedness of diverse sectors such as education, agriculture, environment, health, nutrition, energy, infrastructure, water, gender, and community development. Applying interdisciplinary approaches to address these cross-cutting issues;
Integrating knowledge on cross-sectoral issues, local insights and community participation into field training projects and activities;
Participation in a particular activity in the project cycle: from program conceptualization, design, implementation to monitoring and evaluation;
Collaborating and building relationships with practitioners including government officials, NGOs, communities, donors and project personnel. Working in teams, oftentimes cross-cultural and interdisciplinary in composition;
Communicating effectively and facilitating meetings with stakeholders utilizing methods such as Action Research, Participatory Rural Appraisal, collaborative planning meetings, visualization and feedback workshops. Students will come to understand the importance and means of cultivating respectful communication with communities and support agencies;
Identifying promising strategies for policy interventions to advance sustainable development (at the local, national and/ or regional level);
Applying techniques of self-reflection and inter-personal skills and dynamics to be cognizant of personal attitudes, perceptions and biases.

Outcomes:

After successful completion of the course, students will be able to:		Knowledge Level (Bloom’s Taxonomy)
CO1	Develop practice competence as an entry level professional in generalist social work practice within the organization, the community, social work skills of assessment, planning and evaluation, and the profession.	Apply
CO2	Analyze the structure and function of resource and delivery systems within the agency and community	Analyze
CO3	Develop the ability to utilize professional social work supervision as a mechanism to improve one’s own practice	Apply
CO4	Apply knowledge, values, and skills with diverse populations including people of color, women, children, aged, physically and mentally challenged, socially and culturally diverse groups, the oppressed and populations at risk	Apply