Social Work - Field Education

It seems to me that social workers who take on the responsibility for the supervision of students(i.e. Field Education) ought to ask the universities whose students they take on, "What's in it for me?" before doing so.

There is no way that in this country that we will ever get to the stage where the professional practice of providing professional supervision for students on a practicum will ever be anything other than a voluntary task.

Expecting the already financially pressed universities to come forward with an offer of remuneration for the work involved in providing this professional supervision and assessment of a student's practice skills is a hopeless notion.

Asking the universities to provide some professional courtesy however, may not be as far fetched.

If a student supervisor provides both a teaching program and an assessment program that is a necessary part of the student's course work then why is the supervisor not considered part of the academic staff for the duration of their service to the student?

Were the supervisor to become a member of the academic staff a number of privileges would follow.

For example:

. a staff member can access the university library and its Internet holdings;

. a staff member can obtain academic versions of software at a much lower rate than the regular retail price;

. a staff member can add his/her status as such to their CV and so increase their attractiveness to new employers;

. a staff member could have a say in the curriculum of the university;

. a staff member could seek discounted continuing professional development;

In other words, without the university actually expending any money it could confer on the supervisor considerable benefits that would make student supervision more attractive and so increase the pool of people who might be willing to take on the job of providing supervision to students.

As field educators and universities throughout the country are bitterly complaining about the lack of supervisors for their students it would be in their interest to consider that they have some level of 'mutual obligation' towards colleagues who provide services to them.

Let's hear from the Universities and the heads of schools of social work about this!