Overcoming Isolation: Making the Case for the Development of Blended Service Learning and Social Work Interprofessional Field Education Experiences to Improve University-Community Engagement

Abstract

We argue in this paper that if social workers are to engage in more equal and just ways of working with people and communities then there is a need to reconceptualise the field education experience. While the teaching in the classroom of particular theories such as social justice and anti- oppressive practice can influence how students come to view the world it is not likely to impact upon their eventual practice unless it is reinforced in their field placements. Traditional settings reinforcing traditional interactions between students and consumers are not the means by which changes will occur. The blending together of the three learning modes of service learning, field placement and interprofessional education offer a chance to reinforce classroom teachings in a new way during the practicum experience.