By the end of the Practicum Instructor Training Course, participants will be able to:

  1. Define the mission and goals of field education in relation to the UW SSW core principles and curriculum, and analyze their role in the educational development of social work students;
  2. Identify the essential elements of an effective agency orientation and develop methods for implementing these elements;
  3. Define the characteristics of adult learning and different learning styles, and identify strategies to adapt their own learning styles to best meet the needs of their students;
  4. Construct a Learning Contract that incorporates student strengths and interests, agency needs, and practicum requirements into site-specific tasks and activities to build student competencies;
  5. Describe the knowledge and skills necessary for effective field supervision as identified by empirical studies and develop methods for incorporating these elements into practice;
  6. Identify methods of creating learning opportunities to assist students with the process of integrating theory and practice in field education and develop applications for students;
  7. Define and implement elements of effective feedback and evaluation, and outline ways to apply these in practice with students during supervision and in the Quarterly Evaluation;
  8. Describe and facilitate individual and structural elements of culturally competent practice and ways of creating a positive learning environment for students of diverse backgrounds;
  9. Demonstrate knowledge of ethical issues related to field supervision and identify strategies for incorporating ethical responsibilities into practice;
  10. Identify and apply strengths-based methods of working with challenging students, including collaboration with practicum faculty to address difficulties as early as possible and adjustment of teaching or supervisory approaches for optimum student outcomes.

To meet these general objectives, each module has specific learning objectives that lead to the mastery of the above competencies and help instructors meet goals of the Field Instructor Training Program.