I would like to share the link to a recently published book on student social work placements - Field Education: Creating Successful Placements, edited by Fiona Gardner, Jacqui Theobald, Natasha Long, Helen Hickson. This book offers a wide range of perspectives on the whole process of social work field education, from practical tips on how to provide supervision or to make the most of being on placement, to broader reflection on the many elements that make up successful student placements. The text has chapters from social work university lecturers and university liaison staff, from placement supervisors, external supervisors and also from students themselves. I had the opportunity to write a chapter for this book Providing Effective External Supervision Using Technology, which reflected on my own experiences and ideas of providing external supervision via Skype, to social work students in rural settings. I really enjoyed reading through the other writer’s contributions, noticing where we were in agreement and where we may have had different ideas or ways of doing things. I particularly enjoyed the chapters written by the students themselves, which gave an important perspective on what they valued and learned most from.

I have included a link to the book. I don’t profit from any sales but I have found it to be a very useful collection of writings, which I highly recommend to social workers in the field, as well as to students who are going on placement.

https://www.oup.com.au/books/higher-education/health,-nursing-and-social-work/9780190310059-field-education