| Introduction |
| Practice placements provide social work students with the necessary learning opportunities to enable them to apply knowledge in social work practice and are a fundamental part of professional training in social work. A significant shortfall in the number of practice placements provided by local authorities for social work students was identified by a 1992 survey of placement provision in Scotland by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work. Concern was also expressed about the quality of placement provision. |
| Despite the acknowledgement in previous research of the shortfall in local authority placements, little was known about the reasons for this. Further investigation of issues surrounding the quality of placement provision was also required. The aim of the research was therefore to examine the problems faced by local authorities in securing the provision of an adequate quantity of practice placements of the required standard. A postal questionnaire was sent to a representative sample of practice teachers and their managers across all placement settings and from all Scottish local authorities. [ As Orkney Social Work Department did not have any provision for placement students at the time of the research, they did not participate in the survey.] |
| The quantity and quality of placements |
| Over 80% of respondents reported that they were aware of difficulties within their social work department in providing the required number of practice placements. Generic, child care and community care settings were identified as the most problematic settings. |
| Although most respondents believed that placements were generally of a high enough standard to teach students the skills required of them for social work practice, most were able to identify a number of factors which currently inhibited them in providing good quality placements. These were: inadequate recognition of the time required to carry out practice teaching tasks when allocating workloads; inadequate office facilities for students; insufficient practice teachers; lack of support from management; lack of planning; and insufficient time for practice teacher training. |
| An individual or organisational issue? |
| The research found that placement provision is both an organisational responsibility for social work departments and an individual responsibility for practice teachers. Although most respondents noted that organisational aspects, such as the provision of adequate time and space, were necessary to provide good quality placements, it was found that in practice most teachers did not think their departments provided them with the practical support which they required. Most teachers therefore reported relying on their own commitment and support from colleagues to provide good quality placements. |
| Organisational issues: Lack of time and workload relief |
| Lack of time was believed to be the main drawback of placement provision and most respondents reported that more careful adjustment of their workloads would enable them to increase the number of placements in their units. Only 48% of teachers received workload relief "normally" or "sometimes". Around 80% of teachers noted that they had to spend time outside normal working hours on teaching duties and most teachers felt negative about this. |
| Recruitment |
| Problems with recruitment were likely to make it more difficult to increase the number of practice teachers, and consequently the number of placements. The factors believed by most to make people reluctant to take up practice teaching were: lack of time for the task; lack of time for practice teacher training; and the lack of any financial incentive. Difficulty with applying to undertake practice teaching was identified as a particular problem in three regions, indicating the importance of different application procedures. |
| Lack of space/facilities |
| Lack of space and facilities was clearly believed to cause serious difficulties for placement provision, and 40% of practice teachers who argued that the present accommodation was inadequate said that this would make them less likely to take a student in the future. Although these practice teachers clearly believed that their organisation should take responsibility for providing more space, the remaining 60% said that they would continue to provide placements, despite the shortage of space, largely because of their commitment to the task. |
| Planning and information |
| Careful planning was believed by most to be necessary or desirable for the provision of good quality placements. Generally, in those regions where lack of planning was identified as being a particular problem, a low percentage of practice teachers reported receiving the information about the student which they required. |
| Restructuring |
| In all regions apart from Shetland and Fife, respondents indicated that there was some degree of restructuring currently taking place. Around half of the practice teachers whose regions had been affected by restructuring reported that this had recently reduced the number of placements available. Most respondents noted that the effects of restructuring were likely to be short term. However, in Borders and Strathclyde it was felt that the changes were likely to have a longer term Impact. |
| Recent developmentsAccreditation and training |
| CCETSW has determined that after 1 April 1996, all practice teachers must be accredited and all new teachers must obtain the Practice Teaching Award before they can have a student placed with them. The findings indicate that these new requirements are likely to impact on the number of practice teachers available after April 1996. Only 45% of teachers were accredited at the time of our survey and only half of these held the Practice Teaching Award. There is cause for particular concern in Strathclyde, where only 3% of teachers held the Award and only half planned to obtain it by the deadline. Even taking into account those teachers who were transitionally accredited, Strathclyde looks likely to have one-third fewer available practice teachers by this date. |
| Although practice teachers complained that their normal work had been affected while they were completing the Practice Teaching Award, the majority of practice teachers and managers believed that it would improve the quality of placement provision by raising practice teaching standards, ensuring better practice teacher training and clarifying what was required of practice teachers. |
| Scottish vocational qualifications |
| Only 13% of respondents believed that SVQs would impact on the quantity of placement provision. Those who believed that they would were mainly concentrated in residential child care and community care settings [ Accounting for 2% and 3% respectively of the total sample of practice teachers.] . Given that these settings have other problems in respect of placement provision for DipSW students, it is possible that the increasing participation in SVQs may worsen their situation. |
| This research was funded by Social Work Services Group and undertaken by The Scottish Office Central Research Unit. |
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| Fiona M Fraser |
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| 'Social Work Practice Placements in Scottish Local Authorities' the research report summarised in this Research Findings, may be purchased (priced £5.00 per copy). |
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