Effect of Field Supervision and Support System in Enhancing the Quality of Field Practicum in Social Work Education

Abstract

Fieldwork practicum is critical in social work education for shaping MSW students into professional social workers. An ineffective fieldwork practicum deteriorates the quality of social work education. Because fieldwork practicum helps the trainees to experiment the acquired theoretical knowledge in real-world situations. Hence, this study examined the improvements necessary to bring a practical fieldwork practicum syllabus. For this, the paper examined the ‘activities’ performed and the ‘support system’ received by trainees during their fieldwork practicum. The study used an explanatory research design by conducting an online survey among 100 Master of Social Work trainees from Kerala. The variables selected to evaluate the effectiveness of the fieldwork practicum were Fieldwork activities carried out, Support systems, and Social work skills accquired. The hierarchical linear regression test revealed that the activities of the trainees and their support systems played a significant role in acquiring better social work skills during fieldwork. The mediation analysis revealed that the ‘support system’ is a decisive factor in developing one’s social work skills while performing different ‘activities’ during fieldwork.