This study describes research conducted with Master of Social Work (MSW) students and alumni who completed all or part of their graduate practicum during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It arises from observations by the first three authors, who are all faculty in a post-secondary social work program in northern British Columbia. These…

This qualitative case study explored the lived experiences of social work students through the COVID-19 pandemic. In the weeks following the detection of COVID-19 in the United States, educational institutions closed down on very short notice and administrators scrambled to develop plans that would ensure as little disruption as possible to…

In this qualitative study, we consider student experiences with and perceptions of teaching methods that are clinical skill-based (e.g., simulation role plays). Focus groups included Master of Social Work students (N = 40) from six universities in the United States. A framework-guided content analysis was used and revealed four discussion areas:…

Professor Marion Bogo contributed substantial work in theorizing and conducting research to strengthen the landscape of social work field education. As a tribute, this article updates her 2022 scoping review synthesizing the literature on social work field instruction (i.e., published between 2017 and 2019). We synthesized the current empirical…

In this exploratory study, the professional socialization of 23 clinical social workers based in New England is examined. Building on a landmark framework for understanding professional socialization, this article extends the conversation to assess professional identity among the study participants as well. Findings suggest that clinical social…

Modern social problems are complex, multifaceted, and challenging to solve. Scholars are increasinglyapplying the concept of social innovation as a path to addressing social issues. Social innovation is aninterdisciplinary framework for producing social change that requires creativity, problem-solvingskills, and collaboration across systems.…

Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement (RCQI) is often required for behavioral health work force training and evaluation projects supported by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The RCQI process is well established within healthcare but under-utilized in academia to improve teaching and learning. We created and piloted the…

This research note explores Bachelor of Social Work students' perceptions about how well their group practice courses prepared them for group opportunities at field internships. We conducted a posttest-only design pilot study to compare field groupwork experiences of students who attended group practice courses taught with and without the…

Although the Council on Social Work Education has identified field education and macro practice as core domains in social work education, there has been limited research examining the implementation of macro practice elements in field education settings. As part of a larger research project examining field instructors' inclusion of macro and…

Field education is the most challenging aspect of social work education and there are unprecedented challenges currently measuring good practice with quality outcomes. Thus, it's important to have competency-based key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess social work professional practice. This study is a national, mixed-methods Delphi research…

Field practicum is known as the "signature pedagogy" for social work. Though the Council of Social Work Education's accreditation standards guide the placement processes, research on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQIA+) students shows that this…

Social work education is an academic discipline that prepares students to support individual, family, and community wellbeing, and to advance policies for social equity. Despite the increasing use of online education for social work, many social work faculty believe that online Master of Social Work (MSW) programs do not adequately prepare…

There are a small number of MSW and BSW programs in the U.S. that have specialized tracks to train social workers to work with Spanish-speaking clients. This qualitative focus group study reports on the experiences of 25 students who participated in a new English-Spanish dual-language component in the final year of an MSW program in a Northeastern…

Through an experiential learning project, social work students were able to examine ageist ideas of older adults and appreciate that, regardless of age, all humans need companionship. These insights allowed students to examine their ageist ideas and values toward older adults toward positive change. Engagement across micro, mezzo, and macro…

In March 2020, the federal government declared a national emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with public health guidelines, social work programs rapidly decided whether students could continue, modify, or suspend their field placements. The current study (N = 1,522) describes these events from the perspective of Bachelor of…