STATE OF SOCIAL WORK FIELD EDUCATION IN AFRICA: Report of the Study Findings

Transforming the Field Education Landscape (TFEL) is a partnership project that aims to identify and develop sustainable social work field education models by creating new knowledge through student training and mentorship. A survey on the state of social work field education in Africa was designed to examine the structure and delivery of field education programs and field resources. An online survey was sent to schools of social work in English-speaking African countries. Field Education Coordinators and Directors (FECD) were invited to complete the survey on behalf of their program (one response per school) to share information about their field education program, staff and personnel, resources, activities, and perspectives on the state of field education in Africa. Similar research was conducted by the TFEL partnership in Canada, which adapted a survey tool created by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) in the United States. With the permission of the CSWE, a TFEL partner, the research partnership created a project sub-committee to further adapt the survey for the African context. A link to the online survey consisting of 95 questions, including 19 open-ended questions, 29 Likert Scale questions, and 47 closed-ended questions, was sent to 60 universities in Africa. In total, 41 universities provided their consent and participated in the survey. Preliminary survey results on the state of social work field education were shared by a group of TFEL researchers at the Association of Social Work Educators in Kenya (ASWEK) international social work conference hosted at Masaai Mara University in Kenya in May 2022. During the conference, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted with a convenience sample of social work educators, practitioners, and students to collect feedback and additional information on the state of social work field education in Africa. The research project was approved by the McGil.

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