Bridging Theory into Practice: Master of Social Work Field Practicum at St. Mary’s University

Abstract

A field practicum is an integral part of social work education. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the supervision of social work field practicums at St. Mary’s University. Field practicum is the key means of providing the supervisees with the opportunity to apply classroom conceptual knowledge into an agency-based work environment at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. A descriptive and exploratory research design and a mixed research approach were employed in the study. A sample of 96 supervisees participated in the study out of the entire population of 157. A simple random sampling method was used in the selection of the participants for quantitative data collection. From the given sample of participants, 12 were purposefully selected for qualitative data collection based on their knowledge and experience. The general outcome of the assessment was modest in terms of equipping the supervisees with the required knowledge and skills. The findings for the 25 items used to gauge the effectiveness of the social work field practicum supervision at St. Mary’s University were at a moderate level.