How to Promote Professional Competence and Identity in Social Work Students

In increasingly challenging fiscal times, practitioner’s workloads are ever increasing, with work becoming more and more complex as thresholds for services become higher. There is a threat therefore, that the supply of willing, able and motivated practice educators/supervisors may dry up, as practitioners struggle to find adequate time and support within agencies, to support and assess students in practice. I start by considering the multifaceted tasks inherent in supervising, assessing and supporting students from a range of professions, in clinical or practice placements. Further, the complexities of the practice educator role will be explored, by thinking about the highs, lows, dilemmas, challenges but also the joys that can occur when working with students in practice settings. I lastly consider how standards in practice education can be further developed and improved, and how practice educators/supervisors will remain motivated to carry on training a new generation of practitioners, given such challenging financial times.