Two sides of the one coin: assessment of students who have previously failed a placement and the role of the practice teacher

Abstract

Why does a student fail? What will be the student s learning needs in any repeat placement? How does the student reflect on their previous placement experience? Can the Practice Teacher provide the appropriate learning experience and facilitate the student to attain the competencies needed to pass a repeat placement? So many questions for all of those concerned with the reality of a failed and repeat placement. This paper emanates from a presentation by both authors at the Glasgow Conference on Practice Teaching and Field Education in Health and Social Work in April 2014. It will examine the processes of social work placement failure and the task involved in finding a repeat placement for the student. Interesting topics for discussion include: What prompts Practice Teachers to take students who have previously failed? What preparations and conversations take place previous to the student started the repeat placement? How important is the involvement of the student s Tutor in the planning of this next placement? A small sample of practice teachers experiences who offered placements to students (who had previously failed a placement) will be explored, as will conversations with students who had themselves previously failed. The conclusions attained by the authors both of whom are University Fieldwork Coordinators in researching this topic will be presented, with some interesting results.