Our Social Work degrees prepare students for generalist social work practice, helping them to develop core knowledge, skills and values that can be applied across practice settings, fields and methods of social work practice. Pivotal to social work practice are the values of social justice, human rights, human dignity and equity.
The hands on experience from working alongside other community service organisations during Fieldwork placement is a key learning component and highlight for many of our students.
Field education is a major component of the:
- Bachelor of Social Work with Honours (A4S) (BSW); and
- Master of Social Work (Qualifying) (R7O) (MSW).
Students undertake two Field Education placements during their Social Work course (minimum 500 hours each placement), which take place in Semester 2.
Students are placed in a variety of community, health, and human services agencies across Tasmania, providing a wide range of learning opportunities.
The chance to work with potential employers through our social work sector.
1000 hours of supervised professional fieldwork placements.
Learning objectives
Through working alongside other professionals, students will:
- apply and build on knowledge from academic units,
- develop personal and professional confidence,
- have an opportunity to learn about workplace culture and expectations,
- develop social work skills, and
- to learn more about the practice of Social Work as a change agent.
These attributes will be applied across a wide range of issues and situations, and in a diverse range of contexts, with students completing their 2 placements in different practice settings.
Through their Field Education placements, students will develop:
- a beginning professional social work identity;
- competence in ethical and inclusive practice skills;
- an ability to think critically and reflectively about their practice;
- a commitment to growth and development through active participation in professional supervision and continuing professional education activities.
- Creativity and problem-solving skills
Australian Association of Social Work (AASW)
Field education policies and procedures at UTAS are underpinned by standards established by the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) and are contained in the following documents:
- AASW Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS)2020
in particular Appendix 3: Field Education Standards - AASW Practice Standards (2023)
- AASW Supervision Standards (2014) (PDF 677KB)
For more details about our Social Work course offerings, pathways and career options, please go to our Social Work page.
