Of field education in Australia and Hong Kong: A social work educator’s personal reflection

Abstract

Fieldwork is valued as an essential element in social work education. A partnership between students, agencies and universities is essential to a practical learning experience. Although this article is primarily concerned with issues surrounding field education in just one Australian university, this paper also makes comparisons with cases in Hong Kong where appropriate. Several aspects of field education including the dynamics of power in the fieldwork relationship, roles and status of field educators, on-going training provided for field educators and ways to strengthen collaborations will be discussed. The purpose of this analysis is to look at the basic principles of good fieldwork practice.