Field Agencies and Instructors

Field Placements

A significant part of the Master of Social Work (MSW) and Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) learning experience happens outside of the classroom. All social work students are required to complete work placements in the field, allowing them to integrate the skills they learn in school and develop their identities as professional social workers. The success of the Field Education program relies heavily on field agencies that dedicate their time, resources, and staff to the education of social work students.

The Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University has established connections with over 700 agencies across Southern Ontario as well as a number of international agencies.

Field Instruction

Field instructors play a key role in the development of the next generation of social workers. The instructor attempts to teach complex skills within the respective concentrations, model professional behaviours, and facilitate the growth and development of values and ethics in the student.

The Faculty of Social Work relies on agency-employed field instructors for all field placements. At all times, the students and instructors are accountable to the agency administration for the service responsibilities and to the university for the educational requirements and procedures. It is expected that the instructors attend meetings or committees required by the agency to provide for realistic involvement in agency administration.

The Faculty of Social work is committed to supporting field instruction as follows:

• Conducting field visits with new agencies to establish placement settings which ensure a quality field program.
• Providing field instructors with a clear understanding of the practice concentration objectives.
• Setting minimum field practice goals and criteria for student evaluations.
• Offering seminars and courses to assist field instructors with their teaching skills.
• Providing continuing education programs in new or advanced areas of practice.
• Supporting, initiating, and maintaining contact with field instructors and students through field advisors.

Benefits for Instructors

The success of our Field Education program relies heavily on field agencies that dedicate their time, resources and staff to the education of social work students. In order to reward the longstanding commitment of field instructors and facilitate your continued involvement with our Field Education program, we provide several benefits to our field agency partners.