Bridging boundaries to acquire research and professional skills: reflecting on the impact and experiences of technology-enabled collaborative cross-institutional and transnational social work placement project
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Published Version
Date
2024
Authors
Rose, Joanne
Halton, Carmel
Morley, Louise
Short, Monica
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Published Version
Abstract
Worldwide, social work educators’ teaching and learning practices are founded on social justice principles and recognised for their evidence-based, interpersonal, cross-cultural, and problem-solving approaches. Placements are integral to social work education preparing students for practice. Learning experienced on such placements, particularly those involving research, can assist students to develop a broad understanding of diversity, inequality, and anti-oppressive practice in local, national, or international contexts. Technology-enhanced, online research opportunities have revolutionised research placements. This article offers a reflective dialogue on the insights gained from two transnational, technology-enhanced social work research-based placements. The first example reviews three student-led, rural-focused inquiries completed in Australia and Ireland; the second pertains to students physically situated in Ireland and who engaged in collaborative online projects while completing their USA-based social work placements online. The authors reflect on the experiences and the skills the students developed and how the application of technology helped meet an increasing need for environmentally sustainable practices in teaching, learning, and research on placement. Publicly available student reflections on significant knowledge and practice benefits gained from their transnational experiences are considered. The study highlights how reflective practice assisted in the enactment of research in online contexts.
Description
Keywords
Social work education , Work-integrated learning , Wocial work research , Online , Social work field education , Technology , Sustainability , Transnational
Citation
Rose, J., Halton, C., Morley, L. and Short, M. (2024) ‘Bridging boundaries to acquire research and professional skills: reflecting on the impact and experiences of technology-enabled collaborative cross-institutional and transnational social work placement projects’, Social Sciences, 13(12), 659. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13120659