As an integral part of the 120 semester credit hour BSW degree program, the social work field practicum experience occurs in year 4 of the BSW program, and constitutes 12 semester credit hours of the 54 required semester credit hours for graduation with a BSW degree. Students will take SCWK 4641 Social Work Practicum I in the fall semester and must take SCWK 4643 Social Work Practicum II in the spring semester. The purpose of the practicum, or field education in social work education is to provide opportunities for 4^th year students to apply social work knowledge, skills, and values they learned in year 3 of the program. The Field Education Program at Texas A&M University, Kingsville employs an ecological paradigm, person-in-environment perspective, and biopsychosocial approach as its overall philosophies and theoretical foundation for generalist practice.

According to the CSWE, field education or the social work practicum is the signature pedagogy of the social work profession.  The CSWE EPAS states, “Signature pedagogy represents the central form of instruction and learning in which a profession socializes its students to perform the role of practitioner.  Professionals have pedagogical norms with which they connect and integrate theory and practice.¹  In social work, the signature pedagogy is field education.  The intent of field education is to connect the theoretical and conceptual contribution of the classroom with the practical world of the practice setting.  It is a basic precept of social work education that the two interrelated components of curriculum—classroom and field—are of equal importance within the curriculum, and each contributes to the development of the requisite competencies of professional practice.  Field education is systematically designed, supervised, coordinated, and evaluated based on criteria by which students demonstrate the achievement of program competencies” (CSWE, 2008, p. 8).

¹ Shulman, L. S. (2005, Summer). Signature pedagogies in the professions. Daedelus, 52-59.

The following forms are used to support student achievement per CSWE accreditation standards in field education:

Student Forms

1. Student Interview Response Form
2. Student Evaluation of the Agency
3. Student Learning Plan
4. Practicum Time Sheet
5. Student Field Practicum Application

Field Agency Description

1. Agency List

Agency Forms

1. Agency Interview Response form
2. Agency Field Practicum Application 
3. Agency Profile Form
4. Field Instructor Data Sheet
5. Field Instructor Program Evaluation
6. Field Practicum Student Evaluation

General Forms

1. BSW Field Education Handbook