The international field placement: a reconciliation of identity

The international field placement is a site of both identity confusion and identity development for the social work student. Aiming to develop their professional identity they are faced with a challenge: the presence of two dominant identities, the tourist identity and the student identity. Whilst the embodiment of the tourist identity has often facilitated the student’s motivation to undertake the placement experience, the student identity is what both university staff and agency field educators perceive as integral to student engagement in this remote educational setting. Social work educators perceive this identity challenge as an impediment to learning. In contrast, students report feeling that their tourist traits strengthened their personal and professional capacity, natural curiosity and ability to engage with the local community. By analysing the roles of university staff as liaison support, and field educators as agency supervisors, it is possible to explore a teaching and learning relationship that is student-centred, grounded in the immersive international experience. Through privileging the student’s voice social work educators involved with organising, supporting and supervising international field placements are able to understand the placement as a continuum of learning. On this continuum identity reconciliation is viewed as a crucial element in the development of a professional identity.     

“第三极文化”视野下的中国电影美学

第三极文化理论对中国电影美学建设具有启示意义,在第三极理论的视野下,对中国电影的美学渊源、美学精神、美学内涵进行重新观照,有助于解释或解答许多困惑性的问题,尤其对中国电影的民族化建设具有重要的启示价值.     

The Continuum of Care System

Abstract

The Continuum of Care System is a Decision Support System designed to assist social workers responsible for identifying and selecting alternative living arrangements for children unable to remain in their own families. The Continuum of Care System consists of two software packages called MATCH and PROFILE. MATCH produces a rank-ordered list of prospective placement alternatives by statistically comparing an individual child to groups of children previously admitted into different residential facilities. PROFILE summarizes the characteristics and problems of children at each facility in the system.     

An examination of student and provider perceptions of voluntary sector social work placements in Northern Ireland

Practice based learning in Northern Ireland is a core element of social work education and comprising 50% of the degree programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students. This article presents evidence about the perceptions of practice learning from voluntary sector/non-government organisation (NGO) placement providers and final year social work students on social work degree programmes in Northern Ireland in 2011. It draws on data from 121 respondents from189 final year students and focus group interviews with voluntary sector providers offering 16% (85) of the total placements available to students. The agencies who participated in the research study provide a total of 55 PLOs to social work students, and are therefore fairly representative in terms of voluntary sector (NGO) provision. The article locates these data in the context of practice learning pedagogy and the changes introduced by the Regional Strategy for Practice Learning Provision in Northern Ireland 2010–2015. Several themes emerged including; induction, support and guidance, practice educator/student relationship, professional identity and confidence in risk assessment and decision-making. Social work educators, placement providers and employers must be cognisant of newly qualified social workers’ needs in terms of consolidating knowledge within the formative stages of their professional development.     

Supervision of students in social care education: practice teachers’ views of their role

This paper presents findings from research about how practice teachers in social care education in Ireland view their role, in particular what elements they prioritise and what they see as relatively unimportant. The aim of the research was exploratory, seeking to discover commonalities and differences in how practice teachers saw their role in the supervision of social care students. Q methodology was used to compare the participants’ viewpoints. Twenty practice teachers, from varying practice backgrounds and levels of experience, sorted statements outlining aspects of the practice teacher’s role, during individual interviews. Analysis indicates participants had two ways of conceptualising the role. One focuses within the agency, prioritising students’ awareness of the clients using the social care service and policies as guiding practice. The second encapsulates a broader view of learning beyond the agency, focusing on the practice teacher assisting the student to integrate theory with practice and using reflection as a learning tool. Conclusions are drawn in relation to social care education.     

Are We Making the Most of Learning From the Practice Placement?

It is almost universally accepted within social work education that placements are a defining feature of training and ‘… have a more profound and lasting impact than classroom teaching’. Consequently the placement is regarded as the signature pedagogy in social work education. However, it is also asserted that universities pay little attention to this aspect of teaching and concerns about a ‘significant level of disjunction between academic and practice learning’ are expressed.

The development of a new distance learning MA social work programme in which units are studied alongside part-time placements afforded opportunities for innovation in curriculum delivery, alongside increasing connections with learning on placement. Practice educators were invited to respond to an online mixed methods survey exploring their perceptions of the programme and views as to how greater integration of academic and practice learning can be achieved in social work education generally. Analysis of the results identified the important role which supervision with the practice educator can play in integrating learning on placement with the academic curriculum. The paper concludes that a greater focus on learning from practice may offer opportunities to maximise the learning potential of the placement as social work's signature pedagogy.     

海南建省以来区域经济差异的测度与评价

采用Theil指数分析、基尼系数分析和局域空间自相关分析等方法,系统测度1988-2011年海南区域经济差异,以此为基础分析海南建省以来区域经济差异的时序变化及空间格局动态。结果显示,海南建省以来区域经济差异呈现先扩大后缩小、继而转平稳波动的阶段性变化,但总体上明显扩大;海南区域经济差异以4类区域间差异为主导,其空间格局总体上呈现内陆与沿海间及沿海内部差异型;海南区域经济差异在量上未突破偏小的非相对合理状态。这些表明,目前海南相对发达区域经济增长水平不高,海南整体经济增长水平偏低,经济增长缺少实力强的增长极带动。推动海南经济快速稳定增长和区域经济协调发展,以支撑海南国际旅游岛建设,必须遵循经济增长的空间规律,强化实施增长极战略,集中有限的力量重点发展海口、三亚、儋州、文昌、澄迈和琼海,在此基础上培育三个有明显辐射带动作用的增长极或核心区,避免遍地开花式的低效率开发和重复建设。     

Placement characteristics and stability: a longitudinal analysis of Norwegian children in foster homes

This paper investigates how enhanced support for foster parents, such as covering fees and providing consultants and relief, may reduce the number of replacements experienced by children in foster care. It also investigates the extent to which replacements are associated with family (kin) vs. non‐family foster parents, or with legal characteristics of the placement (i.e. forced administrative decisions vs. relief measures agreed upon by the parents). Statistical analyses of administrative data from Norway investigated the longitudinal relationships between these characteristics and the number of replacements at two levels – children (N = 16 109) and municipalities (N = 418) – over 5 years (2007–2011). The results reveal modest associations between enhanced support and fewer replacements; for example, replacement rates are lower for children placed in homes of kin than in non‐family homes. Replacements also tend to be fewer when the placement is forced rather than consensual.     

满族祭杆仪式的跨文化阐释

满族祭杆与祭乌鸦仪式是东北原始圣婚仪式的变体。虽然它是以"祭天"的形式出现的,但却仍然保留着圣婚仪式的原型:以杆和乌鸦象征圣婚仪式的男女二神及其交媾;以神猪的多产象征原母神、生殖神;以请男女二神吃"圣餐"的手法使二神获得非凡的生殖力;以让人们吃"圣餐"的方法使人们获得强大的繁殖力与生命力。