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Department
of Sociology & Anthropology
Field Placement
Manual
Patricia
Joseph, Ph.D., A.C.S.W.
Field Placement Coordinator
Table of Contents
Field Placement Introduction
Field Placement Course Components
Overall Goals and Objectives
School Expectation of Agency
General Procedure for Field Placement
Final Evaluation of Student
Field Faculty Questionnaire
(Download Adobe
Acrobat Reader)
Department of Sociology and
Anthropology
FIELD PLACEMENT (pdf)
Introduction
Lincoln University and our
Department faculty are pleased to provide you with this information and to
welcome you as a partner in our student's educational process. We have
developed this material to acquaint you with the university, our
department, the course offerings, and our field instruction program.
Field placement internships
are required for all human service majors during their senior year. Other
department majors can elect to take the course. Students gain practical
experience, under supervision, in human service areas including child
welfare, substance abuse, criminal justice, mental health, and school-based
settings.
The field placement
experience is crucial to our student's overall growth and development. By
working in various agency settings, the students have the opportunity to
begin to apply the learning that has taken place in the classroom. It is
our conviction that a broader and perhaps more meaningful educational
experience happens when students are exposed to the work environment and
situations that require them to use themselves effectively.
Our program design is
similar to and based on the philosophy and value system of the Social Work
profession. We attempt to instill in our students an understanding of our
society and the true value of human worth and dignity. Along with this, we
stress the commitment involved in choosing careers related to sociology and
human services.
We are most grateful to our
field placement agencies and supervisors who assist us in meeting the goals
of our program by offering challenging experiences for our students and
have them essentially learn by doing. We enthusiastically welcome your
participation in helping us to design field experiences for our students
that are educationally sound and challenging. We are deeply grateful for
your support.
Patricia Joseph,
Ph.D., A.C.S.W., L. S. W.
Field Placement Coordinator
Field Placement Course Components
Field placement is a
requirement for Human services Majors. Sociology and Criminal Justice
majors are strongly encouraged to take field placement as an elective.
We view field instruction
as an educationally focused agency placement, which is carefully planned
and well supervised. It will provide an opportunity for students to test
and experience in actual practice what has been learned in the classroom.
Through field placement the student is expected to be exposed to a specific
agency program or services. It is expected that students will be guided
through supervision to develop and refine the knowledge, attitudes,
techniques and skills needed to become a productive practitioner in the
process of helping other people.
Our field instruction
has three components:
1. Field Placement - Lincoln students are placed in agencies for two full days
each week.
2. The Field Instruction Lab Course - students are required to meet two hours weekly
for lectures and class discussion where integration of theory and practice
to reinforce learning in the field. Focus is on basic helping concepts as
they relate to actual practice situation in which students are involved.
3.
Supervision - Faculty field instructors fulfill the school's
administrative role of relating the student and his responsibility to the
agency. Field instructors have units of approximately ten students each.
The field instructor provides education, direction, and visits the agencies
and the students in their placements. The faculty field instructor will be available to review and evaluate with agency
supervisors the student's learning in terms of school's educational goals
and objectives, as reflected in practice and arrive at a grade for student
performance.
Overall Goals and Objectives
1. To provide an opportunity for the integration of
classroom learning from the curriculum with direct practical experience.
Students will:
-Integrate theoretical and conceptual information with experiences in the
field.
-Engage in the ongoing process of observation, practice, and reflection in
order to learn from experience.
-Develop general practice skills related to human service delivery
including interviewing techniques, data gathering, assessment,
intervention, and record keeping.
2. To develop an understanding of human services
agencies, programs, and methods being applied in the field.
Students will:
-Describe the organizational structure of the agency.
-Describe and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the agency delivery
system.
-Describe the various professionals and their roles within the agency.
-Describe the methods of assessment an intervention utilized by the agency.
3. To develop an understanding of the individual as
well as the target population served by the agency.
Students will:
-Utilize the bio-psycho-social information that affects the individual.
-Describe the theoretical frameworks used to understand the individual.
-Describe and identify the needs of the culturally diverse individuals
served by the agency.
-Utilize the case study methodology in working with individuals.
4.
To develop and
demonstrate the professional use of self.
Students will:
-Demonstrate an understanding and utilization of
the characteristics of self-awareness.
-Demonstrate a working knowledge of the various professional roles
necessary in practice.
School Expectations of Agency
1. Students should have a sound basic understanding of
the organizational structure of the agency. They should be helped to know
and to understand the purpose, function, and full-range of services
provided, as well as knowledge of the roles and functions of helping
persons in the agency.
2. Learning experiences should be well planned,
structured, and task oriented. It is essential for the student to have a
concrete task at hand in getting started in the agency. From this, then,
would come the more abstract experiences like establishing a relationship
with client, assessments, and establishing effective treatment
interventions.
3. The supervisor will serve as the professional
model in the agency for the student. In the development of the supervisory
relationship, it is expected that the student will be helped to become
aware of the meaning of professional role and personal self. Students
should also be helped to know when and how to use supervision.
4. It is essential to help the student to make a
connection in the field with the reality of human problems and human needs
that he/she has been reading about in books and discussing in class.
5. The assignments should help the student learn
specific skills and tools in interpersonal relations.
6. The student should be helped to learn and to use
the network of social welfare services in the community served by the
agency.
7.
The agency
supervisor is expected to schedule regular conferences
with the student to review assignments and to discuss progress. Observation
of the student's performance in the agency and what has come out of
supervisory conferences should form the basis of a final evaluation of the
student.
General Procedure for Field Placement
1. Fieldwork hours should range approximately from
9:00-9:30 A.M. to 4:00- 4:30 P.M. depending on the transportation schedule.
Any change or adjustment in hours requested must have agency and school
approval.
2. Attendance is required; it has no substitute.
Experience can only be gained by participating in fieldwork. The school
supports the agency in holding students to responsible behavior. When
absence from the agency is necessary due to illness or other valid personal
reasons, it is the student's responsibility to notify the department and
the agency. The agency is asked to assist us by noting any absences.
Responsibility for making up missed sessions, including those missed
through illness, is the student's in consultation with the agency
supervisor.
3. Where the need emerges, or where an interest has
developed, students are encouraged to participate in agency activities held
on other than field placement days. The supervisor should feel free, also,
to suggest that the student attend significant programs, activities,
meetings, etc., if it can be arranged, that might provide an added or
different learning experience.
4. The department/university is not in a position to
provide transportation to and from agency placements. Students carpool when
possible. Public transportation is generally not accessible in the
immediate areas surrounding the university.
5. During the regular semesters, the practicum class
is an important place to learn what is going on in other student
placements, as well as an opportunity to look at common problems, and to
share individual concerns.
6. Students are required to complete various
assignments and reports related to their field experiences. Students are
likely to seek assistance from their agency supervisors and/or other
personnel.
7.
Reports are due as
per the report outline.
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