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"To be supported means, knowing that there are resources available to you which help you to give the best possible experience to your student. It means knowing that there is support available to you should you need to avail of it" Practice teacher, 2022
According to practice teachers the following makes them feel supported in their role as a practice teachers.
Organisational support: line manager, supervision and peer support within your organisation.
"The help and support of team members and management. The availability of necessary equipment and resources."
"The structure in our organisation supports students , culture of learning in our organisation and co ordinating of placements. "
"The undertaking of the post grad diploma in practice teaching, supervision and management was a good support and provided a very good base. My team were also very supportive and open to the idea of working with a student."
University support: Placement learning coordinator, tutor, course director, CPD events, call in days.
"The role of the college and the placement tutor help enormously to validate any concerns and discuss the next best approach."
"Ongoing communication with tutor and college."
Peer support from other Practice teachers.
"Sharing, the positives and negative with other practice teachers. Having the Practice teacher coordinator availability if queries issues arise."
NPTSWI (National Practice Teaching in Social Work Initiative): The NPTSWI supports practice teaching through this open access online repository of learning and teaching resources for practicee teachers.
If difficulties arise: In some cases difficulties may arise on the placement. It is important to address these concerns early and liaise with the tutor and the practice education team/coordinator in the first instance for support.
Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University College Cork
Director of Practice, and Research Associate with ISS21
Child protection and welfare policy and practice; child welfare removals; children's rights; staff retention/turnover; social media abuse and online harassment; voluntary care; community-based research
Lecturer in Social Work, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork
Social work with young people, groupwork, social work with fathers, transition to third level education among under represented groups, creative methodologies in social work.
Assistant Professor in Social Work. Trinity College Dublin
Child welfare with a particular focus on the application of life course theory and long-term well-being and outcomes of children in care, care leavers, and children experiencing disadvantage.
The SCS offer free, confidential and non-judgmental support to registered students of Trinity College Dublin who are experiencing personal and/or academic concerns.
Trinity has adopted a Reasonable Accommodation Policy that outlines how supports are implemented in Trinity. Students in receipt of reasonable accommodations in College, should discuss implications for placement based learning with their Disability Officer. If required they will be issued with a Professional Learning Education Needs Summary – PLENS with recommended reasonable accommodations for placement. This is also discussed with the Practice Education team as part of the placement planning process.
Student Learning Development
In addition to the guidance offered to students in lectures and tutorials, the college also provides additional student supports to any student who is in need of assistance with their written work, examinations and other course assessments. The webpages of SLD (Student Learning Development) list a variety of workshops and events on a range of academic skills to help students achieve their academic potential. Web: http://studentlearning.tcd.ie/
College Tutor
All registered undergraduate students are allocated a College Tutor at the start of their first year. The College Tutor can advise on course choices, study skills, examinations, fees, represent students in academic appeals, in applications for ‘time off books’, readmission, course transfer applications, and any other matter which may require an official response from College. The College Tutor can also advise if personal matters impinge on academic work, and provide information on relevant services and facilities in college.
Postgraduate Advisory Service
The post-graduate advisory service is a confidential service available to all registered postgraduate students at Trinity College. It offers a comprehensive range of academic, pastoral, and professional supports dedicated to enhancing the student experience.
For details of further sources of support and help in Trinity College
Student services are a central point for support services. The services are available in person and online. Services include for example counselling, health centre, budgeting, and chaplaincy.
The Maynooth University Writing Centre offers free, friendly, non-judgemental writing help to any student, undergraduate or postgraduate, regardless, of course, degree or level. The support we offer is primarily through one-to-one appointments, where students can discuss their writing with peer/expert tutors. In addition, Writing Centre staff offer writing workshops, support writing groups, engage in discipline-specific work, and research in academic writing and related fields.
The Maynooth University Access Programme (MAP) encourages under-represented groups to enter third level and provides these groups with support through their time at Maynooth. These groups include under-represented school leavers, mature students, students with disabilities and members of the Irish Traveller community.
Practice Teacher Testimonials
It is a privilege to be a part of the education of the next generation of social workers. Students bring a wonderful sense of freshness to both a practitioner and their wider team
Practice Teaching is a privilege as facilitating and assessing practice based learning is imperative to the development of the next generation of Social Workers.
Practice teaching is very enjoyable, it gives a sense of fulfilment and opportunities to review our own practice and to refresh on social work theories
Senior Medical Social Work Practitioner, working for the past 7 years in Medical Social Work in CHI at Crumlin.
Graduated from the Masters Programme in UCD in 2009 and gained 5 years of experience in Child Protection work. Recent Graduate of the Professional Certificate in Children and Loss in RCSI and Irish Hospice Foundation.
Currently managing referrals from the Emergency Department and General Paediatrics in Crumlin and have facilitated several social work students both in Crumlin and Tusla.
‘It is a privilege to be a part of the education of the next generation of social workers. Students bring a wonderful sense of freshness to both a practitioner and their wider team and gives the practice teacher an opportunity to reflect on their skills and improve approaches to their work’.
Beatrice Aleshinloye
Social Work Team Leader, Tusla Child and Agency for 6 years on the Welfare and Protection Team.
I graduated with a Master's in Social Work from UCC in 2016 and a Postgraduate diploma in Advanced Fieldwork and Supervision (Social Work) in 2020. Undertaking further education in practice teaching has had a positive impact on my teaching skills and my supervisory role as a Practice Teacher. It has also sharpened my leadership skills as a Social Work Team Leader in Child Protection Services.
Currently, I am working as a Social Work Team Leader and I supervise students on placement including, training and mentoring newly qualified Social Workers.
My advice for practice teachers is that:
"Having students on the team energises the team as their inquisitive questioning helps us to reflect on our role better.
It exposes students to experience the busy teamwork within Tusla for example, and the positive feedback we get is that they wish to return back to us.
Students help also Social Workers stay in touch with social work theories, slow down our processes in practice and make us question why we do things the way we do them."
Michelle McKernan
Michelle McKernan works at Tusla The Child and Family Agency in the role of Senior Manager, Prevention Partnership and Family Support since 2016. Previous roles within Tusla include Social Work Team Leader Foster care, Regional Adoption Service Manager and Principal Social Worker for Alternative Care. Graduated from the University of Ulster in the 1990s followed by five years working in Child Protection Services and as a specialist interviewer. Has also worked overseas as a Senior Social Work Practitioner. A graduate of the Institute of Public Institute MA in Human Resource Management and Royal College of Surgeons MSc in Loss and Bereavement. Most recently graduated from University of Galway Postgraduate Diploma in Practice Teaching, Supervision and Management. Has facilitated several social work students.
"Practice Teaching is a privilege as facilitating and assessing practice based learning is imperative to the development of the next generation of Social Workers. Students bring to placement a curiosity regarding practice which supports a culture of critical reflection and practice improvements for the Practice Teacher and their wider social work colleagues."
Nuala Crosse
Nuala Crosse is a Senior Medical Social Worker at Peamount Healthcare, Newcastle, Co Dublin. She joined the organisation in March 2021 to this post in a new Level 2 Inpatient Neuro Rehabilitation unit for Young Adults as part of the roll out of Irelands first Managed Clinical Rehabilitation Network ( MCRN )
Since 2004, Nuala has been Practice Teaching with Trinity College Dublin in such settings as Child Welfare and Protection, Medical Social Work in Acute Setting and now a Senior in a specialist in patient NeuroRehabilitation Setting, as well as tutoring with Trinity College Dublin on their BSS and MSW courses for several years.
In the current agency she works with Nuala has supervised two students in last 12 months, and tutors several students each year. Nuala is especially happy to give students opportunities to experience a new, innovative, weekly Peer Support Group in the Neurorehabilitation Unit in Peamount Healthcare. She is particularly interested in the potential impact of interdisciplinary work on service users experience and their views of their journey through and beyond ‘rehabilitation’.
Nuala takes immense delight in noticing the small, significant things day to day, then highlighting them in supervision and reflective practice and seeing learning actually happen. When the student takes their learning into the service user’s world and becomes independent, no matter how small the task, the satisfaction never loses its effect.
Nuala views Practice teaching as a precious chance for her to take part in and witness the unique development of a professional social work practitioner. It is a chance for her to think about what that individual person might need in order to feel nurtured, to flourish and to enter a work force where they will meet service users during the greatest challenges of their lives. In her work as a practice teacher Nuala sees this opportunity as a chance to be influenced by students, to think about what their is doing in practice, a chance to link with Colleges and consider new ideas and debates, a chance to promote professional learning and development, a safe space to learn, to make mistakes, to develop professionally.
"Practice teaching takes time, takes energy but it never takes from you without leaving so much in return. Take the chance."
Andrea Ward
Andrea Ward is a Principal Social Worker in National Orthopaedic Hospital since 2019, 10 years Medical Social Work experience. Practice Teaching since 2015 and Practice Tutor with Maynooth since 2019.I am passionate about facilitating social work placements, I believe positive placements for students provide the foundations for competent and confident social workers, who will hopefully become my colleagues in the future. Remember students are on placement to learn and will always need guidance. A reflective and supportive learning structure will support successful placements.
“Practice teaching is very enjoyable, it gives a sense of fulfilment and opportunities to review our own practice and to refresh on social work theories”.
