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A Practicum Guide for Social Workers grounds readers in a conceptualization of practice that considers the history and evolution of the profession with a specific emphasis on social work education and practicum. Throughout this thoroughly updated text, author Shelagh Larkin emphasizes context, "doing," mentorship with faculty and practicum supervisors, professional development of self, critical thinking, and the conscious and deliberate integration of practicum experiences and classroom learning.
This book's pedagogy includes guided reflection questions and integrative activities (IAs) as well as suggested practicum tasks connected to each chapter. Many of the chapters also contain a frequently experienced situation (FES) feature that present common experiences that students have year after year.
Among the updates from the previous edition, Larkin incorporates the new Council on Social Work Education, Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) 2022 throughout, integrates anti-racist practice, and strengthens the human rights component.
A valuable resource on how to navigate the world of the classroom and the world of practice simultaneously, this book is geared toward Bachelor in Social Work (BSW) students who are in their junior or senior practicum courses and Master of Social Work (MSW) foundation students.
About the author
Shelagh Larkin is a licensed independent social worker who obtained her MSW at the University of Kentucky in 1988 and then her Ph.D. in social work at the University of Kentucky in 2020. She has thirty-three years of experience in practice and social work education. Her practice experience is in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and eating disorders. For the last twenty-three years, she has been the director for field education at Xavier University. She has also been awarded several grants, most notable being the Council on Social Work Education's Gero-Ed Center Curriculum Development Institute grant.
