Places of Learning: Knowledge, networks and field education
Universities are commonly referred to as places of learning. Then, we talk of 'going on placement' and students tell us how much they learn there about being a social worker and doing social work (good and bad!). We have university and agency based learning, and seek ways of integrating the two. Different places, different sites of learning - but how viable are these dichotomies in the changing contexts of practice and knowledge making?
Contemporary ideas about knowledge and learning invite us to consider respective ways of knowing. Policies of collaboration and partnership aim to dissolve barriers between institutions. Deductive approaches to applying theory in practice are countered by inductive processes of building knowledge from practice. The 'learning organisation' isn't confined to conventional places of learning; and, cultures of research are sought by those who previously might never have construed themselves as so directly concerned with this activity called research.
As the market driven ideologies of western human services are moderated by moves away from rigid forms of contractualism, there is fresh talk of networked organisations in which the role of the professional is re-cast once again. Potentially an arbiter for membership of and participation in networks, the 'new professional' would need to be adept at understanding processes of knowledge making and a gatekeeper of inclusive practices.
Field education is especially well placed to respond to these social changes. It also faces considerable challenges in doing so. Traditionally, field education has been required to make linkages between the university and community agency sectors whilst being viewed as a somewhat subordinate party within academic hierarchies. This paper will argue that field education has the potential to energise both sectors but in order to do so has to pursue an agenda that takes it beyond its subordinate status.