The Impact of Working with a Struggling or Failing Student in A Practice Learning Setting

Session overview

National and international research, from social work and comparator professions with assessed practice learning requirements, overwhelming conclude that working with a struggling or failing student can be a very stressful and emotionally demanding experience (Finch, 2017).  The aftermath may also be stressful, and can lead to practice educators not wanting to undertake this role again, or teams not willing to take on students again.  Relationships can also become strained between the agencies and the universities. This session focuses on the emotional impact of working with a struggling or failing student on placement, considers what might be the range of challenging but “normal” emotional responses and explores why such emotional responses may emerge. The session highlights the psychodynamic theory of projective identification as one explanatory factor in why the experience can be painful. The session also focuses on how organisations, i.e local authorities, agencies and universities should respond to support PEs in this situation and lastly considers strategies to enable self-care during and after the experience.

Bio

Jo is a Professor of Social Work and Post Graduate Research at the University of Suffolk. She was formerly Professor of Social Work at UEL, where she led the Professional Doctorate in Social Work .  Jo became interested in the issue of what happens when social work students fail on a placement when she began work as a lecturer in social work in 2002. Jo initially explored this in her Professional Doctorate in Social Work and has since published widely on the issue of assessing struggling or failing students on placements. She also publishes on the issue of PREVENT and social work.   Jo is the author or “Working with Struggling Students on Placement: A Practical Guide” (2017, Policy Press) and is co-author of “SHARE: A New Model of Social Work” (2018, Kirwan Maclean associates).