The pivotal role of practice educators in social work education

At Social Work England, our ambition is to raise the standard of social work education across the country. For us to do this successfully, we need to improve our understanding of the role of practice educators in social work education.

Practice educators are social workers who provide support, guidance, and oversight to social work students during their practice placements. They help students understand the theory they have learned in the classroom and apply this in a practical setting. This is important to make sure students have the practical skills that are essential for effective social work practice.

Findings from our latest research

Last year we commissioned the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Research in Practice to carry out a national scoping review of practice education. This builds on research we did in 2021 which found that practice educators wanted a relationship with us as the regulator beyond their status as a social worker.

Our latest research reflects conversations with practice educators, higher education providers, and local authorities. It also summarises the analysis of 23 placement handbooks across the range of qualifying programmes.

Practice educators described their role as rewarding, complex and challenging. They were keen to emphasise the positive benefits of direct work with students and the intrinsic rewards of the role, including personal growth and a chance to directly shape and influence the profession. Practice educators reflected positively on opportunities to work collaboratively with course providers on other aspects of qualifying social work programmes, such as admissions, teaching and assessment.

The research reinforced the following key roles of practice educators:

1. Nurturing professional competence

Practice educators play a vital role in teaching social work students the practical skills needed to be a social worker. They facilitate the development of critical skills such as assessment, intervention, and advocacy through hands-on experience. By exposing students to diverse and challenging situations, practice educators contribute to the growth of well rounded and adaptable social workers, capable of addressing the many and varied needs of those they work with.

2. Promoting reflective practice

Reflection is a cornerstone of effective social work, enabling professionals to continually learn and improve their practice. Practice educators encourage this reflective process in their students by providing a safe space for discussion and analysis. This not only enhances the self awareness of budding social workers but also instils a commitment to continued professional development.

3. Ensuring ethical practice

Social work is grounded in a strong ethical framework. Practice educators play a crucial role in instilling ethical principles in their students. By modelling ethical behaviour and guiding students through ethical dilemmas, practice educators help nurture socially responsible and morally grounded social workers.

4. Building resilience

Social work often involves dealing with challenging and emotionally charged situations. Practice educators help students develop the emotional resilience needed to navigate these. By providing a supportive environment, they help student develop coping mechanisms and self care strategies which are essential through a career in social work.

5. Contributing to professional identity

Practice educators help build a strong professional identity among social work students. Through mentorship and guidance, they help students understand and embrace the values, ethics, and responsibilities associated with the profession. This creates a sense of pride and commitment to the social work profession.

Challenges in practice education

Practice educators are social workers themselves. They therefore experience the same workforce challenges faced by many in the profession. The ability to retain experienced practice educators, particularly in local authorities, remains a clear challenge for the profession. Course providers also highlighted the high workload faced by practice educators in local authorities as a challenge to their recruitment and retention. The lack of practice educators often meant a lack of placements.

Despite these challenges, practice education helped social workers feel that they were making a meaningful and lasting contribution to the profession. Practice educators recognised the importance of their role for improving recruitment and retention in the wider workforce, sustaining practitioners in practice, and driving up standards. However, they highlighted the emotional impact it can have on a person, the strain of working with students who are at risk of failing, and lack of protected caseloads as persistent challenges. Some students also highlighted concerns around the limited number of practice educators from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, and how this is perceived by students from those backgrounds.

Supporting practice education for the future

Our research and ongoing conversations with practice educators have shown they would welcome a closer relationship with us and greater recognition of their role. The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care also recommended that we take on a greater role in overseeing practice educators and their work. We want to assure their training, support their practice, and ensure the ongoing suitability and competence of social workers who take on this role.

As a next step, we want to build a clearer picture of the practice education workforce to inform the development of our regulatory approach. This will highlight the important role of practice education in the development of the future workforce and aims to support practice educators to provide good quality and sustainable practice learning opportunities.

We look forward to continuing this important conversation to enable us to better understand and support practice education in the future.

Further reading

Read the research findings 

Our approach to social work education and training

Read our interview with practice educator Kirsty Madden

Read our interview with a student about the impact of her practice educator