Introduction

This chapter considers the issue of how social work programmes can best support students deemed marginal or identified as at risk of failing. Using the lens of ‘integrity’ as a conceptual focus, it addresses the context in which fitness to practise is determined and the processes by which schools of social work may identify, support and manage issues of competence and practice standards. Questions that practice educators may use to determine the extent of concerns and possible options for resolution are applied to a case study and some typical vignettes are offered for reader exploration.

The practice of social work education spans academic and professional perspectives on student achievement, competency, standards and appropriate behaviour. Social work educators – in particular, those involved in practice learning – have first-line responsibility for determining who becomes a social worker (Elpers and FitzGerald, 2012; Robertson, 2013). Ultimately accountable to the individuals, families and communities with whom social work practises, social work programmes become the often-contentious territory where the determination of fitness to practise is most commonly exercised. While academic benchmarks for passing and failing are embedded within all tertiary programmes, an integral component of social work education is the applied professional definitions of competence, capability and standards of practice. Determination of fitness to practise based on judgements concerning a student's conduct, values and ethics, communication skills, or physical or mental health is a far more complex and (some would contend) less objective process. It is a judgement call that presents immense challenges for those tasked with identifying and addressing the issues within social work programmes and practice learning settings (Staniforth and Fouché, 2006), and it is this contested territory that is explored within the chapter.

A note about the concepts and terminology used here is necessary: we make the assumption that the coordination of practice learning and teaching occurs within tertiary education and that preparation for practice occurs within the academy, with exposure to practice sited within the agencies and organisations with whom the schools of social work partner. Practice teachers, in a New Zealand context, are sited within education and we engage with fieldwork supervisors or fieldwork educators who mentor, support and contribute to the assessment of students within the practice agency but who are employed primarily as social workers within and by the field.