Exploring Why Some SSW Feel Unprepared: SSWN Open Access 2020
Editor’s Note: In this SSWN Open Access 2020 series, we’re sharing the articles from the just-published open-access International Journal of School Social Work (published by SSWAA, and where I serve as Editor-in-Chief) with SSWN readers and to invite authors and practitioners to interact with this original research here and over at our SSWNetwork platform. The next article in this series is in some ways a focal point of a lot of our work here at SSWN and our sister site SSWNetwork: helping prepare SSW for the multi-faceted and sometimes overwhelming work roles they’re asked to step into. The study conducted by this team of researchers from New Mexico State finds that there’s a lot of work that we have ahead if we’re going to help SSW feel more prepared:
Exploring-School-Social-Worker-Preparation-for-PracticeQuantitative data from Likert-scale items suggested that respondents felt generally underprepared for practice upon entering the field. This lack of preparation was felt generally and in regard to four areas of school-specific practice: knowledge of education policy, knowledge of special education, knowledge of school-based assessments and knowledge of school-based interventions.
Tell us what you think and share how we might work together to support your ongoing professional development, over at SSWNetwork.
