Evaluating professional development training for field instructors in an undergraduate social work program in Ukraine

摘要

Field instruction is an essential component of the curriculum for training social workers at the university level. In countries where the profession of social work is in its infancy, difficulties lie in locating social service staff with the appropriate level of knowledge and expertise required to supervise students and ensure a well rounded learning experience, consistent with the educational objectives of the program. To address this concern, Lviv Polytechnic National University, in Lviv, Ukraine has developed a professional development program for training new field instructors, within the framework of the Reforming Social Services: Canada-Ukraine Project.;The purpose of this practicum was to evaluate the implementation of this new training program in attempts to identify areas, which could be modified to improve the delivery of this training program, as well as to identify directions for future professional development courses. Data was collected from training program participants, social work student, instructors of the training program, agency directors and project staff. The findings of this evaluation clearly demonstrate that the delivery of the first training program for new field instructors was successfully implemented and very well received by participants.;This practicum report presents the evaluation findings and recommends a number of suggested changes, which would serve to improve the training program for new field instructors. Recommendations concerning future directions for professional development are also presented, including continued training for site supervisors, and the implementation of advanced professional development courses emphasizing innovation in service delivery and social development reform.