A third way: off-team practice educators in social work education

In Social Work, Practice Educators (PEs) are termed ‘on-site’ or ‘off-site’ depending on whether they work in the same location as the student they are supporting, or are ‘physically located away from the learners practice area’. Here, we trial and examine a third model: ‘off-team’ practice education. An off-team PE works in the same local authority (LA) as the student but in a different team, providing some familiarity and distance. We hypothesized that this model could be more favorable to LAs, providing some advantages of off-site and on-site models. Using focus groups, we explored student and PE experiences of the off-team model and compared them with experiences of the on-site model. We found that off team education offers a viable pathway for supporting students, but there are differences to recognize to maximize advantages and mitigate disadvantages. The significance of our study for practice education lies in its exploration of the potentials and limitations of the off-team model, particularly regarding supervision, assessment, and the development of professional relationships. We conclude by offering reflections on how educators might more effectively operationalize both on-site and off-team models to maximize their respective strengths.