Competency Development in Online Field Education: Evidence from a Multi-Site Study

Digitalization of social work practice has picked up pace following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, debates and discussions on responding to the evolving online environments is limited to studies in the Western context. There is a large gap in the response of social work educators to digitalization of social work in general and particularly from the Global South. Highlighting the need for discussion on the competencies required for online social work practice and its relevance for social work education we examine the online field work experiences of students from two campuses in India. We use the competency framework outlined by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) to examine the opportunities for competency development for students in the online field work practicum during COVID-19. The paper is based on twenty in-depth interviews conducted with social work master’s students who have done their online field practicum during COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis of students’ experiences yielded mixed results for opportunities of competency achievement in online field work. There is a need for further research in the area of competency development in online environments.