To: MTSU Social Work Field II students
From: Louis Martinez and John Sanborn, Field Liaisons
Date: August 31, 2004
Welcome to Field II and the seminar which
accompanies it!
Field II is the most important part of your social work education. At the
end of this experience you will be able to practice social work as a professional.
It is your job this semester to finish the process of getting ready to do
that. Finishing well is vital. The three days a week which you spend at
your placement and the two days in class are designed to make sure that
you are able to help people effectively. Take this opportunity seriously
so that you will know that you can truly be a professional social worker
and your future clients will benefit from the education you have received.
Some of you feel that you are already prepared to practice as a professional. Many of you had excellent evaluations at the end of Field I and are already able to practice effectively. Remember though that you can always learn more; you can always improve. Field II is a wonderful opportunity to do just that. Last semester gave you a good idea of how to be a social worker. This semester will make sure that you can do it. But you must be the one to do what is necessary so that it gets done. You know better than anyone else what you need to work on. You know what you need to do to not only convince us that you are ready to graduate, but to be true to yourself that you are ready to practice as a professional. No matter how good you are, you can be better. Please work hard to do just that.
Some of you feel that you will never learn enough to be confident in your professionalism. This is actually good in the sense that you should continue to learn and grow throughout your career: a professional is committed to continual self-development. But that feeling should be balanced by confidence that you have grown enough to start getting paid for what you hopefully will love doing. Making Field II a top priority this semester will help you feel that way.
By "a top priority" we mean that Field II is more important than most of the other things in your life. Your health and family should always come first, but Field II should not be far behind. The courses you are taking, Practice II and Integrative Seminar, are important. Dr. Frost is a great teacher and you should certainly take him seriously (in spite of the crazy things he sometimes does to get his point across). Prof. Martinez is new here, but he was selected because of his excellent experience in practice and a teaching philosophy that should work well. Prof. Sanborn is bound to add something to Practice II as well. We can all teach you a lot in Seminar and Practice II, but Field II is more important! Do nothing to compromise the obligations you have to your clients and to learning from them and your agency this semester. You may be employed and we all know how important it is to have an income. But Field II is more important! It is unethical to put your needs for economic security and comfort ahead of your clients and your own need for professional development. Field II is very important!
It is even more important than the seminar where we meet each week to discuss your progress. It is our perspective however that the seminar is a necessary part of the learning process. This means that you can miss seminar if something really important is happening in the agency, but we better be informed, it better be darn important, and it better not happen too often. And you better not miss for any other reason, except maybe "health and family." Maybe.
Remember, this course is graded Pass/Fail. Doing well at the agency, attending the seminar, and completing your journals will result in a grade of "pass." Failure to do these things will result in a failing grade. We do not want to fail anyone, but we will to protect the integrity of our profession. All of you have demonstrated that you are ready to take this course. The only thing that will keep you from passing is your lack of commitment. If you do not keep Field II as a top priority this semester, you will be showing a lack of commitment. Please let's not have that happen. Enjoy this opportunity to learn. Enjoy your time in the agency, and remember: Field II is the most important part of your social work education!