Giving your placement a chance

Learning Objectives

After considering this resource, you should understand the different learning opportunities a placement presents and how you can apply this to your ongoing professional development.

Placements are obviously an integral part of your time as a social work student, so it can be discouraging if you are placed somewhere you are unsure about. However, it is important to remember that every placement provides opportunities for development!

In the following video, Zohra reveals how she was reluctant about her first placement - working with children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, a group she had no previous experience of. As the placement developed though, she realised just how much she was learning from it.

Download: Video transcript

Reflective Questions

  1. Are there any service user groups which you would be reluctant to work with? What are the reasons for this?
  2. In what ways can you prepare for a placement effectively, so you are less anxious about it starting?
  3. How might identifying your learning objectives help you to focus on the placement, even if you are unsure about where you are working, or the service user group you are working with?
  4. In what ways can you learn more about the experiences of service users you will be working with on a placement?
Case studies