Practitioners’ experiences of student supervision in the bachelor of social work degree

Abstract

The developing and evolving social welfare system in South Africa coupled with inadequate human and material resources and high staff workloads, all impact on student learning in the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree. This paper focuses on the challenges experienced by social work practitioners with regard to student supervision in the BSW. A qualitative case study design was used, in which the researcher purposively selected social work practitioners involved at third -year level teaching and learning in the BSW at a selected South African university. The findings point to challenges relating to limited agency resources, institutional–agency cooperation and students’ personal challenges. These findings have implications for social work education and practice in South Africa as well as for continued professional development of social workers and agencies who offer student placements to universities.