Suggested Learning Activities
The following experiences are appropriate learning opportunities through which students can
demonstrate core competencies and practice behaviors. Field instructors are encouraged to assign
activities from this list.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Keep a daily log of experiences in field and reactions to them.
Participate with the field instructor in developing and preparing the Field Learning Plan.
Keep statistical reports as required of regular agency staff.
Process-record an individual interview, group session, committee meeting, supervisory
conference, telephone contact with a community resource, or some other procedure.
5. Participate in orienting new students or staff to the agency.
6. Write your own performance evaluation.
7. Read about the psychodynamics of human behavior, specific casework skills,
organizational theory, presenting problems of clients served by the field placement
setting, or other related subjects.
8. Read old case records or agency reports to learn documentation style and format specific
to the agency setting.
9. Observe the field instructor or others conducting an interview.
10. Listen to a tape-recorded interview or lecture or watch an audio-visual presentation.
11. Attend a meeting and take notes for supervisory discussion.
12. Attend interdisciplinary conferences and case presentations as an observer or participant.
13. Sit quietly in an intake or waiting room area and observe the atmosphere, conversation
and behaviors of persons entering the service delivery system. Observe those who serve
them and their activities.
14. Take a walk through different, specific kinds of neighborhoods.
15. Visit other agencies and service delivery systems in the local community.
16. Attend a court hearing pertaining mental competency, guardianship, a client’s criminal
activity, a divorce proceeding, or a client’s effort to obtain custody of minor children.
17. Have the student go through the service delivery system as if he/she were a client.
18. Attend professional workshops, seminars, and lectures in the community, using field
placement time.
19. Form and lead or co-lead a group.
20. Conduct interviews with clients and provide direct counseling services.
21. Make home visits.
22. Role-playing with the field instructor or others to try out new skills and techniques.
23. Carry a caseload.
24. Participate in group or peer supervision.
25. Answer the phone and act as receptionist for several days to get a feel for the role of these
staff members and the demands placed upon the agency.
26. Interview upper-level administrators and supervisors to acquire specific information
about the program and their roles.
27. Interview individuals who have received services from the program to assess their
responses to the experience.
28. Serve as a member or observer of the system’s peer review, quality control, or audit.
29. Assist in writing the program’s policy and procedure manual.
30. Write a report for the administrator of the program.
31. Work with the program administrator to gather information for and prepare an annual
budget.
32. Join and participate in local/national professional organizations such as NASW, or the
Federation of Student Social Workers.
33. Participate (or assume a leadership role) on a committee to plan a major workshop,
sponsored by the student’s field placement setting.
34. Help set up a computerized data bank system or learn how to use an existing program.
35. Develop a bill (in cooperation with appropriate others) for presentation to a local, state, or
national law-making body; be present to lobby for its passage.
36. Plan, lead, and conduct a fund-raising activity.
37. Prepare a grant proposal.
38. Act as a consultant to an individual, a group, or a program.
39. Participate in a one-way mirror observation, either as an observer or as the “subject.”
40. Tape-record (with agency approval) an interaction or experience for later review and
discussion with the field instructor.
41. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of technology to enhance social work interventions.