Book chapter
‘Getting Used to the First Nations Person in the Room': A Discussion on Field Practice in Australia
Routledge Handbook of Field Work Education in Social Work, pp.187-202
Routledge
2022
Abstract
Relationships between social work and Indigenous people are characterised by complex historical realities and contemporary calls for enhancing cultural capability in practice. This includes the relationship between the development of the social work profession and colonisation and the privileging of Western knowledge in education and training. In Australia, the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), has acknowledged the role that social workers have played in historic injustices against First Nations peoples and is taking steps to make amends for past actions. Increasing the number of First Nations social workers entering the profession is considered crucial in ensuring workforce diversity and improved practice processes and outcomes. However, little attention has been paid to the experience of First Nations students engaged in social work training, and particularly field education. First Nations students are often navigating additional complexities that may be unseen and unacknowledged by their field educator, university staff and other social work colleagues. Students are regularly required to negotiate their cultural identity and community protocols, often in professional contexts where there are competing ideas regarding boundaries and personal knowledge. As such, we report various enactments of racism on field placement. Additionally, these complexities can extend beyond the pedagogical space: Students are often required to align themselves with a professional identity that may be rightly regarded with high levels of suspicion and distrust within their own families and communities. This chapter explores these, often invisible, negotiations and plots the course for new conversations towards frameworks for culturally safe field education experiences for First Nations students.
Details
- Title
- ‘Getting Used to the First Nations Person in the Room': A Discussion on Field Practice in Australia
- Authors
- Kiel Hennessey (Author) - NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation -St Leonards, Australia (ACI)Steven Keed (Author) - Australian Catholic UniversityRachael Howard (Author) - Northern Territory Department of EducationBindi Bennett (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre - LegacyPhillip Pallas (Author) - University of Newcastle AustraliaKylie Agllias (Author) - University of Newcastle Australia
- Contributors
- Rajendra Baikady (Editor) - University of JohannesburgS M Sajid (Editor) - Jamia Millia IslamiaVaroshini Nadesan (Editor) - University of JohannesburgM. Rezaul Islam (Editor) - University of Dhaka
- Publication details
- Routledge Handbook of Field Work Education in Social Work, pp.187-202
- Publisher
- Routledge
- DOI
- 10.4324/9781032164946-16; 10.4324/9781032164946
- ISBN
- 9781032164946
- Organisation Unit
- Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99620508302621
- Output Type
- Book chapter
Metrics
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