Proximity in Practice Education: Considering two different models of social work practice education

This paper explores two different models of social work practice education within Local Authority (LA) placements. It is based on data from 4 focus groups with 9 student social workers and 9 practice educators. We examined strengths and limitations of the “on-site”
model of practice education (student and practice educator are located within the same social work team) in comparison to the “off-team” model of practice education (practice educator is located on a different team to the student, but within the same LA). Results
indicate that on-site and off-team models both offer viable pathways for supporting and assessing students on LA placements but there are differences and the models both have distinct advantages and disadvantages.