Expanded Role of Field Instructor

General Description
The field instructor traditionally plays an important role in educating social workers. In the HPPAE, that role is even more essential because students are rotating through multiple settings, which increases the potential for learning to become disjointed. This is why HPPAE field instructors have expanded responsibilities beyond those traditionally associated with their profession. The traditional responsibilities are:

• Orient students to the agency
• Develop learning contracts with students
• Develop, coordinate, and supervise assignments
• Create a plan to evaluate students performance and collect feedback
• Mentor and model for geriatric social work practice
• Facilitate students professional growth

Additional responsibilities under the HPPAE are:

• Direct and coordinate student learning across programs and agencies
• Participate in the university-agency partnership activities
• Participate in HPPAE integrative seminars as leaders, expert commentators on case situations, and instructors
• Consult on education and training in field agencies

HPPAE field instructors may also be asked to:

• Teach in the classroom as guest speakers on special topics in aging in foundation courses or aging-specific courses
• Serve as adjunct instructors for aging courses
• Give lectures or talks at brown-bag lunches for all MSW students to educate and interest them in topics on aging

Benefits of the Field Instructors Expanded Role
In the HPPAE model, field instructors make important contributions to the educational program beyond working directly with students in the field. Field instructors can:

• Bring their years of experience and knowledge of practice realities and service-system issues, as well as program planning and management skills
• Help recruit students by being role models and living proof that working with older adults is rewarding
• Encourage agency staff with undergraduate degrees to apply to the MSW program, thereby upgrading the level of skill in agencies

Implementation Guidelines
The field instructor oversees the continuity of the students internship and learning by fulfilling these tasks:

• Plan student rotations, focusing on learning goals in relation to competencies; primary field instructors (along with field directors, liaisons, and advisors) help students identify and arrange for these goals and oversee related assignments in these settings, which may include a program or agency other than the one in which they are employed
• Direct and coordinate the students experience; in the HPPAE model, field instruction is a team effort that is led by primary field instructors charged with keeping communication open between practitioner-educators, faculty, students, and other members of the HPPAE
• Orient students to rotations and other facets of the HPPAE
• Help students understand the relationship between their rotation agencies and service providers with the aid of the Older Adult Service Matrix
• Set parameters and expectations for student learning experiences based on program goals or best practices in geriatric social work
• Be involved in discussions around curriculum and seminars, and participate in seminars organized by faculty and/or field directors that integrate classroom and field learning
• Track and assess student progress using the HPPAE Geriatric Social Work Skill Competency Instrument II
• Oversee additional practitioners (task instructors or task supervisors) who are essential to ensuring that students have real-world practice opportunities in diverse settings. In their settings, these additional practitioners or instructors can:
  
  1. Participate in development of learning contracts
  2. Orient students
  3. Plan assignments
  4. Supervise day-to-day work of students
  5. Contribute to student evaluations

Note on educational coordinators: In some agencies, especially those with multiple programs, a practitioner might fulfill the role of educational coordinator without being a primary field instructor. This option allows one individual to take over the planning aspect of rotations and the primary field instructors to concentrate on the rest of the coordination.

Incentives for Field Instructors
Because the model asks field instructors to expand their traditional scope of work, it is important to understand and speak to the incentives that may motivate them to take on these additional responsibilities. Field instructors who participated in the initial HPPAE demonstration sites role cited the following as effective incentives for taking part:

• Stronger connection to the university and the benefits that come with having an academic affiliation
• Increased opportunity to collaborate with others in the field of aging
• Greater networking opportunities to share resources and best practices
• Challenges of adopting new responsibilities, including negotiating student time and assignments and increased exposure to inter-agency politics
• Greater opportunities to teach

Special Education Training for Field Instructors
Offering special educational training for the field instructors connected to this program is a key to success for your HPPAE. These trainings will help:

• Ensure that the field instructors are experts in the HPPAE model
• Strengthen the field instructors expanded role
• Ensure that field instructors and students share clear learning expectations based on the students capabilities
• Offer field instructors the opportunity to provide feedback to the university
• Foster a better university-community partnership and enhance the connection between field and classroom work