Field Work களப் பணி பயிற்சி

a. Observation visit

Observation Visits provide an exposure to an understanding of the services provided in response to people’s needs.

Objectives:

• Acquire skills of systematic observation and develop a sprit of inquiry.
• Understand society’s response to social problems through various schemes.
• Understand, appreciate and develop ability to critically evaluate the initiative of voluntary and government programmes.
• Develop an appreciation of social work intervention in these programmes by recording.

A minimum of six visits may be made to Health settings, Educational Setting, Community services, Services for special groups, Criminal justice systems, civic administration centers, Destitute, migrant and elderly services both institutional and non-institutional.

b. Reality walk

Students are paired off to Interview the concerned people like Child Labourers employed in Hotels, Petrol Bunks, Petty Shops, Beach Vendors, Fruit Vendors, Street Children, Cobblers, Pavement Dwellers, Beggars, Construction Workers, Migrant Workers, Alcoholics, Patients in Hospitals and the others in need.

c.      Social experience laboratory

• It is a class room activity, to provide in the games / activities, from the involvement of self in various practice skills.
• The structured experience laboratory provides the opportunity of “learning by doing” in a safe environment of the class room.
• In a laboratory learners and facilitators meet jointly to experience certain intervention skills, needs to be amongst the most non-threatening methods of learning, especially for beginners.
• These laboratory experiences are designed in small groups to encourage participation, sharing of the experience and aid in examining learning and appreciation of skills. These sessions have a specific objective of experiencing self, and applying / using self in practice.

       The Objectives

• Understanding of situations in the world of reality through experiencing situations in a laboratory setting, using imagination and fantasy.
• Reflect over one’s own behavior, its effect oneself and others. 
• Observe other’s behavior and with the help of the facilitator, understand the same. 
• Express feelings and appropriate reaction / response to other’s feelings. 
• Confront situations wherein conflicts, decision making and reflections are necessary.

• It is an ongoing learning practice opportunity. It is for the purposes of developing intervention skills in reality situations. This entails learning social work practice for two or two and a half days or its equivalent, each week of the semester by placing the learners in agencies or in communities to initiate and participate in direct service delivery.
• To enable the learner to use a holistic approach to problem solving, organize people to meet their needs, move from problem to issue based work and gain greater confidence working independently.

e. Case work

 "A close study of psychological and sociological factors in the history of an individual or family in unfavorable circumstances, with   a   view to improving personal and family conditions."

Students have to conduct a minimum of 3 case works with the minimum of 5 sessions each, in the second semester

f. Group work

"Social group work is a method of social work which helps individuals to enhance their social functioning through purposeful group experiences, and to cope more effectively with their personal, group or community problems"

Students have to conduct a minimum of 1 Group work with the minimum of 10 sessions, in the second semester

g. Community organization

"community organization covers a series of activities at the community level aimed at bringing about desired improvement in the social well being of individuals, groups and neighborhoods"

Students have to conduct a minimum of 1 community organisation, in the second semester

h. Rural camp

This component provides opportunities to experience to rural life, analyze rural dynamics, and observe the functioning of local self-government and voluntary organizations. This experience aids peer participation in planning for activities for own group and those for local people. It also helps develop skills carry out, evaluate, and report the experience.

In the first semester we expose our students for 10 days in the remote village for rural camp.

i. Educational tour

 This component is for providing an experience to study and appreciate innovative efforts by individuals and groups towards meeting people’s core needs, and initiate development.

In the third semester the students go for educational tour either with in India or abroad

j. Summer placement

It is increasingly recognized / accepted that a part of the summer vacation, after completing the first year of the post-graduate programme, could be used fruitfully to integrate practice skills and techniques learnt.

• The time frame recommended for this experience is minimum of 30 working days, after the first year of the post graduate  programme.
• To provide an opportunity to experience day-to-day work in a setting.
• The learner gets involved with direct practice with the client system and with the ongoing management operations of the setting.

k. Block placement

• It is an opportunity provided at the end of the two year programme.
• This time is to be designed for the learners to integrate theory and practice to enhance competencies of social work practice and experience self in that role.
• Experiments of providing block field work opportunity at the beginning of the last semester or at the end of the last semester before the final examination is also being made by some institutions.