Blended Social Work Placements: New Opportunities

Abstract

Social work student placements were significantly impacted over the past two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but a ‘new normal’ of placement provision has started to emerge. This conference paper provides reflections on the experiences of social work education providers, placement providers and practice educators on the new opportunities that have been created as a result of flexible responses to the changing landscape of blended placement provision necessitated by the pandemic, which were gathered at two international workshops held virtually at academic conferences in 2021. The workshops identified common responses from higher education institutes (Higher Education Institutions) and practice educators, where loss and change created the need for connectivity and flexible and creative solutions. This article will present the themes identified within the teaching partnership as well as findings from the two workshops to enhance understanding of the sustainability of blended social work placement provision.