Creating a 'Practice Library' to Support Practice Teaching in the Professional Preparation of Social Workers and School Counsellors - Phase II - Integration with teaching and learning

Abstract

The divide between theories and practice must be tackled in the design of practice teaching in the classroom in order to prepare our students for beginning practice... The aim of the proposed project is to: (a) create a ""practice library"" in writing, sound tapes, and videos of proficient/expert practice that reveals how experienced practitioner deliberated and acted intelligently, drawing on a stock of professional and personal practical knowledge; and (b) demonstrate how the production and use of library materials can be productively linked to practice teaching in the classroom. The present project will add new items to the ""practice library"" but with new features. First, it will be pursued in the context of practice courses, which will engage students working collaboratively with experienced practitioners who agree to make available their practice to be recorded and studied by our students. In the process, the students will learn how experienced practitioners think and act in practice, and how to construct practice-based knowledge through collaborative inquiry of practice with professional peers.