ABSTRACT
While operational modalities of supervision are unique to each context, in India a significant role is played by the faculty supervisor in determining the learning outcome of the student. India is also witness to a scenario where students join the social work program with varying motivations which, in part is due to the limited opportunities for getting oriented and acquainted with the social work profession. Students are at various levels of their journey when they enter the social work program. It is also true that students are unable to exercise the exit option once they have secured admission in a course irrespective of whether they find themselves aligned to the course or not. Additionally, students entering the program could range from those having experienced or observed extreme deprivation to those coming in from affluent backgrounds. Looking at another corner of the learning triangle, the fieldwork agencies are also not a monolithic entity. While some feel obliged to return to the profession what they have received, there are others who view the students as an additional hand given the constraints of resources that the sector faces. Depending on the organisational positioning, the students’ exposure and assignments also vary. The earlier mentioned contextual specificities thus place a demand on the faculty supervisor to pitch themselves at differential levels. An assessment of the understanding, motivation, background and prior experiences of the student on the one hand and that of the expectations from the fieldwork agencies on the other hand, should be a determinant of the supervisory process. The supervisor also has to make a conscious movement from being a vigilante ensuring the fulfilment of fieldwork components towards nurturing the student’s professional and personal potential based upon the individual and situational specificities. The movement is not easy given the macro level policies being formulated for university education in India which do not necessarily take into account the disciplinary uniqueness.
