ABSTRACT
Going abroad can be both exciting and daunting. Students find it exciting because they can practice learning in non-traditional agencies but are cautious as they are leaving a comfortable environment to one where there is no certainty and often no social and family contacts. This chapter focuses on the potential challenges faced by students as they prepare for, undertake and conclude their international programs. Many universities address global social work practice as a standard requirement in both graduate and undergraduate curricula. Social workers would be expected to take a human rights perspective and address global issues at the macro policy level, program level and individual perspective. Intellectual understanding of global issues in the classroom is very different to a practical understanding of work and use of self in international settings. It requires very specific student (and worker) preparation.
