ABSTRACT
Social policy and social work have traditionally placed considerable emphasis upon experience gained ‘off campus’, in different situations such as:
prior to admission to a formal programme of learning (a prerequisite for professional social work education);
during the course, through formal periods of practical learning (the primary focus for this chapter), and informal learning away from recognized learning settings (see, for example, Coulshed, 1989);
protected learning after the academic components (for example, the degree in social work in Northern Ireland is followed by a protected year of practice: see www.niscc.info).
