ABSTRACT

Field instruction in social work education is the umbilical cord that binds classroom-learned theories to the lives of the ordinary Filipino people. Social work students are expected to create their own practice, however limited it is, during field education using these theories with the understanding that ‘theory is to guide the practice’. Based on the practice, the fieldwork students can engage in a new level of theorising where their previous grasp of the theories learned is further deepened. With non-government organisations and local government units as partners, field work students can uncover the different modes of cooptation employed by these partners within mainstream development work. On the other hand, we also partner with people’s organisations that are involved in political organising, conducting educational activities with progressive and radical content, and engaging in tactical battles to defend their rights and assert their strategic interests amidst oppression and exploitation. The nurturing of commitment through the fieldwork experience comes to the fore. The success in deepening the commitment of field work students hinges on the premise that both the faculty adviser and the partner organisation/agency supervisor are in sync. It is also imperative for the academic institution to ensure that all its faculty supervisors for the field work practice are convinced of and committed to the pursuit of social justice and human rights, whatever the risks involved.