Enhancing Social Work Field Education Through International Collaboration: A
Pilot Project in Central China

Final Report

Submitted to International Association of Schools of Social Work

December 15, 2015

Prepared by Fei Sun1 (M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.)
Meirong Liu2 (M.A., Ph.D.)
Guohe Jiang3 (M.A., Ph.D.)

1

School of Social Work, Arizona State University

2

School of Social Work, Howard University

3

Department of Sociology, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics

Contents
Executive Summary----------------------------------------------------------------------------3
Background -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4
Completed activities ---------------------------------------------------------------------------6
Conclusion --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16
References---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------19
Appendix A ---Survey questionnaires ------------------------------------------------------20
Appendix B ---Three students’ reports------------------------------------------------------27
Appendix C----Project photos----------------------------------------------------------------34
Appendix D---Acknowledgement------------------------------------------------------------36

2

Executive Summary
This project represented a collaborative effort among three universities: ArizonaState University (ASU) and Howard University (HU) in the U.S.A, and Jiangxi
University of Finance and Economics (JUFE) in China. Using a mixed method approach,it examined the problems and challenges in social work field education practice inmainland China. The focus was on universities with a MSW program in central China,
including Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and HeNan provinces. Focus group interviews,
individual interviews and survey was used to address this research question. Informationcollection through focus group interviews were conducted with Chinese delegates who
visited ASU, interviews with field coordinators at HU, and survey on 200 students and 72
faculty members were cross examined to seek answers to provide solutions to thechallenges faced by field education in China.
The identified challenges faced by social work field education include: low
preparedness among students, lack of supportive resources from schools, unavailability ofqualified supervisors and internship agencies, and lack of environmental support (e.g.,
acceptance of the general public and support from different levels of government).
Solutions provided to address these challenges are providing students with orientation
prior to internship and ongoing support during internship, enhancing faculties’ motivation
as well as competences to provide supervision and support to students, strengthening
school and agency connections and providing support to field supervisors at agencies,and reach out to the community and the government to raise awareness of social work as
a profession to help individuals and communities to solve problems.

3Background of the ProjectThis project aims to identify a social work field education model that measures up
to commonly acknowledged professional standards in Western societies and fits theindigenous conditions of Chinese society.
Social work as a discipline was started in Mainland China during the 1920s, but
was removed from the Chinese higher education system in the mid-1950s because of achanging government ideology (Yip, 2007). Social work did not regain a legitimate status
in Chinese academic institutions until 1988 when Peking University first adopted social
work as a concentration within their Department of Sociology. During the 1990s, social
work programs rapidly increased among Chinese universities. By the dawn of the 21st
century, the number of social work programs had increased from 36 in 2001 to 172 in2005 (Yuen-Tsang & Wang, 2008). By the end of 2013, China had 303 bachelor of social
work (BSW) programs and 62 master’s of social work (MSW) programs (Pan, 2013). In
addition, about 70 colleges offer an associate degree program in social work (Li, Han, &Huang, 2011).
The rapid growth of social work education programs largely due to themobilization by both the government and the academia raises a concern of the quality ofsocial work education. Social work is a practice-oriented discipline, a perspective that
distinguishes social work from other social sciences such as sociology, anthropology, or
political science that are more academic-oriented. The reality of social work education in
China is that few schools have faculties with social work training, much fewer with social
work practice experience. Therefore, students do not obtain needed training at school,
which will enable them to practice after graduation. Despite the urgent social needs,

4about 70% of social work graduates in Mainland China indicated they did not plan topractice social work after graduation; a stark contrast to the 90% of social work students
in Hong Kong who plan to remain in social work (Liu, 2013). The difference in these
rates is primarily due to Hong Kong’s long history of social work and a well-establishedsocial service system patterned on the British social welfare system.
Much research has pointed out the disconnection between school education andemployment needs. Wang and Zhou (2010) suggest that the academic programs’ focus on
preparing social work administrators is not congruent with the pressing societal needs forfront-line social workers with specialized skills in providing services to vulnerable
groups. Social work graduates might feel they are not equipped with the skills needed forreal-world social work. Field education is essential to the preparation of social workers in
the field. Thus, this project intends to develop a culturally appropriate field education
model through examining the challenges and needs from various perspectives such as
program administrators, faculty members, students and alumina and concludes withsuggestions for field education development in China.

5Completed Activities
Below we listed all four major completed tasks since the project started on
January 1, 2014. Below we summarized major outcomes of each task.
1. Focus group discussion with program directors and faculty members from China
The purpose of this focus group discussion is to identify field practicecompetencies expected on social work students in China. Eight faculty members
including four program directors from six different schools in central China visited
Arizona State University (ASU) this April. During their visit at ASU, they attended
workshops designed to help them better understand curriculum design and field education
models in the U.S. They also visited several social service agencies in Phoenix to gain
some insight of settings where U.S. social work students are placed for internship. Alleight visitors participated in this focus group discussion. The focus group discussion
lasted about 1 hour and 30 minutes and was tape-recorded. Major themes are summarized
below.
Field practice competencies that social work students in China must possess
Participants shared their ideas about field practice competencies social work
students in China should develop. Overall, they consider that most field practicecompetencies outlined by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) in the U.S. canbe directly applied in Chinese society. Regarding the two competencies---“applying
social work ethical principles to guide professional practice;” and “advancing humanrights and social and economic justice” (CSWE, 2008), they believe there could bechallenges to cultivate these two competencies without any adaptation or consideration of
the specific political and cultural features of Chinese society. As it is true that social work6

ethics and social justice values are understood in a local context, these professors
expressed that some values or ethics grounded in western cultures (e.g., individualism
over collectivism) might face road blocks when implemented in China. Nevertheless,there appeared to be a consensus that social work practice should be guided by a set ofprofessional ethics and values that are consistent with the indigenous environment where
social work practice occurs.
Participants also elaborated on competencies from their own perspectives. One
professor from Hubei Province stated that social work students are well trained in
conducting assessment and applying social work approaches in practice, but poorly
trained in evaluating the effectiveness of their practice. Another professor from anagricultural university stressed communication, networking, and respect for clients as
three universal competencies, and suggested that schools should have discretion todevelop specific competencies in their students. For example, her school emphasizes thatsocial work students should be able to work with clients in rural settings and those who
migrated to urban settings.
Field education models
Participants shared field education models at their school. One professor from
Henan Province said that their MSW students have a block of 4 months designated forfield practice. During that time, they are sent out to regions where social service agencies
are well developed, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou in South China. Nowadays, thisschool is trying to place students within the same province in collaboration with the
Department of Civil affairs. A professor from Jiangxi Province stated that they use aconcurrent model for their first year MSW student, who will be placed in the city where

7the school is located, and during their second year, they are placed in social service
agencies in Shenzhen, a city in the south of China. He also highlighted a few problems infield practice, such as lack of a standard tool to evaluate students’ practice, students’ low
self-identify, and limited places for student interns.
2. Individual interviews with field officers from Howard University
Perspectives from experienced field officers in the U.S. can shed light on fieldeducation development in China. Two field officers from Howard University firstreflected strengths and challenges of field education at their own school and then offeredsome suggestions for their Chinese counterparts.
They outlined some strengths of their field education program, including good
relationship with the community, emphasis on culturally sensitive practice, integration ofcourse work and field education, consistent support for field instructors including
continual educational credits, and constant searching for non-traditional placements (e.g.,
research centers). Some of the challenges facing their own school could be student or
program specific. For example, some students do not feel like doing paperwork at theagency; the field office has difficulty locating agencies accepting interns enrolled inevening or weekend programs. These strengths and issues are valuable to Chinese
schools when they design their field education model.
Interviewers Dr. Sun and Dr. Liu provided a brief introduction of social work
education development in China and brought up some critical issues facing social work
field education in China. The two interviewees’ recommendations centered on solving
issues such as lack of field supervisors, limited service agencies, insufficient funding andlack of interests of students. The two field officers offered an array of suggestions for8Chinese schools, such as use of alumni as field supervisors, collaboration withgovernmental agencies to obtain funding to agencies/areas where need social workers
most, hire of off-site supervisor when the agency lacks of qualified field supervisor,offering incentives to student interns, hiring sufficient staffing support for field offices,and using field workers as field consultant rather than someone in the academy, andproviding peer to peer seminars to help students form identity with social work.
3. Surveys on 200 social work students/alumni and 72 faculty members in China
In order to obtain a relatively comprehensive picture of field education needs andissues, the investigators designed two surveys for social work students/alumni andfaculties respectively. Data were collected at the social work faculty training hosted by
HeNan University of Finance and Laws in Zhengzhou, and Jiangxi University of Financeand Economics in Nanchang in the summer of 2014 and 2015, respectively.
We collected 200 surveys of students/alumni and 72 surveys of faculty members.
The average age of students was 22.3 years old (SD=2.06) and 71.3% were female.
Student survey found that 49.7% of the student reported their field education was
arranged by their school, and that 24.3% had to seek their placement on their own. 73.2%
reported that they had a valuable intern experience; and 20.6% reported this internexperience has reinforced their confidence to be a social worker. Yet, about 5% of themagreed that their internship was a waste of time. The three most needed supportive
services perceived by students and alumni are orientation for students before the start oftheir internship (60.7%), ongoing support including counseling and consulting forstudents during internship (40.1%), and staff training at the agencies (39%).
Competencies emphasized in field education in Chinese schools9Seventy-two faculty participants’ answers were categorized into five domains inwhich students in their schools are required to develop skills (see Table 1), such ascommunication, ability to address diversity issues, critical thinking, practice skills andethics. For example, they need to improve their knowledge of local community resources;
and learn to advocate for policy change and apply theory into the field as well as
understand professional relationships. Participants also reported how well their students
performed in terms developing these skills (See Table 2).
Table 1 Five domains of competencies
Skill domains

ExamplesCommunication Communication skills，ability to organize events, interaction skills，
ability to express ideas，good self-awareness
Diversity
Self-reliance skills，good awareness of local community
Criticalthinking
Practice skills

Advanced
professional
ethicsParticipation and rights of vulnerable groups，ability to advocate
policy，professional relationships and the ability to be adaptive，
ability to apply theory into the field
Career commitment，profession value，applying theory topractice，affective empathy，proper investigation，making plan，
regular service，evaluation guide，three traditional Social Work
Act，practice and apply of professional theory，ability to solve
problem
Guidelines of participation and rights of vulnerable groups，ability to
advocate policy，agreement on social work values，making accurate
service plans based on actual problems，ability to make basic projectplan，making and executing plans, turning the knowledge into skills

Table 2 Competencies achieved and failed
Competencies
achieved

Communication skills，ability to organize events，self-reliance skill,master the specialized knowledge to understand，good selfawareness，good project planning，good project execution，ability
to assess problem，intervention skills，professional values，three
traditional Social Work Act，ability to solve problem
10Areas needing
more room for
improvement

Critical thinking，the ability to assess problems，ability to apply tosocial work theories，knowledge transfer，affective empathy，
professional relationships and the ability to be adaptive，ability todesign projects，case studies，group connection ability，basic work
ethic

Participants also reported an ideal field education model should possess certain
features along the same five skill domains (see details in Table 3). For example, adesirable field educations should help students cultivate their abilities to negotiate withclients, to build a good relationship with clients, to complete a case through planning totermination, and to utilize research to improve practice.
Table 3. Features of an ideal field education model
Domains

ExamplesCommunication

Good self-awareness，communication skills，non-discriminatory，communicate with clients and build a good relationship，
breakthrough and reflection of program，good assessment andcommunication，ability to negotiate with agencies and community，
social interaction skills，event planning skills, Ability to integrate
resources.
Case analysis, ability to assess the status of the case，source
connection，service provided
The Career Commitment，awareness of social work，awareness ofknowledge transfer，critical thinking，project planning，intervention skills，social work values，case studies，group work
execution，ability to acquire relevant sources，teamwork skills，communication skills，ability to cope resources，problem solving
skills, innovation ability, social Work Core Values Training，
comprehension of human behavior and the social environment
knowledge，making and executing plans；social work value、
multiple perspectives of assessment and intervention
Improvement of problem solving skills，agreement on social Work
Core Values，mastery of basic social work practice，theory
practice，a new development of theory from practice，Selfprofessional identity，Deepening of theories needed，Improvementof practical skills needed，assessment skills，resource connection，ability to raise donations

Diversity
Critical thinking

Practice skills

11Advanced
professional ethics

Build relationships with clients, resources coordination，innovation
skills，good connection for building the future，practice of values，
apply to social work knowledge；adept and appropriate skills, goodskills of communicating with agencies and communities，good social
investigation methods，skills of analyzing surveys，social work
methods，social policy，integration of resources mobilization，
project planning；students’ unsolicited operation；positive
mentality，better patience，better responsible

Faulty participants also provided specific suggestions in terms of helping students
develop these skill sets (see Table 4).
Table 4 Suggestions and reflections on social work field education
Suggestions for promoting social work practice in Chinesecolleges
Communication

Diversity

Critical thinking

Expand the internship programs, introduce experienced
supervising teachers, expand institutional participation, increased
choice, enhance students' interest, and match with internships,
carry out international exchanges internship plan between teachersand students.
Establish an effective evaluation mechanism of student internship.
Teachers' practical ability, training and experience. In the present
stage, the main thing is to cooperative with social institutions, we
can consider to form from the project implementation. It will
be encouraged in an active way to go deep into the countryside.
Such as rural old-age intervention. Different social environment.
Carry out and strengthen supervision, give policy support, attach
great importance to the introduction of teachers in foreign colleges
and universities teachers who will work in the mainland more thanhalf of a year, the inspection cycle is five years.
Professional social work treatment is low, less attractive, students
have certain cognitive to the development of the social work
profession, and school attaches great importance to the concept ofsocial work practice. The most prominent problems is that students
don't have enough agency to practice, particularly they do not havea chance to participate in the professional practice; And teacher's
biggest problem is that there is no real practical experience, suchas case work, group work and community work, they have only
the theoretical knowledge.
A lot of local social work development is not mature in China,
there is not a lot of space for students, so many teachers in
12

Practice skills andethicscolleges and universities have launched to establish social work
service organizations, professional values, more important is tomake high quality practice platform. After failing to get the
government’s service, they can only use project funds, the service
continuity is difficult to maintain.
Improve the practice education or practical curriculum evaluation
mechanism, establish scientific and effective evaluation index;
Strengthen the cooperation of institutions and schools.
Employ external supervision to carry out the localization
supervisory program.
Many institutions cannot recruit interns, builds the platform to signinternship bases or contact internship programs by the local
association.
The qualified personnel of consulting institutions hold the post of
supervisor.
Encourage teachers to establish institutions and provide the theory
and practice of platform for students.
In the school education, attention to cultivate students moreintuitive mind
Employ full-time internship supervising teacher 2.Establish
internal supervision + external supervision system 3.take a month
to proceed practice education before a semester.
Strengthen the social work practice education 2. strengthen thebonds of practice base and social work students 3.Universities
build system of social work professional practice, and arrange fulltime internship instructor who can be responsible for it 4. Practicethe ethics of social work
Chinese government including all relevant units should work
together to continue to provide policy and financial support.
Practice education should be strengthened in the evaluation index
system of teachers; school administrators should consider that theparticularity of social work specialty, improve treatment andenthusiasm of teachers; With the continuous development of social
work organization, practice education would change.
Professional social work education is still at an early stage ofdevelopment in China, and the backward development of domesticsocial work service and social work profession. These problems
have been highlighted in the current practice education, also
indicates that the development of social work professional
education has entered a new stage.
Improve the system construction and benefits of social work.
Change professional teachers’ mechanism so that the teachers ofsocial work has sufficient time and energy to devote themselves to
education practice. At the same time, strengthen the supervision
training of social work education practice. Schools should add thepractice and supervision practice to workload and use scoring13

systems. From the perspective of the social work service system,
there is a variety of patterns and a variety of levels in China. The
basic principle is effect, make appropriate internship goals, plan
practice education corresponding to reality.
China association of social work should have some standards insocial work (such as class hour, skills, etc.); hierarchical teachingis Suggested during the internship.
As for universities, social work practice education should be
brought into the course as soon as possible, it also should be given
enough credit so that improve the enthusiasm of teachers andstudents. For the problem of lacking of internship institution. We
can consider to set up relevant internship at school, such as schoolsocial workers, and so on. Break through the regional boundaries,
encourage students to practice at professional internship institutionof large and medium-sized cities, at the same time we also needprofessional internship institution to cooperate, we need moretraining and exchanges, teachers' practical ability should bepromote, in the teaching process, we should pay attention to thecultivation of professional ethics of social work.
Government should invest more funds and resources for social
work area, promote the healthy and rapid development of social
work, in order to make teachers and students having more
professional internships opportunities, so that the practice can betaken a bigger and more active role.
It is important to cultivate a group of local supervisor to guide thepractice of social work students instead of teachers.
Employment: we need to have an environment to promote social
work profession, policy support, positioning of social workers
must have a perfect encouragement mechanism, evaluation of theindustry, and competition.
Internship: organizations should collaborate with universities andsign an internship agreement. Universities are the main driving
force to change the system, so the first thing is to improveteachers’ evaluation mechanism and evaluation system of social
work in colleges and universities.
4. Reelections from three JUFE exchange students
As we planned in our proposal, we budgeted a small amount of money to support
one social work student from JUFE to visit the School of Social Work at ASU for fourweeks. The Department of Sociology at JUFE were able to secure more funding andeventually we were able to fund three qualified students. The three students were placed14

in service agencies to participate in social work practice and observe operations ofservice organizations. Each student wrote a reflection paper once the observation was
done (See Appendix B).
One student some field practice experiences at Head Start, and another two
students did practice at HOPE VI CSS and the Chinese senior center in Phoenix. Quotes
from each student were provided below. In general, they had a very positive exchange
experience and found this exchange enriched their social work practice skills.
“I was shockingly inspired every minute I spent with Chinese seniors while I was
an intern in HOPE VI, they influenced me more than I can imagine. I always consider
social work as a progressive profession where one can be actively engaged in helping andinfluencing others, within this one month, I was not able to help them a lot substantiallybut they influenced me with “positive energy”, and I hope I could spread this good
influence from seniors to others.” (by Yimiao Tian)“Through this internship, I also learned that China's wealth pyramid-shaped
structure, only a small number of people at top can live a high quality life. Due to thecurrent welfare system and the insurance system are not perfect, so regardless of the
middle or bottom of the general public will have a difficult period of life when they meet
unexpected accidents. However, the United States is a football shape wealth structure.
The rich have money can live a good life, the poor have no money, but the government
subsidies given to full, life can be without worries. Contrary, middle-class life is full ofpressure.” (by Qiaoyun Sun)
“Everything is fabulous. During internship time, my supervisor and colleagues
accompanied with me to visit classroom of Head Start, and I did some observations in15

classroom at the same time. They also taught me how to write case notes, how to do
intake by using case management system. Additionally, I became a part of somesupervisor conferences, staffing, public celebration and intern’s meeting with therecommendation of my supervisor. I will strive to use gained skills in the best possible
way when I do my program in China.” (by Xiaomei Sun)In summary, the short exchange program has brought a chance for Chinesstudents to have a glimpse of social work practice and social service delivery in the U.S.
Conclusion
Challenges and Suggestions
Participants mentioned a multitude of problems (See table faced by social work
field education in China, to name a few, lacking of resources, lack of experienced
supervising teachers, and limited practice opportunities, which all could be attributed to a
relatively underdeveloped system. Possible strategies were proposed to address thesebroad challenges: such as promoting awareness of social work in the community,
establishing an effective evaluation mechanisms for student interns and for faculty
supervisors as well, and provide training to qualified field instructors to ensure
appropriate supervision and quality practice.
In addition, there appeared to be a call for more effort to build and then promotesocial work ethics and values in social work practice. This point is emphasized both infocus group interviews and surveys. The survey results on students and faculty memberssuggested that ethical and professional practice are critically needed in social work fieldeducation. The focus group interviews of professors indicated that values and ethics

16

western cultures present an example from which Chinese academics and practitioners canlearn to develop a set of core ethics and values of social work profession in China.
Table 5 Problems and suggestions
Problems
Lack of experienced
supervising teachers

Lack of enough practice
opportunities.

Lack of qualified
supporting teachers
when students are
during the internshipTo improve social work
awareness and identity

Suggestions
Adopt a supervision mechanism which teachers combinewith agency workers, bring the experienced qualified person
into supervision team, relate internship workload to teachers 'professional title, train the supervising teachers and provide
enough practice platforms and opportunities.
Need to cooperate with the government, and promote thegovernment's attention and the development of government
purchase services, strengthening practical training forteachers, practice evaluation should be brought into theteachers' workload and the calculation of assessment.
Enhance the importance of the practice education, pay
attention to the development of the supervision, Teachers
must be well prepared before the students, and make students
in a certain knowledge of preparation. We can use
supervision system which is a combination of university
teachers and agency staff, bring experienced staff into
supervision team.
The importance of the practice education should beenhanced, the efforts of teachers' training should be
increased; Strengthen the propaganda, improve the awarenessof social workers; all internship funds used for social work
practice, avoid to misuse; Improve treatment and social
status, social work practice motivation of social workers .

Practice education is notincorporated into thecurriculum

Practice education should be included in the class, internshipshould be given a quantitative standard to inspire theteacher's work enthusiasm.

Student interest does notmatch with institutional
demandStrengthen assessment and evaluation of student internship,
make the internship plan, confirm the internship objectives,
pay attention to the training of the professional emotional
aspects for students in the process of internship, improve theconditions of the internship, let the students choose practiceareas according to their interests. View learning, case sharing
learning, role play, workshops.

Little connection
between internships andAdmitting supervisor’s teacher’s status and development ofcolleges and universities at the title evaluation system,
17

employment

Underprepared students

strengthen the mobilization of students before the internship,
the supervision in the process of internship, the summary of
the evaluation after internship.
Pay attention to the emotional aspects of professional training
for students in the process of practice.

Change the evaluation
system of faculty
supervisors

Social work should be brought into Practical application
field, adopt different evaluation indexes for teachers,
strengthen the education of social work practice.

Establish all kinds ofsocial work trainings

Require on-the-job personnel and students to be involved in
the meeting and training; Provide the relevant employment
channels; more newspaper reports18References
CSWE (2008). Field education in the 2008 EPAS: Implications for the field instructor’srole. Retrieved from http://www.cswe.org/File.aspx?id=31580
Li, Y.S., Han, W.R., & Huang, J.Z. (2011). The development of social work education in
China. Social Sciences, 5, 82-90.
Liu H.Y. (2013). Institutional analysis of social work team building. Social Welfare, 10,
21-25.
Pan, Y (2013). The dilemma of applying social work knowledge into use: The issue ofsocial work education and employment. China Social Welfare, 7, 2-6.
Wang, L.H., & Zhou, G.L.(2010). A preliminary study on the talents training modes ofsocial work specialty in China. Journal of Changchun University of Science andTechnology, 23(5), 161-162.
Yip, K. S. (2007). Tensions and dilemmas of social work education in China.
International Social Work, 50(1), 93-105.
Yuen‐Tsang, A. W., & Wang, S. (2008). Revitalization of social work in China: thesignificance of human agency in institutional transformation and structuralchange. China journal of social work, 1(1), 5-22.

19

Appendix A
Social Work Student Questionnaire
1. Educational background:
Undergraduate: ________
Master: ________
2. Age: __________
Gender: 1. Male 2. Female
3. Did you participate in social work internship? 1. Yes 2. No
4. So far, how many hours of your social work internship during your undergraduate?
_________
5. So far, how many hours of your social work internship during your master?
_________
6. How do you know about your agencies?
Arranged by schoolIntroduced by teacher

Introduced by parents, relatives or friends

Found by self

Others: __________ (Please list)

7. Depending on your internship experiences, answer the following questions:
1. Totally disagree 2. Disagree 3. Neither agree or disagree 4. Agree 5. Totally
agree1) Social work internship is wasting my time2) I obtained many valuable and practical experiences
3) I got acquainted with many social worker seniors when I am doing myinternship.
4) Social work internships give me confidences for engaged in professional social
work in the future.
5) Social work internships increased my understanding of social work service
agencies.
6) I am not willing to join in the social work internship
8. What are your expectations of social work internship?
20

9. Did your previous social work internship achieve to your expectation?
1. Not at all, 2. Almost meets my expectations,

3 completely meets myexpectations; 4 exceeds my expectations
10. In your opinion, which aspects of social work internship can be improvedSupervisor’s guidance

Agencies’ training

Diversification of agenciesMore opportunities to contact with actual cases

Combined with knowledgeFlexibility of timeOthers: _____________ (Please list)

11. Which of the following services allow you to get more help in social work internship？


Before internship, comprehensive training which can get help students solve thequestion when they doing work at agencyDuring internship, counseling students’ psychological problems

Training for institution staff



School internship supervisor

Coordinator who can solving conflict between internship supervisor and students

Financial aid

Institution services are consistent with my interestTransportation subsidy



Others:____________ (Please list)

12. Open questiona. Please describe the most satisfactory internship agency. And what is thecharacteristics?

13. Please describe the most dissatisfied internship agency. And what is thecharacteristics?

21

Social Work Faculty Questionnaire
1. Please list the level of courses you teach
Undergraduate: ________
Master: ________
Both: _________
2. Please list all the major courses you taught: __________
3. Please list the practice area of yours: ___________
4. Please list the length of years in practice:________________
5. Your final degree is in ___________________
6. Have you led social work field practice for students? 1. Yes 2. No.

7. What competencies are required in social work field education at your school? And did
the students meet the requirements?
The following are questions about cultivating social work core competencies
8. Do you think what competencies are required throughout the cultivation of corecompetencies?
9. American Council of Social Work Education（CSWE）requires that all the social
work students must develop the following ten core competencies. Do you think whether
the ten core competencies can also be applied in China or not?
Can CSWE Ten Core Competencies of Social Work Practice Also Be Applied In
China?
Answer
CSWE Core Competencies
Yes

No

1． Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself
accordingly.
1) advocate for client access to the services of social work；2）practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure
continual professional development；
3）attend to professional roles and boundaries；4）demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance,
22and communication；5）engage in career-long learning;6）use supervision and consultation.
2．
Apply social work ethical principles toguide professional practice.
1) recognize and manage personal values in a waythat allows professional values to guide practice;2) make ethical decisions by applying standards of the
NASW Code of Ethics, and, as applicable, of theInternational Federation of Social Workers/International
Association of Schools of Social Work Ethics in Social
Work, Statement of Principles;3) tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts; and4) apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principleddecisions.
3．Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate
professional judgments.
1）distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources ofknowledge, including research-based knowledge, and practice
wisdom;2）analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention, andevaluation; and3）demonstrate effective oral and written communication in
working with individuals, families, groups, organizations,communities, and colleagues.
4．Engage diversity and difference in practice.
1 ) recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values
may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege
and power;2）gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of
personal biases and values in working with diverse groups;
3）recognize and communicate their understanding of the23

importance of difference in shaping life experiences; and4）view themselves as learners and engage those with whom theywork as informants.
5．Advance human rights and social and economic justice.
1）
understand the forms and mechanisms of
oppression and discrimination;2）
advocate for human rights and social and economic
justice; and3）engage in practices that advance social and economic justice.
6．Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed
research.
1）
use practice experience e to inform scientificinquiry; and2）
use research evidence to inform practice.
7．Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social
environment.
1）utilize conceptual frameworks to guide theprocesses of assessment, intervention, and evaluation ;1）2）critique and apply knowledge to understandperson and environment.
8．Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic
well-being and to deliver effective social work services.
1）
analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that
advance social well-being; and2）collaborate with colleagues and clients for effective
policy action.
9．Respond to contexts that shape practice.
1）
continuously discover, appraise, and attend tochanging locales, populations, scientific and technologicaldevelopments, and emerging societal trends to provide relevant
services; and2）provide leadership in promoting sustainablechanges in service delivery and practice to improve the quality ofsocial services.

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10．Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals,
families, groups, organizations, and communities.
a(1) substantively and effectively prepare for action withindividuals, families, groups, organizations；a(2) use empathy and other interpersonal skills; anda(3) develop a mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired
outcomes;b(1) collect, organize, and interpret client data;b(2) assess client strengths and limitations;b(3) develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals andobjectives;b(4) select appropriate intervention strategies;c(1) Initiate actions to achieve organizational goals;c(2) Implement prevention interventions that enhance client
capacities;c(3) Help clients resolve problems;c(4) Negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients; andc(5) Facilitate transitions and endings.
d(1)Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions.
10. Could you talk about why some of the competencies requirements from CSWE
cannot be applied to social work field education in China? What is the specific differenceof indigenous context or cultural background?
11. In 2012, we surveyed faculties from fifteen universities in mainland China. We listed
the following challenges as follows:i. lack of social work supervisors
ii. lack of field agenciesiii. lack of appropriate supervision
iv. faculty supervisors lack motivation to supervise students
v. the gap between theory and practice, and social work courses work and practicevi. the mismatch between students’ interests and agencies’ needsvii. lack of connections between internship and job opportunities
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viii. lack of preparedness among students
In terms of above challenges, do you have any thoughts or suggestions? In order topromote social work field education, please write down any additional advice andreflection?

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Appendix B: Reports from Three Student Interns

I.

Report from YIMIAO TIAN

City of Phoenix HOPE VI Community and Supportive Services Program
The Revitalization of Distressed Public Housing program, referred to as HOPE VI, wascreated in 1992, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development(HUD), the program is used to demolish and revival existing public housing
and replace it with mix-income housing. The City of Phoenix Housing Department
applied for one of three types of HOPE VI grants which is revitalization grant and being
awarded in year 2001, 2007 and 2010. The purposes of HOPE VI project is to revitalize
distressed public housing developments and transform them into a mixed-income
development and a supportive community, including:Reconstruct public housing units
Revitalize neighborhoods
Establish mixed use/mixed-income development
Create homeownership opportunities
Attract commercial & retail business
Develop job training & educational resources
Create a long-term investment in communities
HOPE VI project aims at providing affordable housing for low to moderate income
families and seniors. It is also dedicated to lots of different services such as Community
and Supportive Services (CSS) Program, Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program and etc.
CSS program is designed to help residents achieve self-sufficiency, develop job linkages,
training, and educational resources (GED classes, Computer Education, Adult Basic
Education, Technical Schools and Community College Enrollment, English as a Second
Language classes), at One-Stop Career Center, staffs and ASU interns will help theresidents with the opportunity to look for a job or find a better paying job, at themeantime, the program will also provide case management, counseling and emergency
assistance.
The main CSS program service I got involved in is working with Chinese seniors
who live in Senior Living in Henson village. The City of Phoenix Senior/Disable
Program serves residents over 62 years of age or disabled for public housing, the rent ofeach apartment is 30% of adjusted annual income which provides an accessible andaffordable place and community for seniors to stay. Another intern and I went several
field trips to Chinese seniors’ apartments to help them with needs as well as improvetheir overall general wellbeing. In order to get familiar with Chinese seniors in shortly,
we tried to indicate which cities in China they are originally come from through theiraccents and tried to use their dialects to connect with them. Through interviewing withthem in a casual way, we perceived the difficulties they might have and helped them link
useful resources and information. In addition, we hosted a three-day long healtheducation lecture for Chinese seniors who live in Senior Living in Henson Village.
Lectures’ initial goal is to disseminate health tips for better their current living condition27

and help them prevent elderly diseases, in the form of group discussion, we leaded
seniors’ discussion orientating toward three topics: how to sleep well, how to eat well andhow to do foot massage in a traditional Chinese way. Surprisingly they were engaged into
the group discussion very fast and started to share health tips and places where to shop
Chinese medicine in Phoenix with each other, I reputed these three-day health lectures as
an opportunity for Chinese seniors to connect with neighborhoods and build up long-term
relationship, considering most of them can’t speak or understand English every well, it isnecessary and vital to get them together to prevent sense of isolation.
Housing is the basis of community, HOPE VI project does not only provide quality
affordable public housing to low- and moderate-income families and senior but also offer
residents community services to enhance their life quality. Even though this internship isonly one month but I have gained much from this short period of time thanks to our nicesupervisors. I sense a big difference between Chinese low-rent housing and American
HOPE VI project, which is the conception people obtained from the program.
Considering the unpredictable social environment ever since Chinese ancient time,
Chinese people incline to avoid changing which they usually consider public housing as apermanent staying for the family while America public housing program has a different
concept which is to help people to improve their situation enough and move out of public
housing to a better community. From this inception, public housing in China has faced anumber of barriers to success, but in another point of view, the concept of staying
permanently might help build a long-term community and supportive services, whichmight take a while to achieve because Chinese low-rent housing policy only started in2003 while American public housing started in 1937. We need to apply Chinese culture
into practice, not just put theories into the process of policymaking. I believe Chinese
public housing has a prospective future, it needs some time and strategies that suit for
Chinese social environment.
While we were doing internships, we got in touch with lots of Chinese seniors whichbecome the most shocking and inspiring thing to me. We were teaching English class at
Chinese Senior Center on every Thursday for four times, the students we had, each ofwhich are almost 80 years old, and they were so engaged into the lectures. There was one
senior who’s always sit in the first row, he was so hardworking that I noticed his
handwriting English notes were almost 50 pages, every time after the class, he would stayfor further questions and review the lectures. And he’s not the only senior sitting in theclass who were so industrious, every one of them are so assiduous. I was shockingly
inspired every minute I spent with Chinese seniors, they influenced me more than I canimagine, I always consider social work as a progressive profession where one can be
actively engaged in helping and influencing others, within this one month, I couldn’t beable to help them a lot substantially but they influenced me with “positive energy”, and I
hope I could spread this good influence from seniors to others and others. We heard lotsof life stories and challenges seniors had and how they pulled through, these are all things
we can learn from seniors, and influence generation to generation, isn’t that the meaningof the social work?
II.

Xiaomei Sun
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Introduction of the agency
The Community and Supportive Services (CSS) program is part of the HOPE VI
Project federally funded program. The HOPE VI goal is to enhance the lives of residents
and create a long term investment in the community.
CSS Services include:
Senior Services—services are designed to meet the needs of senior residents toenhance their quality of life; Supportive Services—substance abuse counseling, domestic
violence prevention and emergency assistance; Education Services—GED classes, Adult
Basic Education, Computer Education, Technical Schools and Community College
Enrollment; Small Business services, Employment services, Youth Services, Hone
Ownership Services and so on. One focus of the program is to develop senior services
which are designed to enhance quality of life.
Phoenix Chinese senior citizens Association referred to as PCSCA. The goal of theagency is to unite the Chinese elite, enhance member benefits, solve problems and create
new career. The agency is a non-profit organization. The Chinese over 60 years old andliving in the Phoenix area can join the organization to become members of theorganization, members enjoy all the benefits of this agency, members can participate in
the activities organized by PCSCA. The daily activities of the agency are colorful, there
are choirs, calligraphy classes, and English classes. In addition, the elderly can also playmahjong, make handicrafts and so on.
Introduction of the activities
1.
HPOE VI
I’m an intern in HOPE VI from Monday to Wednesday every week. I participated insome group activities, such as, Weekly walk and talk, Chair exercise, brain activity,
painting and so on. We designed interview outline about basic information for Chinese
seniors at Henson Village. We want to learn the basic information related to the feedbackof the activities through interview outline. We also visited Chinese elderly in our sparetime. We understood the needs of the elderly, living conditions and the information ofparticipating in activities. Last week we held health lectures for the Chinese elderly,
lectures including three themes--sleep, healthy diet and Pediluwium. Chinese elderly
attach importance to their health, they are very interested in lectures, and these lecturesare very effective for Chinese elderly.
2. Chinese Senior Center
I’m an intern in Chinese Senior Center in Thursday every week. We teach Chinese
elderly English class. The courses are very difficult in the first class. And it isn’t suitable
for the elderly to learn, the elderly isn’t interested in the classes. After class we chat withseniors, they generally reflected that they have a poor memory and a weak foundation in
English. Chinese elderly hope that they can learn some simple daily vocabulary which
they can be used in daily life. Therefore, we improved our courses and we chose somedaily phrase, such as transportation, asking for directions, shopping and some fixed
sentences. The elderly is very satisfied with it. Their attitude of learning is very positive.
29

In addition, when the elderly meet difficulties in the using mobile phones and computers
they can also ask us.
The reflection and suggestion of activities
Advantages
The form of activities is varied;
The activities enrich the lives of the elderly;
Activities are beneficial to the elderly in their physical and psychological health;Social workers involved in activities are active, they can help the elderly effectively;
The flyers of activities are attractive.
1.

2. Disadvantages
The elderly living in Henson Village rarely participated in the activities held bycommunity, through visiting the elderly, the feedback are as follows：
Chinese elderly often go to Chinese senior center, don’t have time to participate inactivities held by Henson Village;
The preparation of campaign is inadequate, the most of elderly people don’t know thespecific activities；
Cultural differences, leading to Chinese elderly can’t be integrated into the foreigners.
3. Suggestions
Interns should regularly visit the elderly, chat with the elderly to understand theneeds of the elderly. Then interns should organize service activities according to theneeds of the elderly. For example, most Chinese ladies like to sing, community canorganize choirs to stimulate their interest. Elderly attach importance to health, community
should hold more lectures related to health and teach them to do aerobic exercises.
Senior people have a poor memory. Interns should improve advocacy work and visit
seniors to inform the details of activities to make more elderly people to participate inactivities.
When people get older, every aspects of physical function would decline. Such as, a poor
memory, a slower speed to learning and accepting new things. Social workers should beenough patient and careful, help them sincerely with values of social worker to improvetheir quality of life.
Internship perception
During internship, we conducted in-depth interviews with four seniors. By chattingwith the elderly, I can perceive that these Chinese elderly living in Phoenix have a verystrong sense of happiness. A Chinese old lady told me that the rent is $50 a month, they
have $200 vouchers per month, every elderly has own private physician, they have freetaxi shuttle to the elderly Chinese senior center every day and there is shuttle bus to go
grocery shopping for the elderly at a fixed time. From Monday to Friday, they usually go
to Chinese senior center. The activities are varied in Chinese senior center and seniors
live a very fulfilling lives every day.

30

In China, the services for the elderly activities are to carry through government
purchasing. The services are often faced with a shortage of funds, the form of service
activity is monotonous. Therefore, it can’t provide comprehensive and professional
services for the elderly. In addition, the target of service is mostly for special populations
or vulnerable people.
Through this internship, I also learned that China's wealth pyramid-shaped structure,
only a small number of people at top can live a high quality life. Due to the current
welfare system and the insurance system are not perfect, so regardless of the middle orbottom of the general public will have a difficult period of life when they meet
unexpected accidents. However, the United States is a football shape wealth structure.
The rich have money can live a good life, the poor have no money, but the government
subsidies given to full, life can be without worries. Contrary, middle-class life is full ofpressure.

QIAOYUN SUN
INTERNSHIP REPORTNAME OF INTERN: SUN QIAOYUNINTERNSHIP PLACEMENT:CITY OF PHOENIX HEAD START PROGRAM
SUPERVISOR:MERYL WORDA, LCSW, FEI SUN, M.S.W, PH.D
PERIOD: AUGUST 28—SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
How time flies. It has been an unforgettable experience for me and it is with greatsadness that I have to return to China so soon. I consider myself as a very lucky
individuals as everyone in Head Start is so friendly, warm-hearted and willing to help me
as long as they can. My detail information are as follows.
I. Introduction of Head Start
The Head Start program has served more than 30 million children since 1965. It is
the longest education program in America, which was designed by the federal
government of US to ensure the needs of children from low-income families would be
met. The services including education, mental health, nutrition, safety and stuff like that.
The city of Phoenix Head Start program is administered by the Human Services
Department, Education Division. The program has provided comprehensive child andfamily development services to more than 3000 children and families per year.
I was mainly focused on the mental health service in Head Start, the services weprovided include:a.
Each child receives a social/emotional screening within 45 days of enrollment.
b.
Children who has a potential social/emotional problems can receive consultation
services served by mental health professionals.
c.
Mental health services are specifically designed to promote social competence
and self –sufficiency for children and families through education guidance and support.
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d.
Parenting trainings such as guidance and discipline, stress management, grief andloss and sibling rivalry would be included.
During my internship time, my supervisor and colleagues escorted me to visit Head
Start classrooms, and I did some observation at the same time. They also taught me how
to write case notes , how to do intake using the case management system. I also became apart of some supervisor conferences, staffing, public celebration and intern’s meetingwith the recommendation of Meryl, supervisor. All of these experience for me are very
enjoyable. Most importantly, it has enlightened me deeply.
II. The Advantages of Head Starta.
The relationship and attachment between family members and child is reinforced.
b.
Giving a good education start for children from low-income families. Perhaps
their destiny would be changed via studying in Head Start. Regardless of some ofindividuals haven’t access to further education in university, it can be help them develop
a good character and personality so that they can comply with the discipline of society.
Some research showed that, among American, children who attended Head Start weresignificantly more likely to complete high school, attend college and possibly have higher
earnings in their early twenties. African-American child who had attended Head Start
were significantly less likely to be charged for a crime. (Garces, 2002)c.
The environment of the poverty is more likely to give rise to vicious circle ofpoverty. Head Start played a key role to anti-poverty.
III. Combination of my program and experience learning in Head Start
1. Background of my program
The experience from Head Start will contribute to my thesis written. My thesis isconcerning migrant children (from rural areas to urban) in China, and I will do some
practical works when I return to China. As numerous rural labors move with the wholefamily nowadays, the amount of migrant children from rural to urban raising a lot. For
one thing, children themselves are faced with huge difference between rural and urban
life. For another they have some troubles in education on account of the different
household registration system, so that they just have a access to get into low-quality
private school instead of entering into high quality public school.(most of the publicschool much more better than private school in China). Moreover, some of them underthe environment of discrimination, there will be multiply their interior feelings, selfdefense and closed consciousness. In consequence, it’s increasingly easier for thesechildren to have some mental health problems. We think the most important thing thatgovernment, social service agency or Non-profit organization can do is to set up the
migrant children activity center in the community they lived. Social Workers will play a
crucial role beyond doubt as it can implement resources integration. With parent-childreading, interest group, supportive group, team coaching, and kinds of events or program;aiming to enriching their childhood life, improving the sense of social inclusion, andassisting them to recognize their roles in the city. Eliminating the obstacles of migrantchildren integrate into city life, and enhancing strong relationship with community,
family and school.

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2. Some experience from Head Start
I think some experience from Head Start can be applied in China as well, includingclassroom visit, home visit, family engagement, parenting training, social/emotional
screening and other experience. In the first point, I supposed to cooperate with parents
and teacher for the sake of family engagement, because some negative problem amongchildren were actually originated from family, My supervisor in Head Start told me ifchildren who are surrounded by unhealthy family atmosphere such as violence, drug
abuse, substance abuse, may easily have mental health, emotional or behavioral
problems. In the second point, classroom visit is very vital for child. By observe their
behavior and language we can know more about children’s routine life in classroom, also,
the assessment format should be used at the same time. Additionally, I should be develop
and implement a follow-up plan for my program.
IV. Other thoughts and findings
In a nutshell, I have a few other thoughts from my internship so far:a.
The time of internship is too short so that we cannot experience the whole processof a case work, group work or program.
b.
It will give us opportunity to obtain different experience by working and learn in avariety of settings if there is long-term internship program for us. It is also significant for
us to learn what areas of social work that we interested.
c.
It is difficult for parent engagement both in China and America. How to havefamily engagement policy is related to the family well-being improvement. It willprobably be one of worthwhile theme to research from my point of view.
V. Conclusion
The whole process of working at Head Start was really wonderful. The work I
complete here was totally satisfactory. I learned a lot under some licensed supervisorsand social workers, and I will strive to use gained skills in the best possible way when I
do my program in China.
VI. Acknowledgement
I would specially to thank Dr.Sun at first, who give us opportunity come to Phoenix
as well as made a perfect arrangement for our internship. Special thanks also to
Dr.Krysik, who help me find internship placement, accompanied us visit heard Museum
and made her class allowable for us. Special tanks also to Dr.Marsiglia, who host us at
his home.
Many thanks to Qilun Li who provided a comfortable accommodation for us.Deep
thanks and appreciation to Meryl, supervisor, Maria, supervisor, Nadia , Gail , Abi,
Mental Health specialist, and Liza, Elsa, case worker for your careful and precious
guidance. It’s very happy to work with you, your abundant experience and positive
attitude to career would be have a far-reaching consequences for my future career. Also,best wishes to all of staffs and interns in head start.
Finally, a special remembrance of my teachers at School of humanities, JUFE. Thankyou for supporting us all the time.
33

Appendix C Photos

Three exchange students with ASU social work faculties

34

Group photo with participants in social work faculty training in July 2015.

35

Appendix D Acknowledgement
The research team wants to express their gratitude to the International Associationof Schools of Social Work for funding this project. Because of this funding, we were able
to make an initial step to foster international collaboration to shed light on a critical issue
faced by social work education in China. In particular, we want to like to thank Dr. Anna
Metteri for keeping us on track and providing her support to this project and we lookforward to present our findings at the 2016 Joint World Conference on Social Work
Education and Social Development in Korea.

36