Direct, Facilitate, Enable-the Juxtaposition of the Duty of Care and the Duty of Disclosure in Social Work Field Education

This article examines the significance of field education placements within contemporary social work field education, particularly considering the increasingly complex issues of the duty of care (to student, agency and field teacher) and the duty to disclose (to student, to field teacher) which schools of social work must negotiate. The dilemmas facing schools and field educators, and the steps taken to resolve them at the University of Melbourne (Australia), are considered to highlight the ongoing liability and accountability difficulties which continue to face social work education.