INTEGRATION OF THEORY AND PRACTICE IN SOCIAL WORK: CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS

The majority of social work students in their third year of study are challenged to integrate theory and practice, often resulting in students not achieving the expected learning outcomes. This paper examines the challenges experienced by social work students and lecturers regarding the integration of theory and practice. Data were analysed by means of thematic analysis. Students identified the particular structure of the programme, scaffolding of learning and the high workload as difficulties. Lecturers identified the academic under-preparedness of students as a problem. Recommendations are made regarding the facilitation of learning in the classroom setting for the integration of theory/knowledge and practice. Adapted from the source document.