Don't Get Disheartened; Get Organised: Tackling Placement Poverty

In this episode, podcast crew member Jean Carruthers interviews social work Professors Christine Morley and Linda Briskman and student advocate and co-founder of Students Against Placement Poverty Isaac Wattenberg. They unpack the prolific issue of student poverty instigated by mandatory placements as part of completing a social work and human services university degree. Isaac adds weight to the discussion by providing his personal experience as well as giving voice to his student peers on the devastating personal, social and financial impact placement has caused. Linda and Christine discuss their work in this space, including a National Field Education Summit and a nationwide survey, showcasing the experiences of students, field educators, placement agencies and academics, ultimately highlighting this dire situation. Christine provides some solutions to mitigate this problem, including having greater flexibility around work placements, reducing placement hours and implementing an apprenticeship-type approach to paying students on placement, among other possibilities.

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ejb69jHYwj4jQrL8tJGk93MoLyn7ULEt/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104391506849562986537&rtpof=true&sd=true Key references:

• Morley, C., Hodge, L., Clarke, J., McIntyre, H., Mays, J., Briese, J., & Kostecki, T. (2023). ‘This unpaid placement makes you poor': Australian social work students’ experiences of the financial burden of field education. Social Work Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2022.2161507

• Morley, C. (2023). ‘We can no longer justify unpaid labour’: Why uni students need to be paid for work placements. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/we-can-no-longer-justify-unpaid-labour-why-uni-students-need-to-be-paid-for-work-placements-203421

• Contact Jason Clare, Minister for Education, demanding reform: jason.clare.mp@aph.gov.au

• Students Against Placement Poverty (SAPP) Facebook and Instagram.

• SAPP’s open letter: ‘Fair payment for student placements’.

Marchese, D. (2023, May 31). The problem with student placements [Radio broadcast]. ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/hack/102395184

Keywords:

Student poverty, critical social work, Students Against Placement Poverty (SAPP), field education summit, national field education survey, unpaid labour, collective activism, university accord, social work and human services placement,

Music by Boe Toweh