Task supervisors’ and field educators’ experiences of and attitudes toward supervising international social work students in Australia

Background
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of international students enrolling in qualifying masters courses in social work across Australia. A large proportion of these international students come from China. With the increasingly international cohort, difficulties have been reported by international students in finding quality placement opportunities and in dealing with issues such as language and cultural barriers, and racism. The attitudes of task supervisors and field placement supervisors toward supervising international students have not been examined in detail.

Aims
The aim of this research is to explore task supervisors’ and field educators’ experiences of and attitudes toward supervising international social work students in Australia.

Methods
Our research is a pilot study of task supervisors and field educators working with Monash University social work students. Participants were asked to complete an online anonymous survey. 83 respondents had experience supervising one or more international students. Survey results were analysed thematically using NVivo.

Results
Results reveal that the respondents saw both advantages and challenges to supervising international students. Advantages included students’ different cultural perspectives, breadth of experience and knowledge, and willingness to learn. This was seen to broaden supervisors’ perspectives, and provide them with insights into other cultures and social work practices in other countries. Challenges mainly related to language and cultural barriers, and a lack of knowledge of Australian systems.

Conclusions
The findings of this research will inform future training and professional development for task supervisors and field educators working with international social work students.