Prior to Embarking on First Fieldwork Education Exposure. Preparing Social Work Students through Five Experiential Learning Activities.

In this chapter, we focus on the preliminary year for social work students, which occurs prior to their first fieldwork education exposure. In the last 10 years, through the collaboration of social work students and practice teachers, social work educators at the Catholic University of Milan and Brescia developed five learning activities. These activities are carried out during the first year of the bachelor’s degree to prepare students for the first practice placement experience that occurs in the second semester of the second year (from January to June). These experien-tial learning activities have the common aim of encouraging social work students to test their personal and relational skills and increase their awareness and confidence. The focus is not on the acquisition of social workers’ specialist knowledge (commonly offered by specific courses). Through these experiential activities, students gained basic insights into the key principles of social work practice that are useful for increasing their ability to cope with imminent future field education challenges.