Enhancing the Social Work Field Practicum Experience through the Practice Development Forum (PDF) at the United Arab Emirates University

Despite the importance of field education in social work, there are situations when only a few social work educators are involved in supporting students in their field placements. At the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), for example, involvement in field education is reserved for faculty who are fluent in Arabic due to the nature of Organizations and Agencies that offer practice learning opportunities to social work students. More specifically, these organizations and agencies have a clientele of largely Arabic speaking Emiratis, and thus find it easier to work with the Arabic speaking faculty. In this paper, we outline how the Practice Development Forum (PDF) is used, resulting in expatriate faculty becoming involved in field education, not only for their ongoing professional development but mainly as a vehicle through which social work students can maintain links with faculty members with varying local and international backgrounds. The PDF provides a safe space outside the practice learning setting, and a significant outcome has been the development of case studies to be integrated into teaching content in subsequent academic years. With the institution of PDF, there have been additional unanticipated benefits that emerged as well which are also addressed in this paper.