ABSTRACT
This chapter presents findings that emerged from a process of unearthing prevailing understandings of ‘readiness’ for social work practice in Trinidad. A focus group with students, educators, senior practitioners, field instructors, and allied professionals was used to generate data on the ways that participants made sense of the concept of readiness for practice in social work. Social constructionism provided the framework for interpreting the data, such that the multiple perspectives and discourses in these discussions were highlighted. Social constructionism posits that multiple versions of reality i.e., ‘truths’ exist with none having greater validity than any other. This chapter will explore these multiple truths and seek to show their variable influence in practice assessments. Issues of power, identity and perspective shape discourses and are also explored. Five themes are presented and discussed: practitioner traits, student training needs, how ‘readiness’ may be compromised; selection-training dilemma and supervisor expectations. The multiplicity presented shows the complexity of social work field education and evaluation.
