ABSTRACT
This is a conceptual chapter inspired by findings of a study in Trinidad on how field educator subjectivity may be a factor in practice assessments of social work students in Trinidad. A focus group discussion with field educators was used to explore priorities for field educators in determining students’ competence in practice. Educators’ subjectivity seemed to inform mentorship, supervision, and evaluation such that there could be differences in teaching and learning and assessment outcomes for students. As discussions unfolded and participants put forward their own ideas, certain threads were evident such as the importance of their own sense of identity as social workers and their individual experiences, especially in social work settings, in their interactions with and assessment of students. The findings could be framed as answering such tacit questions as: ‘what have my own experiences taught me about (i) what others need to learn, (ii) what/how I need to teach them, and (iii) how I will know if that goal has been achieved. The chapter shows how representative heuristics in assessment, mental shortcuts through which practice evaluations are made, to the extent that observations of students’ performance align with own experiences and learnings, may be at play in field education in Trinidad.
