FIELD EDUCATOR TURNOVER - A CHALLENGE TO THE QUALITY OF FIELD EDUCATION

Field education is the core of social work education, yet the quality of this programme is threatened by a high turnover of field educators. This retrospective study examines the turnover rate in one Australian social work programme, the characteristics of its supervisors and age ncies and establishes a bench-mark for national and international comp arative studies. High turnover rates suggest the need to re-examine so me of the traditions and assumptions of field education for social wor k.