Defining Signature Pedagogy in Social Work Education

In 2008 the Council on Social Work Education identified field education as its signature pedagogy. In doing so, it ascribed centrality to field education as the synthetic, integrative curricular area in which students are socialized to the profession. This article examines challenges and opportunities that such a designation presents. How field education can be designed, delivered and evaluated as social work education’s signature pedagogy is discussed within the framework of the ten core competencies and the explicit and implicit curriculum that the new standards mandate.