ABSTRACT
Social work education in India is almost 80 years old. Though the fieldwork teaching-learning component of this discipline has been understood in India in an organized manner, there is an ongoing debate as to what the curriculum for a social work practicum should be. Everything that is discussed in the classroom cannot be taught through the practicum due to a paucity of time, old or irrelevant curriculum or differences in specialization, or an improper fieldwork setting. Students, also known as ‘new social workers,’ having completed the degree and undertaking a job, face new challenges coping with the working strategies of the development organization. Therefore, the fieldwork practicum under its ‘orientation programme for final-year students’ or ‘fieldwork skill development workshop’ should include space for practising several essential strategies which are vital for new social workers to become accustomed to the development sector. These strategies include a rights-based approach, evidence-based practice, social network analysis, innovation, advocacy, cultural relevance or multi-cultural approach, risk and resilience perspective, and legal content or social policy perspective. This chapter discusses these eight strategies in detail to clarify why the Indian social work field needs them.
