The Obstacles to Achieve Total Quality Assurance when Applying the Field Training Courses in the Social Service Specialization at Al-Quds Open University ,

Abstract

Field Training is considered a fundamental stone  in enhancing  and supporting students’ learning  Social Services to acquire then  professional career Under the supervision of  the  experienced social worker, who has rich and  deep experience , social  service students can be professional .

  This study aimed at identifying the obstacles that arose when applying the field training courses in social service specialization , and connected these obstacles with the five major items in the field of training : social institution, social workers,  students trainees , academic supervisors, and curriculum.

   The study community was limited to social workers in Nablus Governorate , who supervised  the students trainees in social institutions,  the students enrolled in  the  field training courses in the second semester  of   the academic year 2006\2007 in Nablus Educational Region, and the academic  full time and part time supervisors  who supervised the field training courses in all the educational regions at Al-Quds Open University. The study sample consisted  of  97 individuals and  distributed as follows : 14 academic supervisors , 55 students, 28 social workers . The study sample was chosen by using  the  organized random method.

     In order to identify these obstacles , a  special questionnaire was built and basically consisted  of  two parts:  The first part had primary information about the inspected individuals  i.e, academic supervisors , students, social workers. The second part was designed to measure the obstacles that arose  when applying  the field training courses.

      After the instrument validity and reliability were verified ,  and after obtaining official approval ,  the questionnaire was distributed on the study sample and data was collected  and statistically  approached by the  SPSS.

   The results of the study were:

First: Concerning the  field training institutions  , it has been found that the obstacles lied in the limited services  presented from the social institutions part  , which were exemplified in simple  financial aids . Besides , their inability to cope with the large number of students as a result of the increasing number of the trainees is another obstacle.

 Second: It has been found that the obstacles concerning the social workers  resulted from the large number of  the trainees who were supervised by the social worker who was overloaded by  many duties and responsibilities.

Third: Concerning the academic supervisors, it has been found that the obstacles lied in the fact that there was   scarcity in their visits to the social institutions to follow up  their students ,as well as the large number of the  supervised students during the field training .

Fourth;  Concerning the  students, it has been found that the obstacles lied in the fact that   the students did not have full time to learn  ,and so  the time of training will be decreased. Consequently, the students did not participate in  the activities and events that were organized by the University ,e.g. exhibitions, workshops, colloquia …etc.

Fifth: Concerning the curriculum, it has been found that the obstacles were mainly exemplified in the  load and density  of the curriculum , which required  the student  trainee to fulfill many duties during their training process.