The practice educator’s gaze and Black international students’ shoulders caught in complex and controversial social work placement contexts

This article explores the perspectives, knowledge, and experiences of practice educators (PEs) and academics assessing practice learning experiences of Black international students on placement. Cross-faculty research was conducted at a university in England from April to October 2024, using purposive sampling to recruit PEs and academics involved in the supervision and assessment of Black international students within the Schools of Social Work, Education, and Health Sciences. Using MS Teams, interviews and focus groups were conducted with twenty students and nineteen staff. Solely focussed on Social Work staff data, key findings accentuated the PE-gaze, which confirmed the existence of racism. However, the PE-gaze did not consider the cumulative effects of multi-faceted and intersectional layers of disadvantage impacting students. Rather, the PE-gaze misconstrued such disadvantage as student incompetence and resultant placement failure. These profound, debilitating effects of student challenges were concealed in Pandora’s Box, further compounding the numerous webs of complexity impacting PE duties. Race-work was shifted on Black international students’ shoulders; however, it should be the PE’s duty to challenge racism and ensure equitable and anti-racist placement conditions. The article concludes with recommendations for race to be a protected characteristic fully considered as a reasonable adjustment when supervising students on placement.