Utilizing Professional Actors for Simulation-Based BSW and MSW Education

Overview: Social work education credits field education as its signature pedagogy. In addition to field experiences, social work education can provide further opportunities for learning through use of professional actors in the classroom. This presentation explores practical and theoretical considerations related to the use of professional actors to supplement classroom learning.Proposal text: While field education has long been credited as the signature pedagogy of social work, social work educators are expanding their integration of other teaching and learning methods for preparing BSW and MSW-level students for the challenging social work landscape. Social work education trends indicate a shift toward developing innovative ways to prioritize workplace skills over traditional teaching methods (Dodds et al., 2018; Kourgiantakis et al., 2020). Drawing on the approaches of simulations, virtual learning environments, and immersive exercises often used in healthcare (Ferguson & Driver, 2018; Lateef, 2010), social work education can enrich student experiences in the classroom to supplement the rich signature pedagogy of field education. As simulations are gaining popularity as viable teaching methods (Huttar & BrintzenhofeSzoc, 2019) virtual reality and reality-based approaches afford students opportunities to practice high-stakes clinical work, in lower-stakes teaching settings. Professions such as nursing and law enforcement frequently rely on simulation-based experiences to train early career professionals (Gates & Brown, 2017). In particular, the use of professional actors offers opportunities for students to experience immersive-like clinical scenarios without the vulnerability or risk of working with real clients (Gellis & Kim, 2017; Petracchi, 1999). Reality-based simulations also offer opportunities for inter-professional training (Costello et al., 2017, Manning et al., 2016; Murphy & Nimmagadda, 2015, Sacco et al., 2017). While there is robust literature on the use of actors in training healthcare professionals, the literature on their use in social work is minimal. Social work students often express feelings of a lack of preparedness in making the transition from classroom to real-world experience (Logie et al., 2015). This presentation provides a brief overview of the theoretical literature related to the use of professional actors in social work education, while offering real-world examples of the integration and implementation of the use of professional actors for crisis simulation and ethical decision-making at a mid-size university. Concrete examples from classroom simulations will be used to illustrate the benefit of using professional actors in the classroom.