Katrina Boone, director of Field Education at the FSU College of Social Work (FSUCSW), takes her higher education role in social work seriously. While her main focus is promoting field education as social work’s signature pedagogy, when opportunities arose to join committees to further shape social work education, she was eager to participate.

Boone was appointed to the Task Force to Advance Anti-Racism Work Group for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) based on the recommendation of a colleague and leader of the work group, Dr. Tiffany Baffour. The workgroup is tasked with developing an action plan to enhance social work education by adopting anti-racism pedagogy and establishing anti-racism learning environments for social work students that facilitate inclusion and diversity.

“Serving on the task force is an honor and excellent opportunity to make social work education stronger by beginning the critical work of enhancing anti-racism,” said Boone. “Addressing this is vital to how social work educators prepare students to become professionals and meet the needs of the clients and communities they will serve.” She has also been involved with CSWE for a decade, including serving on the Council of Field Education since 2016.

On top of these leadership positions, Boone was also appointed this fall as the Field Committee chair of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, her first leadership role within the organization. “Field is an integral part of social work education and is the link between course content and integral into the practice world,” stressed Boone.

As she acclimates to this new role, Boone will ensure that field directors and coordinators have a voice and that the committee provides direction in field education to deliver cutting edge field experiences to prepare future social workers. One of those challenges includes navigating COVID-19, which has impacted service delivery to clients, student experiences in field placements and agency/organization operations.

Boone encourages all social workers and educators to become involved in organizations like BPD, NASW and CSWE. “Involvement is essential as policy and education changes at this level,” Boone concluded. “Being able to assist in shaping the direction of social work education starts with social work organizations.”

To connect with Katrina Boone, email her at kboone@fsu.edu.