In defence of long-arm practice teaching

Long-arm practice teaching has been developed in the UK as a strategy to create practice placements for DipSW students. It has also been seen as an unfortunate emergency arrangement. There has been little substantive research to evaluate this teaching method. This paper, based on the author's experience of supervising four students in this way, argues that with careful planning and anticipation of difficulties, long-arm practice teaching may be considered to be an acceptable alternative model rather than a regrettable aberration.