The previous two chapters have revealed the extent to which students were dependent on the support of their practice teachers while on placement, particularly in relation to developing and implementing CCETSW's anti-racist requirements. The evidence, however, revealed that only a minority of students felt that their practice teachers were receptive and sympathetic to anti-racist developments. Most others were not confident that practice teachers had the knowledge, awareness or understanding to facilitate anti-oppressive practice, and in some cases felt they were overtly hostile to the issues. As well as interviewing students, the research project involved interviews with each student's practice teacher once during the placement process. The purpose of these interviews was to explore if they were aware of CCETSW's antiracist programme, if agencies were able to facilitate anti-racist learning opportunities, and if there were institutional barriers to CCETSW's developments.

Their responses revealed that none had experienced any substantial education or training in the field of anti-racist practice, which had serious consequences for students, but also had negative implications for the experiences of practice teachers themselves. For example, most had never explored ‘race’, racism and anti-racist practice, but were nevertheless expected to undertake anti-discriminatory supervision with little or no constructive preparation or agency support. This led to a situation where many practice teachers felt vulnerable, threatened and confused in relation to both black student supervision and anti-racist practice. Another barrier appeared to be the fear of practice teachers that to display such vulnerabilities could challenge their personal and professional credentials. As a result, it was only those practice teachers who had a personal commitment to anti-discriminatory practice who were confident in facilitating anti-racist supervision. However, due to the lack of institutional and professional commitment to the issues, this group of practice teachers were also susceptible to feelings of insecurity and isolation.

The first part of this chapter explores the accounts of practice teachers who supervised black students. For the majority of practice teachers it was the first time that they had supervised or worked with black students, and very few appeared to have worked with other black social workers or clients. For many, therefore, it was the first time they were confronted directly and indirectly with anti-racist issues.