Field Education

PLAN YOUR FIELDWORK EARLY

Students are advised to submit their fieldwork application form AT LEAST TWO MONTHS IN ADVANCE to the Practical Education Co-ordinator for approval.

Application Forms

Mission

The mission of Supervised Field Education is to acquaint students with areas of ministry, assist them in the pursuit of theory-practice integration, help them improve knowledges and skills in ministry and examine themselves, their roles, their relationship with the Christian community and their call in ministry within the context of experiencing ministry.

Objectives: to help students
  1. gain insights into how theory be integrated with practice
  2. learn to read living experience
  3. learn to do theological reflection
  4. understand how one’s self has shaped his/her ministry
  5. examine his/her own vocational calling
  6. acquire basic ministerial skills

Field Education as Required by Different Programmes of Study

Programmes of Study Units Required
Master of Divinity 8
Bachelor of Divinity (5-yr)1 12
Bachelor of Divinity (4-yr) 8
Bachelor of Divinity (3-yr) 8
Bachelor of Arts in Theology 4

1For students in the BD 5-yr programme, full-time Field Education should be arranged in the 2nd term of the fourth year, usually from January to August.

Length of Placement

Modes Period No. of Weeks No. of Hours per Week Total No. of Hours Units Earned
Full-time Placement
(for BD 5-yr mode)		 Mid-Jan to mid-August 30 32 960 12
Full-time Placement
(for BD 4-yr mode)		 Mid-Jan to mid-June 20 32 640 8
Summer Block Placement June to July or
July to August		 8 40 320 4
Concurrent Placement Mid-Sept to end-Dec
Or
Mid-Jan to end-April		 14 12 168 2
  • Approximately 1 credit point equals to 80 placement-hours
  • Full-time placement is designed only for students of BD 4-yr and BD 5-yr programmes
  • All church-sponsored BD 5-yr students are required to join the full-time placement mode
  • If a student opts for the full-time mode, s/he has to do his/her placement in his/her fourth year of study
  • Full-time placement can only be done in congregational churches

  1. Learning Contract （PDF / Word）
    • Submitted to the Practical Education Co-ordinator within the first quarter of the placement period
    • student must follow the guidelines (App 5 of the Handbook) in drawing up the contract
  2. Fieldwork Report
    • submitted to the Practical Education Co-ordinator 2 weeks after the end of placement
    • student must follow the guidelines (App 5 of the Handbook) in writing up the report

In order to help the intern to better understand his/her own performance, during the mid-term and the final stage of the placement, s/he is required to conduct a questionnaire survey to collect feedback from at least two congregation members (for placement in non-church setting, the respondents should be “colleagues”) who are deemed to have an acceptable level of understandings on his/her works.

After reading the respondents’ feedback, the intern should submit it to the Practical Education Co-ordinator. Submission deadlines are:

  1. The questionnaire should be attached to and therefore submitted along with the Fieldwork Report

The questionnaire is available in the Field Education Handbook (App 4 PDF / Word). The intern should make enough copies for distribution.

  • Integrative Seminar is a tool for helping students to do informed theological reflections upon practice situations. The ultimate aim is to enhance students’ competence in doing theory-practice integration.
  • Time spent in attending integrative seminars will be counted into the fieldwork hours.
  • Fieldwork instructor will be informed about the dates of integrative seminars soon after the start of placement.

  1. Engaging student in fieldwork
    1. To orient the student to the church/institution, its policies and procedures in order that the student can begin practice immediately.
    2. To facilitate the student to understand the congregation (or the targets to be served).
    3. To facilitate the student to draw up the learning contract. Field Instructor is the one who approves the final version of the contract.
    4. To assign tasks that will best meet the educational needs of the student.
    5. To make available to the student appropriate learning experience, e.g. attendance at seminars, staff meeting, etc.
  2. Supervision, Evaluation and Assessment
    1. To continuously assess the educational progress of the student.
    2. To help the student to integrate theoretical knowledge and previous experience with present ministerial practice.
    3. To conduct regular supervision sessions with the student. It is suggested that the instructor conduct with the student one supervision session per week for Summer Block Placement and Full-time Placement, and one per month for Concurrent Placement.
    4. To conduct mid-term evaluation with the student.
    5. To conduct final evaluation with the student to evaluate his/her performance and growth.
    6. To submit to the Practical Education Co-ordinator the Fieldwork Evaluation Form 2 weeks after the end of the placement.

  1. Absence from Fieldwork
    • For any fieldwork placement, attendance should be 100%. Fieldwork days missed for any reason will normally need to be made up later. Absence from the field for reasons without prior approval of the fieldwork instructor is absolutely forbidden.
    • In case of illness necessitating absence from the field, the instructor should be promptly notified. If extended leave of absence or hospitalization is anticipated, the Practical Education Co-ordinator should be consulted so that a prompt decision as to whether the placement might be concluded prematurely can be made.
    • Student should follow the normal practice of submitting a medical certificate if s/he is off sick for more than two consecutive days.
  2. Public Holidays - The fieldwork instructor has the full right to determine whether the placement will be suspended on public holidays.
  3. Honorarium paid to the student - The placement church/institution has the full right to determine the amount of honorarium paid to the student. For reference, the amount is in general from HK$3,000 to HK$6,000 per month for full-time local (HK) placement.

Item Summer Fieldwork Term-time Fieldwork
Learning Contract 5% 5%
Instructor’s Comments 50% 50%
Fieldwork Self-Evaluation Report 45% 40%

Procedures for Taking Field Education

  1. Make sure you have met the minimum requirement for taking Field Education:
    Programmes Earliest opportunities to take Field Education
    MDiv Summer of Year-1
    BD 5-yr (non full-time placement) Summer of Year-3
    BD 4-yr (non full-time placement) Summer of Year-3
    BD 3-yr Summer of Year-3

    * Full-time placement can only be taken by students in the BD 4-yr or 5-yr programmes in the 2nd term of Year-4.

  2. Choose your placement: (Students must have at least one placement in local churches, unless approved otherwise)

    1. Pick from the list of recommended placement opportunities (either local or outside Hong Kong) posted by the Divinity School from time to time, and make arrangements through the Practice Education Co-ordinator as early as possible; or

    2. pick their own placement of choice (provided there are qualified Fieldwork Instructors, typically with comprehensive theological training and three years of relevant experience), subject to the approval of the Practical Education Co-ordinator; or

    3. apply for CPE through the respective CPE institutions directly, with the Practical Education Co-ordinator and the Director of the Divinity School as the referees.

  3. Submit your application form to the Practical Education Co-ordinator at least two months in advance for approval (except for CPE applications through the respective CPE institutions directly).

  4. Claim credit units: (You must register for the Field Education courses to claim units for your fieldwork. The course codes include THEO4241, 4242, 6943, 6944, 6945, 6946.)

    • Summer block placement: Register 2 courses (i.e. 4 units) in the semester IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the placement, unless approved otherwise. DO NOT register for units in the summer semester.

    • Concurrent placement: Register 1 course for each of the two semesters concurrent with your placement (i.e. 2 units each semester).

    • Full-time placement: Register 3 courses (i.e. 6 units) in the 2nd semester of Year-4 and 3 courses (i.e. 6 units) in the 1st semester of Year-5.

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