:: field instructor seminar i
DESCRIPTION
:: Field Instructor Seminar I. Building a Positive Context for Supervision & Learning: A Process. :: Topics Covered. 1. School’s mission statement & the critical approach; 2. Learning contract; mid point progress review; final evaluation; other documentation - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
:: Field Instructor Seminar I
1. School’s mission statement & the critical approach;
2. Learning contract; mid point progress review; final evaluation; other documentation
3. Key policies and procedures4. Supervisory relationships & power imbalances;5. Transfer of learning & learning exchange;
:: Topics Covered
The School of Social Work, York University,
is committed to social work education
which develops practice strategies for
human rights and social justice, and thus
affirms that personal experiences are
embedded in social structures …
:: Mission Statement
Through research, curriculum, and critical pedagogy, the School will:
Address oppression and subordination as experienced and mediated through class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age and ability;
Develop a critical appreciation of the social construction of reality;
:: Mission Statement
Through research, curriculum, and critical pedagogy, the school will:
Promote an understanding of how values and ideologies construct social problems and how they construct responses;
Prepare students to be critical practitioners and agents of change.
:: Mission Statement
Critical paradigm:Inquiry that attempts to uncover the structure of the world that oppresses people;
Reality is shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic and gender values;
:: What is a Critical Approach?
… under the umbrella of a critical perspective:
Radical social work;
Structural social work;
Anti-discrimination (anti-racism, feminism) & anti-oppressive practices
:: Social Work Theories
Reflexivity, emancipation & dialogue;
Commitment to social change & social
justice;
Equality of ‘clients’ in practice & research.
:: Principles of Critical Approach
Learning contracts:
Flexible, dynamic, subject to change
Individualizes the field objectives of the school to match student’s learning needs in a specific placement
:: Learning Contracts
Based on:
Field agency capacity
School expectations
Student learning goals
Helps to:
Establish goals
Identify steps in reaching
goals
Evaluation criteria
Time frame
Learning Contracts
Part 1
Administrative:
The details of the placement
Who, where, when
:: Learning Contract Two Parts
2. Educational:
Goals Students and field instructors determine goals that reflect the criteria outlined in the Development Area but are
specific to the context of the agency
Plan for goal attainment Explains how student will meet each goal: tasks, activities, projects and method of evaluation
:: Learning Contract Educational
For example:
Major Learning Goal: To develop skills in working with individuals and groups
Plan Goal Attainment: Attend a community group as an observer and then plan and facilitate a group session. My supervisor will attend a group session with me and give feedback on my group work skills.
:: Learning Contract Educational
Mutual process
Basis for development of student/field instructor relationship
Begins transfer of learning process
Begins learning process
Serves to provide basis for evaluation process.
:: Learning Contracts Important Characteristics
Both the mid point review and the final evaluations are tied to the student’s learning contract
The mid point is a review of where the student is at ..a check in
It is the point at which concerns should be formally identified and plans put in place to address the concerns during the last half of the placement
The final is the point at which the student’s overall progress is assessed and a Pass or Fail grade assigned.
:: Evaluation
Criteria:
Expected LevelThe student has demonstrated growth across the time of placement, i.e., has demonstrated not only a conceptual grasp of theory and relevant understanding of policy and community development, but an ability to integrate theory into practice in a purposive way.At the time of final evaluation, the student could function as a beginning social worker in a general service agency, i.e., capable of autonomous work in routine areas after a period of orientation with awareness, and capacity to seek out and utilize consultation and help from supervisors and other staff members.
:: Evaluation BSW/Year 1 MSW
Criteria:
Upon commencement of the MSW placement a student should demonstrate a strong grounding in social work theory and practice at the BSW level. Over the course of the placement the student is expected to demonstrate an advanced level of practice in which the student demonstrates initiative as a practitioner, professional; and colleague and can function autonomously their individual practice and within the agency.
:: Evaluation MSW
Students are expected to attend placement 3 full regular working days/week (Exception post degree students and Part Time MSW students)
Field instructors are asked to contact the student’s faculty liaison the student’s performance so that the school can assist in addressing the concerns early on in the placement
:: Key Policies and Procedures
Students are required to attend integrative seminars and may need ot be released from placement to attend these
4 seminars – 2 hours each
Lunch hours and time away from placement
Placements may be terminated without students successful completing their placements for two reasons:
1. Placement failure
2. Placement breakdown
Termination of Placement
Placement failure:
a) Occurs as a result of a student’s inability to demonstrate the capacity to develop the required social work practice skills
b) May occur as a result of a breach of professional behavior
:: Failure
Placement breakdown:
Occurs when a placement is not viable for reasons other than a student’s ability to demonstrate professionalism and/or the capacity to develop social work skills
For example:
lack of adequate supervision
lack of appropriate learning opportunities
lack of fit between the student and supervisor/agency
A personal situation for the student that impedes their ability to complete placement
:: Breakdown
Supervisory Relationships
&
Power Imbalances
:: School of Social Work
Complex & emotionally intense experiences;
Conflict is a common characteristics;
A place where issues related to authority are likely to emerge for both the supervisee and the supervisor (Hawthorne 1975; Kadushin 1958);
Successes and conflicts can be a learning experience about helping relationships (e.g., practitioner-client) (Bogo 1993).
:: Supervisory Relationships
Draw out differences between what you would expect from a supervisor as an employee versus a student.
Supervisor / Employee Supervisor/ Student
Relationship Relationship
:: The Relationship
Availability
Support
Structure
Promoting Student Autonomy
Feedback and Evaluation
Linking Theory and Practice
:: The Relationship: A Teaching Tool
The ability to look back on a piece of work andconsider:
What informed your assessment of the situation?
What theory or knowledge did you draw on?
What was your subjective response?
How did your personal response influence your professional response?
What did you learn that you can use in the future?
:: Reflection
A continual re-reading of your understanding or analysis of a situation;
Accounts for how self-reflection has supported your analysis/assessment;
AND
Challenges us to consider the political, social, cultural, economic context of the situation.
:: Reflexivity
Position of authority in which they are charged with evaluating the supervisee’s
performance (Caspi & Reid 2002).
Have a greater responsibility to take steps to build a positive relationship.
(Bogo, 1993; Martine Alper, 1989; Judah, 1982; Reid, 2002)
:: Power Imbalances: Supervisors
Group Share:
What steps have you taken so far to build a positive relationship with your students?
What has worked?
What has not worked
:: Power Imbalances: Supervisors
Social identity & Social location:
Cultural self-awareness & power, privilege, and oppression;
Awareness of differences based on social
Identity & location;
Rarely discussed.
:: Power Imbalances: Difference and Diversity
Which ways might one of you have more power than the other?
Race
Ethnicity
Gender
Class
Sexual Orientation
Education
Ability
Discuss some of the ‘murky’ or ‘grey areas’ of power.
In acknowledging the power differential, how can that be managed in a positive way?
:: Power Imbalances: Difference and Diversity
Transfer of Learning
&
Learning Exchange
:: School of Social Work
Students as adult learnersApproach as adult learners
Not empty vessels – tremendous life experience;Ability to be self-directed learners;Experiential learning & question posing approach;Emphasis is on building capacity to act.
as per Freire, 1970
As teachers we do not want to create an environment in which:
Teacher knows, and students are taughtTeacher talks, and students listenTeacher chooses, and students complyTeacher is subject, and students merely objects
There is new learning but as field instructors want to try to capture the elements of a transfer of learning or learning exchange rather than a top down learning experience
:: Transfer of Learning andLearning Exchange
New learning or performance can differ from original learning in terms of the task involved and/or the context involved; (as when students apply what they have learned on practice problems to solving a new problem) and or the context involved (as when students apply classroom learning to performing tasks at home or work).
(Cree, V., & Macaulay, K. (2000). Transfer of Learning in Professional and Vocational Education. London: Routledge)
:: Transfer of Learning andLearning Exchange
The basic elements involved in transfer are thus the learner, the instructional tasks (including learning materials and practice problems), the instructional context (the physical and social setting, including the instruction and support provided by the teacher, the behavior of other students and the norms and expectations inherent in the setting ), the transfer task and the transfer context.
Cree, V., & Macaulay, K. (2000). Transfer of Learning in Professional and Vocational Education. London: Routledge)
Transformative learning (Mezirow)
Stages of learning that are forms of awakening or the “ah-hah” of discovery as students:
Shift their worldview on issues as diverse as political ideology, understanding issues of oppression and privilege, understanding significant theories and understanding themselves.
:: Transfer of Learning andLearning Exchange
Disorienting dilemma (introduces discomfort)
Self-examinations (feelings too)
Critical self-appraisal
Recognition of discontent
Exploration of the new
Action planning
Trying on new roles
Building competence in the new
Reintegration based on the new perspective
:: Transfer of Learning andLearning Exchange
Four stages of intellectual development:
Dualism
Multiplicity
Relativism
Commitment to Relativism
:: Perry’s Theory of Intellectual
Development (1968)
Most social work students are in the relativist stage, but occasionally we find learners in earlier stages;
Students can be encouraged through the stages;
Strategies to navigate through:
:: Perry’s Theory of Intellectual
Development (1968)
Dualism to Multiplicity:Dualist thinkers see authority figures as experts;Allow this to happen and affirm the knowledge of others, including the student;Leadership from the “expert” to validate other experts is helpful.
Multiplicity to Relativism:Conduct critical appraisal of different knowledge and ask students to assess the application to different contexts;Their appraisal will help move them to relativism.
:: Perry’s Theory of Intellectual
Development (1968)
Multiple intelligences:
Different people have different learning styles;
It is important to understand the differences that exist between you and your student.
:: Learning Styles
Physical (kinesthetic): doing/watching embodied experiences
Logical (mathematical): instructions, theory and structure
Aural (rhythmic): listening and discovering patterns
Verbal (linguistic): listening to words
Visual (spatial): seeing
Social (interpersonal): interaction with others
Solitary (intra-personal): personal reflection
:: Learning Styles
Large group activity:
How would each learner approach the task of learning to swim, ride a bike, etc?
Think about your own learning style and how you engage with others who are similar, and those who are different learners.
:: Learning Styles
On your own, recall a very difficult learning experienceyou have been through while considering the following
questions:
What made it difficult?
How can these theories help you look back at your learning?
What would have helped make it better?
What link does this have to your supervision
of your student?
:: Learning Styles
Questions, Comments, Feedback?
Manager Field Education ProgramEmail: [email protected]: 416-736-2100 x 39488
:: Thank You !