:: 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: mobe@yorku.caTel: 416-736-2100 x 39488

:: Thank You !