Supporting inclusive practicum experiences for international students across the social sciences: building industry capacity

Practicum experiences are critical learning environments for developing requisite skills, knowledge, behaviours and attitudes across the professions. Evidence suggests that international students in professional social and behavioural science programs struggle across a number of dimensions while on practicum. Key issues for these students coalesce around English language competency and cultural competency in the workplace. Research evidence likewise suggests that workplaces generally struggle to provide culturally inclusive practicum experiences for international students. This difficulty is evident at the level of individual supervisors, as well as at the level of schools and host organisations. This article reports on the capacity of host organisations to offer inclusive practicum experience for international students across professional programs in the social and behavioural sciences. The article reviews the literature in relation to the needs of international students and factors supporting inclusive practicum experiences, before outlining the method and findings of a needs analysis undertaken as part of a research project conducted in south-east Queensland, Australia. Suggestions are provided about how the capacity of host organisations can be developed to offer quality practicum experiences for international students.     

Becoming a Supervisor: Doctoral Student Perceptions of the Training Experience

Thirteen doctoral students, 7 Caucasians and 6 Hispanics, participated over 3 semesters of practicum/internship in a qualitative research project exploring the experience of becoming supervisors. A follow‐up study with 5 different doctoral students confirmed and refined findings 1½ years later. The research team of 2 female faculty members and 1 male research assistant (the authors) identified 6 themes emerging from individual and group interviews with supervisors‐in‐training regarding the process of becoming a supervisor: (a) learning, (b) supervisee growth, (c) individual uniqueness, (d) reflection, (e) connections, and (f) putting it all together.     

THE GERONTOLOGY PRACTICUM AS SERVICE-LEARNING

This article argues that the gerontology practicum placement is service - learning when guidance is provided to help students integrate the dual goals of service and learning , and when the requisite components of reflection , analysis , and application are built into the practicum experience . Exit interviews conducted with students and field supervisors supported the idea that the practicum experience offered a balance between service and learning , and it was an opportunity for interdisciplinary teamwork , reciprocal benefits , and professional development . Specific discussion focuses on the pedagogical techniques used to encourage individual and group reflection , the synthesis of experiences with academic training , and the application of new understandings in the field setting .     

Learning inter-professional teamwork during university studies: a case study of student-teachers’ and social work students’ shared professional experiences

This paper explores ways of enhancing inter-professional skills as part of professional development during university studies. From a socio-psychological viewpoint, inter-professional teamwork can be regarded as an interface between the group and individual levels, where collective commitment, efficiency, shared processes and outcomes, as well as tensions and dilemmas, are brought together. Inter-professional skills, which are already practised in university, may enable professionals to work in inter-professional contexts during their careers. In this case study, the participants (three student-teachers, two social work students and four supervisors) reflected on their shared experience of participating in a shared practicum at a primary school. The data-set comprises two group interviews conducted separately with the students and supervisors following the practicum. The results indicate that it is possible to develop inter-professional competencies during one’s university studies and that this has the potential to promote students’ reflective skills as they reframe their expertise and the expertise in other professions.     

The Results of the Implementation of a Professional Supervision Model on Counselor Trainee Behavior

This article presents the results of the application of a professional model for practicum supervision using co-equal supervisors. This study found that beginning practicum students (a) learned to use a counseling theory in a professional manner with clients, (b) were rated by an expert rater as having skills equal to or higher than a comparison group of interns, graduate students, and employed agency counselors, and (c) rated the professional supervision practicum higher than did those under the usual apprenticeship supervision model. The authors suggest that counselor educators and supervisors can train students in less time to respond at a more complex skill level than has been previously reported in the literature.     

Effects of Low-level Counselor Functioning on Clients

Three counselors identified as functioning at a low level on basic facilitative skills were paired with both a high- and a low-level functioning client for three sessions. Functioning levels for both counselors and clients were determined by appropriate rating scales. The results indicated negative change in interpersonal functioning levels on the part of high-level clients and no significant change on the part of low-level clients.     

Extended teams in vocational education: collaboration on the border

ABSTRACT

Extended Teams (ETs), in which teachers and workplace supervisors are jointly responsible for the quality of education, were established to solve problems concerning school–workplace connections in vocational and professional education. Six ETs were investigated during their 1st year of collaboration. In addition to recordings of ET meetings, questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews yielded triangulation of data pertaining to dimensions of team work and professional growth of individual team members. Five of the 6 teams showed marked changes for team functioning, especially with regard to social ties and intellectual building as well as needs for new knowledge. Analysis of individual professional growth indicated that working in an ET contributed to understanding the other context, and altering views of what can be achieved by and for students. We conclude that ETs hold potential for strengthening school–workplace connections, but note that they did rely heavily on external support.     

The Relationship of Counselor Self-Disclosure to Counselor Effectiveness

Counselor self-disclosure was investigated as a dimension of counselor effectiveness with a sample of forty-one graduate students in a counseling and guidance practicum. Effectiveness was measured by ratings from clients and practicum supervisors. Clients rated the counselors in three aspects of the counseling interview and supervisors rated counselors in eight areas. Counselor self-disclosure scores were correlated significantly with all the criterion scores of counselor effectiveness (p <. 05). It was suggested that the concept of psychological disclosure may have important implications for counselor selection and training.     

An Investigation of the Use of E‐Mail as a Supplemental Modality for Clinical Supervision

The authors investigated the use of student‐initiated e‐mail as a supplemental modality for supervision. Nineteen students e‐mailed their instructors weekly during their 15‐week practicum; these e‐mails were analyzed across 3 time periods using the categories of the discrimination model (J. M. Bernard, 1979, 1997) and an adaptation of W. Lanning's (1986) professional behavior category. Although patterns of e‐mails were similar across time, there was a significant decline in the number of e‐mails as the practicum progressed. Significance was found for message focus, with personalization messages and professional behavior/practicum class messages accounting for more than half of the messages across 3 time periods.     

提升我国研究生导师队伍素质的对策探讨——基于指导2位以上全国优博论文的161位导师的调查

提升研究生导师队伍素质是加强拔尖创新人才培养的关键措施之一。全国优秀博士学位论文指导教师是我国研究生导师队伍中涌现出的优秀群体,有重要的榜样意义。依据1999-2011年间培养2位以上全国优博论文的161位导师的学科背景、学历学位、学术头衔、留学经历、学术成果、科研获奖等重要指标进行素质维度分析,结果发现这个导师群体的素质有显著的优势特征,这对进一步提高我国研究生导师队伍素质具有重要的参考价值。     

The Relationship of Facilitative Functioning to Effective Peer Supervision

This study was conducted to investigate the process of peer supervision. The criterion used was counselor trainees' growth in facilitative functioning. The study sought to ascertain whether the facilitative counselor trainee was also the effective peer supervisor, to provide information on evaluating the peer-supervisory experience, and to shed light on the most effective techniques of supervision. Peer supervisors were found to be effective in improving the performance of counselor trainees in the core dimensions of empathy, respect, genuineness, and concreteness. A significant positive correlation was found between peer supervisors' level of empathy in the counseling relationship and the trainees' ratings of supervisors on the relationship questionnaire. No significant correlation was found, however, between the trainees' ratings of their supervisors and the improvement demonstrated by the trainees in the core conditions. In addition, no significant correlation was found between the extent of the trainees' improvement and the supervisors' level of functioning as counselors. The relationship between trainees' responses to the supervisor role-analysis form and their improvement in counseling skills suggested that the most effective supervisors were structured, didactic, and more technique oriented.     

Cognitive Style in Counselor Education: A Comparison of Practicum Supervisors and Counselors in Training

The authors compared practicum supervisors and counseling students in training in terms of dominant cognitive style and related cognitive style of counselors in training to supervision process and outcome measures. A sample of 18 supervisors and 46 students completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. After at least six supervision sessions, supervisors rated the counseling students on the Counselor Evaluation Rating Scale and the students rated the quality of the supervision relationship using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory. Supervisors had a stronger Thinking orientation and less variability on the Sensing-Intuiting orientation than did counselors in training. In contrast to previous research, a strong relationship between the cognitive style of counselors in training and supervision process and outcome measures was not detected in this study.     

Non-Traditional and Traditional Social Work Students

ABSTRACT

Drawing on a sample of undergraduate social work students from four mid-western social work programs, this study compared perceptions of field instructors regarding non-traditional and traditional students. Field instructors rated their perceptions of the successful fulfillment of the demands of field practicum and the impact of several life characteristics for traditional and non-traditional students.

Non-traditional students were rated significantly higher on a variety of measures as assessed by field instructors. This study has implications for social work education that involves differential recruitment, retention, and support of traditional and non-traditional students.     

Field Supervision of Counselors in Training: A Survey of the North Atlantic Region

Most of the research on supervision has focused on supervisors in academic institutions (faculty members or doctoral students). In this article the authors describe a study in which they examined supervisors in community agencies where master's level counselors were assigned for practicum and internship training. The survey suggested that agencies were heavily invested in supervising graduate level counseling students and providing them with a rich clinical experience. Respondents typically had a master's degree, used various models of supervision, and provided feedback by means of self-report and audiotape or videotape review of counseling sessions. Results suggest that these supervisors had little contact with the concurrent academic supervisor and may have had little formal training in supervision. Implications of this survey include a need for more training for supervisors in graduate counseling programs and a need for more liaison between campus and field supervisors.     

Organizing a Practicum and Internship Program in Counselor Education

This article describes procedures for organizing a practicum and internship program in counselor education. Application procedures, supervision, and communication with sites, students, and supervisors are discussed.     

School psychology students' perceptions of their practicum experiences

We surveyed a national sample of 139 school psychology students to better understand their perceptions of their practicum experiences. Specifically, we examined the students' reports of the types of activities in which they engage during practicum experiences and their perceptions of their school‐based supervisors' activities. This information is potentially important as school psychology engages in a paradigm shift. Although most school psychology programs may teach students the proposed new and expanded roles, it is unclear whether field‐based experiences are congruent with such university‐based training. Results indicate that students spent the majority of their practicum time in assessment‐related activities. They were generally satisfied with their practicum experience and supervisor, although many knew little about the range of their supervisor's activities. Most field‐based practicum supervisors appeared to provide limited modeling of new and expanded roles. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 727–736, 2006.     

[Not] speaking truth to power: Ethical dilemmas of teacher candidates during practicum

This paper draws on Honig’s (1994) concept of dilemmatic space to analyze the teaching practicum and to frame the ethical dilemmas that teacher candidates experience during it. The dilemmatic space highlights the wider context in which dilemmas occur, replacing the practice of analyzing ethical dilemmas as specific disconnected incidents. The practicum is the first opportunity for teacher candidates to spend a significant period of time in the classroom during their certification process. The supervised environment is important in supporting and mentoring teacher candidates; yet the hierarchical structure of the practicum can lead to ethical dilemmas that emerge in the gap between TCs’ desire to explore their professional identity and the need to please their supervisors and “pass the practicum.” Analyzing the practicum as a dilemmatic space is important not only to better support teacher candidates, but also to critically reflect on the structures of teacher education programs and the intersection of theory and practice in teacher education.     

Trainees' Expectations for the Supervisory Process: Testing a Developmental Model

Based on Stoltenberg's developmental theory and the literature on supervision as a social influence process, a prediction model of trainees' general expectations for the supervisory process was tested. Beginning and advanced practicum students and interns completed a self-efficacy inventory and indicated their outcome expectancies for supervision with respect to their own and their clients' development. Dependent variables were expectations for supervisors' attributes (expertness, attractiveness, trustworthiness) and role (evaluation, support). All of these process dimensions were significantly predicted from trainees' self-efficacy and outcome expectancies, while level of training was of minimal predictive value. In general, trainees expected supervisors to be significantly more trustworthy than expert, more expert than attractive, and more evaluative than supportive.     

Developing Teachers' Classroom Interactions: A Description of a Video Review Process for Early Childhood Education Students

This article describes a video review process for providing feedback to students and documents students' teaching practices using the CLASS in a practicum course and student teaching. Students videotaped themselves in their field-based settings and then met with the course instructors and classmates in small groups to review strengths and challenges of their teaching using the CLASS framework of teacher–child interactions. These videos were also coded by trained CLASS observers across 10 dimensions in the areas of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Results from preservice teachers' CLASS ratings indicate a pattern similar to national data sets using the CLASS, higher scores in the emotional support and classroom organization domains than in the domain of instructional support. Also, findings from the current study revealed that CLASS scores declined from students' practicum placement to the end of student teaching in the domain of emotional support and specifically in the dimensions of regard for student perspectives and behavior management. The process of using videos for providing feedback in field-based experiences is discussed as well as implications for teacher development in light of students' CLASS scores and changes in CLASS scores.