Challenges Faced by Canadian Social Work Field Instructors in Baccalaureate Field Supervision

ABSTRACT

This article examines the challenges faced by social work field instructors in two Canadian provinces. The results are based on the responses from 239 field instructors to a questionnaire survey. Findings highlight student difficulties, administrative issues with the social work schools, and practicum setting challenges. These demands hinder the optimal implementation of social work field education, reveal the concerning gatekeeping role of schools of social work, and discourage some social workers from taking on (or continuing) as field instructors. Implications for social work student placements, supervision of students, academic programs, and directions for future research are presented.     

AGING CURRICULUM AND RESEARCH CAPACITY IN SCHOOLS OF SOCIAL WORK: A NATIONAL SURVEY

Aging related social work research structures are vital in demonstrating the effectiveness of social work services with the elderly population, especially with the current focus on cost-effectiveness of services. However, not much is known about strategies employed by schools of social work to engage in social work research in the field of aging. This study surveyed all accredited MSW programs in the United States and had a response rate of 62%. The survey explored curriculum issues and interest levels in aging at both Master's and Doctoral levels, formal aging research structures within schools of social work and identified strengths and limits of these formal structures. The study also identified strategies for developing social work research in the field of aging in graduate schools of social work.     

A national survey of social work services in schools for the deaf

The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of school social workers and the services they deliver in schools for the Deaf. A 15-item survey was sent to 101 schools for the Deaf in the United States. The survey consisted of questions relating to personal characteristics, work experience, and job responsibilities of school social workers. A 72% response rate was obtained. Results suggest that, in general, social workers in schools for the Deaf perform functions similar to those of other social workers. However, social workers in schools for the Deaf tend to handle more health and financial concerns of students and their families. Social workers in schools for the Deaf lag behind other school social workers in professional training. Approximately a quarter of the surveyed social workers were deaf or hard of hearing.     

The design and validation of an instrument to measure teachers’ professional development at work

After graduation, it is essential for teachers to continue working on their professional development since they need to be prepared for the requirements of tomorrow's knowledge- and technology-based society, a more varied student and pupil population creating new responsibilities, and higher social expectations from schools and the society as a whole. Although attention for teachers’ professional development at work is increasing, the availability of valid survey instruments that measure their participation in professional development at work is still limited. Based on a literature review, such an instrument was designed. This 21-item self-report measure, using a 4-point rating scale, makes an inventory of teachers’ participation in activities contributing to professional development. The purpose of the instrument is to make teachers, school leaders and other stakeholders aware of whether, and to what degree, teachers engage in learning at work. This is important because ultimately the quality of education depends on it. A survey was administered in 9 Dutch primary schools and 15 Dutch secondary schools. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed a six-factor structure, and augments earlier findings in the field. The reliabilities of the six subscales were sufficient to good.     

Meeting Professional Competencies through Specialized Distance Education: The McMaster University Addiction Studies Program

Historically, addiction has been an area in which Canadian social workers have received limited formal education. This reality led to the development of 18 core technical competencies through the auspices of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse in 2006. A survey of Canadian schools and faculties of social work found that social work students might obtain a grounding in many of these competencies, however, there was no certainty of this. An option now for those interested in becoming more proficient in this field of addiction is a specialized distance education program developed by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Along with meeting the majority of the core competencies, there are several other attributes that make this program unique. It offers 27 distinct addiction-specific course options at both an introductory and an advanced level; has continuous enrollment allowing students to begin a course at the beginning of any month; has no minimum course load requirement; and meets the academic requirements for optional certification through the Canadian Addiction Counselors Certification Federation. In a nation like Canada, with a small population spread across a large geographic area, the Addiction Studies Program may serve as a template for offering specialized distance education to enhance professional competencies and thus better prepare social workers to serve community needs.     

An Ecosystemic Approach to Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Schools

The ecosystemic approach offers a new perspective on emotional and behavioural difficulties in schools by offering a particular analysis of the interactional patterns observable in social systems. The authors describe the origins of this approach in the realm of family therapy and the field of general system theory, and demonstrate its application to emotional and behavioural difficulties in schools through a survey of relevant literature and the presentation of case study material.     

Social Justice: A Case-Study Examining the Influence of Primary Headteachers in Two Manchester Schools

Presently, there are a growing number of students in the primary schools in northwest England who are living in broken communities, exacerbated by the most recent global recession. Through social justice theory, this paper examines the influence of head teachers as they look to balance administrative and pedagogical experiences in the schools. Using a qualitative methodology, including observation, in-depth interviews, and field notes this case study focused on head teachers, teachers, and parents from two primary schools in the northwest of England. Specifically, this study investigates the influence of the headteachers while identifying a social justice pedagogical epistemology and strategies being used by teachers and schools who work with students from communities typically identified as living in low socio-economic areas. Foundational to this research is the belief that headteachers, families and teachers need to make concerted, intentional efforts to engage in and acquire appropriate knowledge for building effective, communicative relationship in order to benefit student achievement. A social justice perspective therefore should provide an unequivocal commitment to acting in just ways related to concepts of fairness and equity.     

农村中小学布局调整实地考察报告——基于广西W县的典型案例分析

当前的学校布局调整整合了有限的教育资源,在一定程度上促进了教育的均衡发展,提高了农村中小学教育质量。但目前的学校布局调整工作也受到诸多困难的阻扰,如政府部门之间协调不够、资金缺乏、忽视教师智慧以及群众负担加重等问题。文章以广西W县为例,通过实地调查数据分析,简要介绍了W县布局调整的现状,对存在的问题进行了剖析,同时提出了相应的对策。     

Bridging the Cultural Divide: The role of the home‐school support worker

A three‐year Home Office funded project placed social work trained home‐school support workers on the staff of secondary schools with the aim of reducing school exclusions. Data from the project evaluation enabled an analysis of the possibilities and limitations of social work in school settings. A qualitative evaluation methodology was adopted with extended periods of fieldwork in the seven project schools and the use of a variety of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques. It is argued that, if schools are to be successful sites for social work, the tensions arising from the different cultures of teachers and social workers must be recognised and addressed. A number of factors were found to be crucial for assisting social work trained support workers to become accepted in schools. The support worker role resulted in a variety of benefits for teachers, thus enabling the project to act as a bridge between social work and educational cultures.     

Safety Training in Social Work Education

Abstract

Social workers are particularly vulnerable to violence due to the type of clients they serve, the preponderance of involuntary service relationships, the settings in which they work, and cutbacks in services. A national survey was conducted of field directors to discern their perceptions about danger to interns, schools' and agencies' practices and responsibilities for student safety, safety standards and policies, training personnel and content, and recommendations for change. Field directors believe that there is a need for more attention to student safety and that risks to students are increasing. There is dissonance between concern about violence and the lack of safety policies and training in schools of social work. Strategies for violence prevention are presented.     

Social Work Students’ Experiences With Group Work in the Field Practicum

The study reported on in this article assessed MSW and BSW students’ opportunities to practice group work in their field practicum. More than one third of participants had no such opportunity during their yearlong internship, despite their program’s requirement that group work opportunities be available. Among the students who did have experience leading a group for clients, their opportunities to engage in core group work activities and skills was limited, as was their academic preparation to do so. Students demonstrated a desire to practice group work as professionals. Yet the findings call into question whether they were adequately prepared to effectively engage in the modality. The findings underscore the need for schools and programs of social work to collaborate more closely with field instructors and agencies to ensure that students are provided with suitable opportunities to practice group work. Greater attention also must be focused on ensuring that practice opportunities in the field reflect the depth and breadth of the group modality and complement learning in the classroom.     

The preparation of pre-service student teachers’ competence to work in schools

Competence to work in schools is an important dimension of professional competence, although it is often a neglected dimension of teacher development. This article reports a qualitative study that examined student teachers’ learning experiences in initial teacher education (ITE) in relation to competence to work in schools. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 student teachers on an undergraduate ITE programme in Hong Kong. The findings of the study show that competence to work in schools is characterised by student teachers’ deep contextualised learning. In addition, it offers a deeper understanding of this competence in the ITE context by identifying its three facets, namely understanding of the micro-political realities of schools, social capital building and social strategies. The study provides insights for ITE and schools to support student teachers’ development of their competence to work in schools, including the design of ITE curricula, ITE processes and co-curricular activities in undergraduate studies. Moreover, it suggests the importance of developing schools as growth-fostering and positive micro-political sites for ITE fieldwork and teacher induction.     

The emperor has no clothes: examining the impossible relationship between gendered and academic identities in middle school students

Despite the social equity work that still needs to be done in schools and society, many researchers, politicians, and social commentators claim that gender equity work in schools has been accomplished. These people assume that actions in school lead to gender equity outside it. But, there may be two problems with this assumption: 1) achieving equity in academic work may mask still‐inequitable gender work in schools and 2) girls’ and boys’ equal academic achievement does not promise social equality, inside or outside schools. The following study offers evidence from a recent middle school study that reveals how children’s gender identities are naturalized as neutral “student” identities, making the effects of children’s gender identity work invisible. This author argues that schooling at best maintains the inequity of the American gender status quo, and perhaps may work to actually lessen chances for women and men’s equitable life opportunities.     

Peer group cultures and social identity: an integrated approach to understanding masculinities1

Sociological research investigating boys' masculinity performances has commonly recognised the importance of peer group cultures in identity construction. Whilst such work has undoubtedly offered important and useful frameworks for interpreting and understanding boys' behaviour in schools, the article argues that social psychological theories of intergroup relations also proffer important insights. Drawing upon interview and survey data, the article focuses on the existence of intergroup bias between peer groups in two secondary schools and demonstrates how a social identity framework can assist in providing a fuller and more complex understanding of boys' masculinities than sociological insights alone. Furthermore, it is suggested that gender work strategies designed to address and ultimately help some boys restructure their constructions of masculinity, which recognise the range of complex sociological and social psychological processes at work, are likely to more effective than those that offer partial insights. As such, strategies that draw upon work on masculinities and upon social psychological theories of intergroup relations may be particularly effective.     

特殊教育教师前摄应对、社会支持与工作投入的关系研究

前摄应对是一种朝向未来的积极应对方式。本研究通过问卷法对238名特殊教育教师的前摄应对、社会支持及工作投入之间的关系进行了分析,发现前摄应对在社会支持和工作投入中起部分中介作用,前摄应对和社会支持是特殊教育教师积极工作的促进因素。     

The Physcially Disabled BSW Student

It has been over 100 years since the social work profession first demonstrated its commitment to physically disabled citizens. More recently our attention has been called to the apparent low priority this population has been accorded in social work education. In an effort to address another aspect of this concern, the field work component of the curriculum, a survey of Field Work Directors at 346 Council On Social Work Education accredited baccalaureate social work education programs was undertaken. A beginning attempt to investigate the involvement of physcially disabled students in BSW programs, focus was also on special field education problems and solutions, as well as the educational outcomes with regard to these students. Results seem to indicate that physically disabled students are involved in baccalaureate social work education and are able to follow professional career patterns in at least the same percentages as their non-disabled couterparts. The majority of problems appear to be an ecological nature and perhaps require a stronger social welfare policy commitment to the rights of the physically disabled.     

英国医学院校社会和行为学科教育的现状和未来

在英国,大多数医学院校均为医学生开设了社会和行为科学课程,但是,怎样限定核心内容,以及怎样同预期的学习成果联系起来,仍然是一个有待解决的问题。本文根据问卷调查和研讨会讨论,论述了英国医学院校社会和行为学科教育的现状、问题和未来方向,例如医学课程中社会和行为科学的程度和范围、内容、同一性等。     

社会支持在特殊教育学校教师职业枯竭与职业承诺之间的调节作用

以918名特殊教育学校教师为被试,采用问卷调查法,考察了社会支持与特殊教育学校教师职业枯竭、职业承诺之间的关系。结果发现：社会支持在特殊教育学校教师职业枯竭与职业承诺之间起调节作用。据此,本研究提出教育建议：降低特殊教育学校教师的职业枯竭感,为特殊教育学校教师提供社会支持。     

Educational Organisations as Workplaces

The approach towards organisational analysis has changed in recent years in Britain: there is a perceptible attempt to integrate the subject with general social theory and with industrial sociology and industrial relations. The study of educational institutions lags behind when it comes to treating schools and colleges as workplaces and staff as ‘at work’. Two starling points for up‐dating the field could be the latter's orientation to employment and the design of their work.     

山西省中小学体育教师工作压力现状调查分析

采用文献资料调研法、问卷调查法和数理统计法,对山西省中小学体育教师的工作压力情况进行了调查。结果显示,造成中小学体育教师工作压力的压力源有很多方面,具体体现在体育教师的社会地位、人际关系、经济待遇、工作条件和自身素质等方面。通过对压力源及其反应程度的分析,提出有助于缓解中小学体育教师工作压力的建议,并呼吁重视体育教师身心健康。