INTEGRATING THEORY AND PRACTICE

UW School of Social Work Field Instructor Training

Competency Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to: • Describe the importance of integrating theory and practice in field education.

• Define essential knowledge, values, and skills in social work practice.

• Create learning opportunities that will assist students in integrating social work knowledge, values and skills.

• Practice using methods designed to assist students with the process of integration.

ITP AGENDA Review

• Introductory exercise: challenges experienced • Presentation: What is integrating theory and practice?

• Exercises: Identifying and Teaching Essential Social Work Knowledge, Values, Skills • Creating learning opportunities • Three methods for Integrating Theory and Practice

Student Examples

• Identify challenges experienced helping students to apply classroom learning to their practicum

The Role of Field Instructor as Educator – Changing Roles • Create possible tensions and stresses; • Involves personal growth and expansion of professional responsibilities; • Entails the functions of staff supervision; – Administrative – Supportive – Educative • Making transition from: – Helper ►► colleagues teacher & mentor of future

Changing roles

• Supervisor/supervisee/trainer ► educator; • Doer ► explainer; • Service giver ► service critic and analyst; • Employee ► advocate of a conducive learning environment within the organization; • Consumer of professional education ► collaborator with social work educators

Integrating theory and practice

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Process of making connections

– between the classroom social work knowledge, values, and skills, and experiences students have at the agency – When considering an option for intervention, • Learning to ask “Why choose this particular action?” • Articulate the rationale that supports an intervention?

Field Instructor’s Role

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Students should be helped to understand:

– the social work skills that were necessary during every professional interaction; – the social work knowledge that informed these actions, and – the social work values that influenced the interaction.

Integrating Theory and Practice

• Students need to understand how their field experiences are connected to social work practice by answering the following questions: – Where do these actions fit in the overall helping process?

– Why was this interaction necessary for effective social work practice with this client?

Field Instructors Play a Significant Role

Student challenges in Integrating Theory and Practice:

• Focus on task completion rather than on the reasons behind the task; • Imitate actions of their field instructor or others they have observed; • Students rarely critically analyze their actions

Field Instructor Role in ITP

Students must be prompted to make the connections between the tasks and the reasons behind the tasks

• This process of making connections is the process of integrating theory and practice.

• It is the role of the field instructor to assist the student in making these connections • Students must learn how to apply knowledge so that their skills are transferable to any agency.

Essential Social Work Knowledge, Values, and Skills

EXERCISES

• Before you can teach your students to integrate theory and practice, what do you need to know?

• Brainstorm principles of social work •

Review Handout 6A:

Essential SW Knowledge Values and Skills

Exercise: Creating Learning Opportunities

Part I: Handout 6B

• In small groups: Identify the knowledge, values, and skills necessary for practice in your agency;

Part II: Handout 6C:

• Develop tasks and assignments that allow students to practice these elements.

– How do you teach these elements to your students? – What agency specific tasks do you have your students conduct in order to learn these social work elements.

Methods of Integrating Theory and Practice • Processing the interaction – Ongoing Integration Model • The ITP Loop: Integrating Theory and Practice • The Field Journal

Handout 6D: Ongoing Integration Model • Involves processing the following questions with students: – What was the purpose of the interaction?

– What was the knowledge, values, and skills used in the interaction; – How were these elements used and why were they necessary for effective practice?

– How can your use of these knowledge, values, and skills be improved in future interactions?

Handout 6E: The ITP Loop

• Bogo and Vayda’s 1998 model trains instructors and students to cover 4 process elements during supervision and 4 content elements:

Process

– Retrieval/assessment of data – Reflection of personal responses, concerns – Linkage to theory – Response: Professional Plan

ITP Loop, cont’d.

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Content

– Psychosocial factors: people, situation, problems – Interactive factors: personalities, communications – Contextual factors: cultural, systemic factors – Organizational factors: agency approaches • The ITP Process is seen as a continuous learning loop for supervision, repeating components during the course of a student’s learning about cases and projects

Handout 6F 1 & 2: Field Journal

• Analysis of client contact; • Student describes a recent contact with a client and then links this contact to social work literature by identifying the knowledge, values, and skills used during the interaction; • Student required to cite the social work literature; • Used weekly; discussed in supervision.

Self-Evaluate Your Teaching Techniques

Refer to Handout on Teaching Styles in Adult Learning Module 3

• Assess your personal teaching style • Which teaching methods are most effective?

• How can you help students to become more self-aware and confident in their practice?

A Checklist for Skillful Teaching

• Be clear about the purpose of your teaching.

• Reflect on your own learning.

• Adapt standardized models and approaches; • Expect ambiguity; • Remember that perfection is impossible; • Understand your students’ backgrounds.

• Attend to how your students experience learning.

• Talk to your colleagues and practicum liaison.

A Checklist for Skillful Teaching

• Trust your instincts.

• Create diversity in your teaching methods.

• Take risks.

• Recognize the emotionality of learning – students learn best in a positive relationship and a positive environment.

• Acknowledge your personality.

• Balance support and challenge.

• View yourself as a helper of learning.