Transcript Document

Orientation to the Role of Field
Instructor
School of Social Welfare
UC Berkeley
Greg Merrill, LCSW
Who were you when you were a
student?
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Demographics
Educational Background
Experiential Background
Emotional Preparation
Learning Styles and Preferences
What is Field Instruction?
The facilitation of professional competency
occurring in an agency-based context with
agency based professionals serving as key
instructional personnel and the key processes
being experiential assignments and supportive
and evaluative supervision.
Elements of the Field Work
Instructor Role
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Teacher/Instructor
Learning Facilitator
Clinical Supervisor
Administrative Supervisor
Mentor/Coach/Supporter
Gatekeeper
Stages of the Field Instruction
Process
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Orienting the Student
Assessing the Student
Developing the Learning Agreement
Providing Field Work Instruction
Evaluating the Student
Orienting the Student
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Ready for the first day: workspace and
communication access
Schedule for first two weeks of all key
meetings
Down time reading and protocol review
Key meetings with agency personnel and
community partners
Assessing the Student
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WHAT
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They Don’t Think They
Know But They Do
They Think They Know
But They Don’t
They Already Know
They Want To Know
They Need to Know
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HOW
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They learn best
You Teach best
Others in your agency can
best be a part of their
educational process
Assess
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Knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are innate or have
already been acquired
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Knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will need
development to achieve desired professional goals
and competencies
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How the knowledge, skills, and attitudes can most
effectively be developed and most logical sequencing
Selecting Competency Areas
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Engagement
Assessment
Intervention Planning
Evaluation and
Modification
Transition and
termination
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Oral and Written
Communication
Use of agency and
community resources
Professional conduct
and attitudes
Use of field work
instruction
Developing the Learning
Agreement
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General Elements:
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Familiarity with agency,
community, population,
presenting problems, and
community resources
Cultural competence
Participation in agency
and treatment team
Participation in
supervision
Self-Development/Care
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Clinical Tasks:
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Engagement, home visits
Psychosocial Assessment
Individual intervention
(counseling, therapy, case
management)
Group Intervention
Advocacy/Linkage
Termination/Transitions
Providing Field Instruction
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Selecting Teaching
Tools:
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Shadowing
Process Recording
Audio/video recording
Live Supervision
Reflective Exercises
Roleplaying
Intentional Case
Assignment
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What should the
supervision hour look
like?
Evaluating the Student
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Strengths
Areas of Developmental Need
Provide feedback in a timely, clear manner;
explain the impact of behavior; set clear
behavioral objectives that are tied to learning
goals and/or professional standards and/or
ethics
Principles of Evaluation
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Review the process with supervisees at beginning,
midpoint, and just prior to evaluation
Anticipate and discuss related anxiety
Link all feedback to explicit learning objectives and
competencies
Use specific behavioral descriptors vs. global
attributions; choose language carefully
Summarize strengths, efforts, and improvement with
areas of developmental need with balance
Recommend desired behaviors and methods
Elicit input
Dissatisfying Evaluations
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Not completed on time (or
ever)
Supervisee self-evaluation
overvalued
Too global or vague,
insufficient detail
Overly detailed, key points
unclear
Problem areas not
contextualized
Language harsh,
inflammatory
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Imbalanced – overlooks
significant areas and overly
focuses on others
Biased – distorts, does not
accurately represent or reveal
whole picture
Raises new concerns never
before discussed:
SURPRISE!
Evaluation not sufficiently
discussed, no request for
input
No bidirectionality
What Students Want . . .
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Available, Makes Time
Competent and Ethical
Warm, supportive
relationship
Individualized strengthsoriented assessment
Organized and
Dependable
Elicits/Facilitates
knowledge
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Addresses weak areas
squarely but fairly
Challenges in right amount
Processes conflicts
Assesses meaningfully
Asks for input, feedback
and adjusts
Wise Supervisor Perspectives on
Working with Conflict
(Nelson, Barns et al, 2008)
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Be open to conflict and
interpersonal processing –
see as part of role
Acknowledge own
shortcomings and model
learning from mistakes
Assume a developmental
approach
Discuss evaluation and
conflict early on
Create strong alliance
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Accentuate supervisee
strengths
Provide timely feedback
Contextualize conflicts in light
of development and
environment
Empathize with supervisee’s
perspective
See parallel process
“Self-coach”
Consult
Common Student Concerns
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Lack of Availability
Overprotective
Disorganized
Hyperverbal
Uses strategies that
make me unproductively
anxious
Can’t tolerate
disagreement
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Unable to convey
expectations in a way I
can understand
Too critical or not critical
enough
Appears burned out
and/or chronically
stressed/overwhelmed
Doesn’t ask for my input
into supervision
Common Field Work Instructor
Concerns
Field Consultant Role
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Consultant to Student
Consultant to Agency/Field Work Instructor
Educator
Facilitator, Mediator
Problem Solver
Gate Keeper
Other Considerations
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Agency Safety/Risk Reduction Policy
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Stipends and Work Study