Exploring gaps between MSW students’ experiences and expectations of field supervision in a Chinese setting

The quality of field supervision is essential to prepare social work students for professional practice. This qualitative study explored the experiences and expectations of 22 MSW students who received their field supervision at social work professional organizations in mainland China. Findings indicate that there are significant differences between the actual supervision that students received and their expectations with regard to the structure and content of supervision. This study contributes to the literature by clarifying further what the lack of time for supervision and the lack of professional supervision mean in China’s context.     

A Stakeholder Analysis of Admission in a Baccalaureate Social Work Program

Social work programs shape the profession through their admission practices. A stakeholder analysis of a baccalaureate social work program was conducted to seek stakeholder perspectives on admission practices through interviews and focus groups with 53 participants representing seven stakeholder groups. Results suggest that external stakeholders such as field instructors, social service employers, and adjunct faculty members are not widely represented in the BSW admission process. Four categories of stake-holder expectations for social work admission were found: gatekeeping for professional suitability, a process of self-reflection for students, an indicator of educational quality for the social work program, and progression of students’ professional socialization as a social worker. Findings provide insights to inform faculty as they oversee social work admission.     

Dialogue and Challenge: Involving Service Users and Carers in Small Group Learning with Social Work and Nursing Students

This paper examines the rationale for service user and carer involvement in professional education and reflects on an initiative in which social work and nursing students undertook a sequence of joint learning in relation to mental health theory and practice. Central to this initiative was the promotion of opportunities for dialogue, both between students from different professional disciplines and between students, service users and carers. To enable this, much of the learning took place in small groups facilitated by either a service user or a carer.

Evaluation of this initiative indicated that, for the majority of social work and nursing students, learning from this shared experience had a major impact on their professional development. However, a small but significant minority found it hard to enter into a dialogue with others on a basis of equality and a sharing of their human as well as their professional experience. Some students indicated that they would have preferred a focus on acquiring more specialist professional knowledge and skills. This raises important issues in relation to the changing expectations of professionalism and professional education—and what really makes someone ‘fit for practice’.     

Great Expectations: The Growing Divide between Students and Social Work Educators

This article examines and reflects upon initial findings from a longitudinal study evaluating the experiences and views of students on professional social work programmes across four higher education institutes in the North West of England, on the BA and the MA routes. The paper focuses on one aspect of this study; the students' experience of assessment. In particular it examines how students experienced the process of learning, assessment, support and feedback, which was found to be in part shaped by previous educational experiences. The range of assessment methods previously experienced by students was diverse, some of which were more helpful than others in preparing them for their professional training. Lack of foundation subject knowledge presented a challenge to students on both courses, in particular for MA students who were being assessed at ‘M’ level. Unmet expectations of both the amount and type of support created anxiety, frustration and even anger for some. The ‘search for certainty’ led to anxiety amongst many first year students who believed that academics could facilitate the assessment process by providing ‘the answer’. This exploration of assessment reveals, we believe, a growing divide in the expectations of social work students and their educators.     

Dealing with the transsituational demands of professional socialization

Insofar as studies of professional socialization have been concerned with the subjective experience of students they have concentrated on students’experience within the confines of their training course. The present paper examines that parallel but often neglected strand in professional socialization: what becoming a professional entails for students within the context of their private lives. An in-depth participant observation study of one cohort of social work students revealed that assuming a professional identity had important consequences for both the self-concept and social lives of students. They were faced with‘transsituational demands’- i.e. expectations that they would behave m situations where they were not functioning as social workers in a manner which was nevertheless congruent with their claims to this title. Such reorganization of students’personal hierarchies was both evidenced and accomplished by the‘frame work’in which students engaged. Goffman's frame analysis is expanded to include the concept of‘cross-framing’in order to explain students’responses to the encroachment of the social-work frame on their everyday world. Although social work as a profession does make extensive demands on the private space of the recruit, it is argued that the analysis developed here can be used to study empirically the internalization of the beliefs associated with any occupational role.     

Emerging Social Work Field Education Trends in China

MSW field education in China has been adopting Western models. However, this adaptation cannot address all educational and professional training needs in China. This study used an exploratory qualitative study design and interviewed 54 MSW students regarding their field experiences at a university in Shanghai. Results revealed six key themes: field education curriculum design’s influence on student field experiences, faculty advisers’ influence on student field experiences, field agencies’ expectations toward MSW intern performance, field agencies’ capacity to host MSW interns, student perceptions of their professional competencies, and students’ coping strategies to manage challenges in field practicum. Competency-based social work field education is a potential solution to address the current social work field education challenges in China.     

Becoming a (Pan)ethnic Attorney: How Asian American and Latino Law Students Manage Dual Identities

Managing professional and personal identities often belabor upwardly mobile racialized individuals. I examine in this article how Asian American and Latino law students negotiate (pan)ethnic identities while learning to become lawyers. I contend that managing dual identities creates (pan)ethnic duty among Asian American and Latino law students. I focus on those planning to work in law firms, at least initially. While there are many career options for law students, most, irrespective of race, pursue initial careers at law firms. What leads them there? How do racialization and expectations play a role in this career aspiration? And how do students negotiate the pressure to give back, or manage the internally/externally imposed duty they feel to serve respective communities? I find that Asian American and Latino law students draw on a repertoire of strategies (marginal panethnicity, tempered altruism, and instrumental ethnicity) that encompass different accounts, identities, and roles enabling creativity and elasticity for professional and personal identities. The findings suggest that panethnicity remains salient for upwardly mobile individuals of color, even those who do not ostensibly appear to be concerned with panethnic communities and causes.     

“Social Work Idealism” and Students’ Perceived Reasons for Entering Social Work

This article reports the results of a study designed to measure “social work idealism” and factors influencing career choice among beginning BSW and MSW students. Influence factors were categorized as altruism, professional concerns, and influence of others. The investigators explored the predictive capacity of idealism and student demographics on the career choice factors reported by students. Overall, idealism ran high among all students, and altruistic reasons were reported as more important than professional reasons in their career choice. Also, students who scored high on social work idealism tended to attach greater importance to altruistic reasons than to professional concerns, as did younger students and female students.     

Theories of Social Casework,Robert W. Roberts and Robert H. Nee,Eds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970. 440 Pages, $9.75 Hardbound

Empathy and social work education behaviors comprising empathy, an important social work skill, were delineated. The impact of professional social work education upon empathy was found, contrary to hypothesis, to be significantly positive. Students identified personal maturation, human behavior classes, and experiential parts of the curriculum as being most beneficial in enhancing empathy. The best students were found to have the highest levels of empathy on the videotape criterion measure. Moreover, female students had slightly higher empathy scores than males. There was no evidence of higher levels of empathy in students specializing in microsystem intervention.     

Competences and the practicum: Experiences on one social work course

In 1991 Hull University introduced the practicum to social work placement experiences. The Hull MA/DipSW programme is briefly outlined and locates the practicum before providing the results of evaluating evidence from the first 101 students to return a placement questionnaire. Student responses were largely favourable concerning their experience of being tested on six core competences. This evaluation of the practicum is placed in the context of the CCETSW review of Paper 30 (1995). Issues for practice are raised concerning competences indicators, integration of theory and practice, academic assignments, the relevance of specialist areas to practicum, and client work and simulation exercises. It is suggested that the practicum represents a successful experiment in social work field education and is developing interesting initiatives in professional training, not least of which is a University based practice agency (FASU).     

Parent Involvement as Parental Monitoring of Student Motivation and Parent Expectations Predicting Later Achievement Among African American and European American Middle School Age Students

SUMMARY

Parent involvement and parent expectations are fundamental to academic success. However, much of the research has been with elementary school aged children; consequently, we know less about the influence of parent involvement and parent expectations on the academic achievement of middle school students, and we have even less information for African American (AA) students. Do parent involvement and parent expectations have a similar effect on later Grade Point Average (GPA) for European American (EA) and AA middle school youth? Data from 567 AA and EA urban youth who participated in a longitudinal study were used in this analysis. Within group hierarchical regression analyses reveal parent involvement and parent expectations are statistically significant for both groups. However, partial correlations indicate parental involvement represents the highest unique contribution to later grade point average for EA students, and for AA students, earlier educational achievement represents the highest unique contribution to later grade point average. Implications for practice suggest that approaches to increase parent involvement may work well with improving academic achievement of EA youth, while approaches to increase early educational achievement may work well with AA students.     

Shifts of students' learning styles on a social work course

Social work education involves knowledge, skills, attitude and feelings, and its multidimensionality should be recognised. Kolb's Model of Experiential Learning which conceptualises learning as a four-mode cyclic process is proposed as a compatible model in the study of social work education. Using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, the shifts of the learning styles of 64 students on a social work course were measured. The expectations of subject teachers and practice teachers concerning students' learning styles were also measured. They are discussed in relation to one another and also compared with another set of US findings. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Re-Gendering Social Work Practice and Education: The Case for African-American Girls

Abstract

While professional social work enjoys a solid history of working within African-American communities, there is evidence which suggests that one segment of the African-American community, African-American girls in urban settings, continues to be ignored by social work and other helping professions. This paper describes the changing expectations of African-American female adolescents in one urban high school. By critically interpreting the girls' demeanor and icons, the authors suggest that social workers are uniquely qualified to tender needed services to a vulnerable, often ignored, population.     

‘What shall I pack in my suitcase?’: the role of work-integrated learning in sustaining social work students’ professional identity

Interest in the reflective practitioner as a model of a ‘good professional’ has increased in several professional fields and is also valued within social work education as a key aspiration to address the uncertainties and challenges encountered in contemporary working environments. Reflecting on their own professional identity, as well as theories, values, and devices used in professional practice, can help practitioners deal with complex work demands and help students be better equipped to transition from university to work. Work-integrated learning (WIL) provides students with an opportunity to integrate academic learning with ‘real-world’ experiences to develop both valuable self-monitoring and professional self-constructive ability. This paper presents a case study in social work higher education in which WIL class-based teaching was combined with the use of reflective journals to explore the role of WIL in developing reflective practices for professional identity formation. 21 reflective journals by social work students are analysed. The findings suggest that teaching practices based on WIL enable professional identity formation by developing reflective practices, and that different learning conditions sustain specific dimensions of professional identity, i.e. professional expertise, membership to a professional community and sense of professional self.     

Development of professional commitment among students in social work education

This study seeks to expand empirical knowledge of commitment to social work using a sample of 212 Norwegian students. The first aim is to investigate the development of students’ commitment to social work from the start of education (first year) to its end (third year). The second aim is to investigate how theoretical and relational knowledge contribute to commitment to social work. The third aim is to examine how compatibility between students’ abilities and the vocational demands of social work contribute to professional commitment. A paired samples t-test and an ordinary least squares regression were conducted to test the aims of the study. The results document that students experience weaker professional commitment at the end of education compared to the beginning. It also seems that theoretical and relational knowledge contribute to professional commitment. The findings also indicate that students whose abilities are compatible with the vocational demands of social work experience stronger professional commitment than those for whom a discrepancy exists.     

高职新生对专业认识的差异分析——以工商企业管理专业为例

研究发现，70％的学生通过网络途径来了解专业，约76％的学生根据自身兴趣选择专业，73％的学生对专业工作有较明确的认识。进一步研究发现：男生对专业工作的认识显著高于女生；担任过学生职务的学生中对专业工作的认识程度明显高于没担任过学生职务的；人生发展目标是否明确对专业工作的认识有显著影响；是否外出打工对专业工作的认识有显著影响；遵循自身兴趣选择专业的学生对专业工作有更清晰的认识；居住地对专业工作的认识影响不显著。最后，根据研究结论，提出了相应建议。     

A Cross‐Cultural Examination of the Disjuncture Between Aspirations and Expectations/Perceived Outcomes: Strain and Academic Deviance in the United States and Japan

Using comparable self‐reported survey data collected among college students in the United States (n = 502) and Japan (n = 441), this study examines a paradox of higher academic deviance among otherwise more conforming Japanese youth while revisiting the debate concerning the disjuncture between aspirations and expectations/perceived outcomes in Agnew's general strain theory (GST). Confirming the paradox, our results indicate that Japanese students are significantly more deviant academically than American students. However, contrary to the expectation of GST, but in support of past empirical studies, the higher academic deviance among the Japanese, as compared to Americans, is explained by their lower aspirations, irrespective of the levels of expectations/perceived outcomes     

Confronting the “Threat” of Private Practice

Although an increasing number of social workers are engaging in private clinical practice and a majority of entering MSW students plan to do so, content on private practice is generally not included in MSW curricula. This article reports on a 1992-93 survey of faculty and student attitudes concerning various aspects of studying private practice in MSW programs. It compares the views of the two groups, assesses the implications for social work education, and encourages creative approaches to integrating the realities of professional practice with the traditional values and mission of social work.