The Changing Face of Computer Utilization in Social Work Settings

Abstract

This paper describes survey results from 103 human service agencies serving as MSW training sites. The survey concerned: (a) Their current and projected computer utilization for direct and indirect practice activities; and (b) perceived issues, benefits, and emerging training needs regarding responsible and effective use of the computer. These findings' implications for curriculum planning, for practicum development, and for reconceptualizing computer literacy are explored.     

Adult probation and Parole Services in Victoria

Abstract

The first practicum is often regarded as a critical transition period in the development of a professional social worker, but little is known about the way students interpret their experience, assess their competence and/or re-evaluate their commitment to this career. The present study relies on interview data provided by fourth year social work students at the University of Tasmania. Its findings show what types of learning experience students deem to be significant and how they develop a sense of professional competence. Implications of the findings for professional bodies, training institutions, supervisors and students are discussed.     

Experiential Exercises for the Development of Computer Literacy Among Social Work Undergraduates

Summary

This paper describes exercises and assignments used to promote computer literacy among social work undergraduates. These exercises were used as course assignments in an elective course for seniors, “Information Technology and Human Services.” Exercises met four criteria: (1) they assume no previous computer experience or knowledge, (2) they are directly related to human services practice, (3) they promote mutual support, (4) they are experiential. Exercises include use of word processing, database, spreadsheet, electronic mail, privacy invasion, shopping for a computer system, and impact of information technology on the larger society.

The potential placement of computer literacy exercises in the social work curriculum is discussed. It is suggested that a single experiential course best meets the need for promoting computer literacy among social work students.     

Field Note—From MSW to J-O-B: Using Field Seminar to Prepare Students for Employment

ABSTRACT

Social work field education is expected to help students transition from the classroom to the practice setting. Yet, few social work programs adequately provide career development support to increase students’ employability. This Field Note presents practical, relevant and immediate strategies for implementing the MSW to J-O-B curriculum innovation in the field practicum seminar. The purpose is to help students clarify professional goals and successfully obtain employment or career advancement opportunities following graduation. Formative evaluation results for this professional development curriculum are presented.     

Service user involvement in social work education: experiences from Germany and implications for a European perspective

ABSTRACT

Service user involvement (SUI) in social work education has gained widespread attention in Europe and other continents. Nevertheless, experiences on including service users in social work education have not been reported from Germany or other German-speaking countries to date. This paper reports preliminary experiences with implementing SUI in a bachelor’s programme of social work in a German University of Applied Sciences. The main goals of the current paper are (1) to provide a background for implementing service user approaches in Germany by introducing the structure of social work education in Germany; (2) to report experiences from a weekend seminar where service users worked together with students of social work in the framework of a curriculum of a German University of Applied Sciences and (3) to formulate some implications of these experiences for SUI across Europe. The main results were that introducing service user involvement into a German curriculum of social work is possible but needs careful reflection and planning. Experiences gathered in the weekend seminar with service users were encouraging for service users, students and teachers. We conclude that systematically implementing SUI into German curricula of social work is important.     

Macro Practice and Policy in Cyberspace

SUMMARY

The integration of computer training within social work education is necessary for social workers to keep abreast of technological changes occurring within human service agencies. This article presents several techniques to integrate computer simulations and Internet research within the baccalaureate curriculum. Emphasis is placed on the use of these techniques to teach policy and macro practice.     

Response to Student Participation and Student Involvement

Abstract

Government contracting out of responsibilities for the delivery of social services is an increasingly common phenomenon in these times of economic restraint. This paper argues that this practice, with its inherent technical and philosophical problems, negatively affects social service systems and social work practitioners. The resultant changes are described as having serious implications for social work educators, The argument is made that if educators are to remain relevant to the needs of service consumers, social work students, and welfare agencies, they must carefully reconsider aspects of curriculum planning and student placements as well as faculty involvement in research and advocacy.     

Internet-Based Instruction as an Innovative Approach to Managing Prerequisite Curriculum Content in a Graduate Social Work Program

SUMMARY

Students admitted to graduate social work programs possess varying levels of understanding of prerequisite curriculum content. Compounding this situation is that social work educators teaching at the foundation level are now required to provide an expanded array of curriculum content in their courses. This article conceptualizes an Internet-Based orientation course as a unique tool for preparing students with prerequisite curriculum content necessary for successful integration and mastery of a graduate curriculum. Several steps are presented in the design and development of the course: obtaining support and approval, identifying and collecting data, designing and developing course components, and implementing and evaluating the course. Although course development occurs within a social work education setting, findings from this Internet-Based orientation course are applicable to other educational and human service settings.     

Using Geographic Information System (GIS) Technology to Integrate Research into the Field Practicum

SUMMARY

This article reports on efforts to answer some basic questions arising in the introduction of technology into the social work curriculum. It involves an on-going project to integrate research into field instruction by training students to use Geographic Information System technology to identify and meet information needs of their field placement agency. Background on the project is given, with discussion of three concerns that shaped it. An explanation of how GIS works and how it can be used in the human service agency is provided, along with an account of the project's outcome. Preliminary conclusions regarding future efforts are offered.     

Teaching self-care: The utilization of self-care in social work practicum to prevent compassion fatigue,burnout, and vicarious trauma

ABSTRACT

Field practicum is paramount to social work pedagogy in the preparation of emerging direct practice professionals. Field students integrate foundational knowledge as they implement practice skills learned in the classroom during the social work practicum experience. Working with clients who are suffering is inevitable in direct social work practice and field practicum students can be exposed to a broad range of intense emotional experiences as they assist clients in need. Integrating self-care skills, techniques and strategies into daily social work practice becomes essential to prevent compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma. Incorporating self-care skills into the field practicum enhances opportunities for transformative student learning and helps to strengthen professional socialization during this critical educational experience. This article highlights the implementation of professional self-care instruction, use of activities and written student critical reflection assignments designed to enhance the practice experience through incorporating self-care education and strategies among undergraduate students within the field practicum seminar.     

Field Practica in Social Work Administration: Tasks,Auspice, Selection Criteria and Outcomes

Abstract

This evaluative study of the field practicum in one MSW program in social work administration is based on data collected over a period of ten years on tasks performed by students, auspice of field placement agency and student prior experience in relation to outcomes of student performance and satisfaction. The findings revealed that better outcomes are associated with tasks performed on upper organizational levels, working with line staff, performing interactional tasks, interorganizational functions, in agencies under voluntary auspices. Data on age and prior experience of students indicate no support for using these criteria for selection of students for this type of education. The policy implications for social work education are discussed.     

Towards standardization of field work practicum: experiential reflections from Delhi,India

ABSTRACT

Field work is the signature pedagogy of social work. As a central form of instruction, it enables the course of learning by enabling the students to perform the role of practitioner. Field work contains pedagogical norms with which students learn to connect and integrate theory and practice. The current paper delineates the pedagogy of field work practicum in the Indian context and attempts to explore the challenges in transaction of field work curriculum with respect to placement agencies, at the levels of supervisor and supervisee and the ever evolving and dynamic relationship between the two. Based on authors’ experiential accounts, the paper recommends few strategies for enhancing the scope of professional growth and learning within the broad realms of field work placement.     

Educating Social Workers for Practice in Integrated Health Care: A Model Implemented in a Graduate Social Work Program

ABSTRACT

This article introduces a curricular innovation, the Integrated Health Scholars Program (IHSP), developed to prepare master's-level social work students for practice in integrated health care settings, and presents preliminary findings related to students’ self-reported program competencies and perceptions. IHSP, implemented in a research-intensive school of social work in a large midwestern public university, includes specialized course work, interprofessional education across health science disciplines, and field practicum in integrated health care settings. Curricular components support stepwise learning and follows the British Columbia model of interprofessional education learning tiers: exposure, immersion, and skill mastery. Despite IHSPs successful development in a well-resourced, supportive environment, challenges facing our profession's ability to develop and sustain training of MSW students in integrated health care are discussed.     

Educating for cross-disciplinary collaboration: Present trends and future possibilities

Abstract

Like other service providers, social workers periodically seek to harness different professional skills and insights in order to make a more comprehensive response to client needs. Unfortunately, cross-disciplinary relationships are hard to establish and maintain, due to structural and cultural barriers. Education and training programs can be used as tools to inculcate the knowledge, skills and attitudes on which successful collaboration depends. The targeting of undergraduate students is controversial. Since they have yet to develop a sense of professional identity, these students may resist pressures to trust and share. This paper contends that it is reasonable to begin instruction at the undergraduate level, and explores possibilities for curriculum development and research.

In summary

Like other human service providers, social workers must come to grips with industrial realities of the early 21st century. As part of this process, they must reappraise their role relationships with other service providers. On some matters at least, it may be possible to transcend traditional rivalries, and develop new forms of partnership and alliance. Education and training programs have a useful role to play in developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes on which successful cross-disciplinary work depends.     

Jane Addams and the Campaign of Theodore Roosevelt

Abstract

Built on the assumption that both rational and nonrational thought go into problem solving, but only rational approaches have been presented as appropriate technology for program development, this article offers an alterative way of designing social programs. We call this approach “emergent planning.” Our aim is to provide a conceptualization of planning processes that will be useful regardless of culture, mission or goals of the human service organization within which planning and service occur. Our hope is to deconstruct what constitutes rational thinking in program planning in order to critically consider alternative ways of thinking and planning within the context of multiculturalism and globalization. The goal is recognition of a subjugated model of planning so that those who do not plan rationally are not automatically assumed to lack competence to engage in “real” planning and effective problem solving.     

Teaching Note—Meeting the Demand for Behavioral Health Clinicians: Innovative Training Through the GLOBE Project

ABSTRACT

The national move toward integrated mental health and substance abuse service delivery has a significant impact on social work education and necessitates changes in how we train students. To address this need, the Global Leaders of Behavioral Health Education (GLOBE) training project was developed. GLOBE is a student training and stipend program that prepares students for clinical behavioral health practice in integrated care. This teaching note describes GLOBE, reports challenges encountered in its implementation, and provides strategies for overcoming them. The challenges include assigning students to grant-compliant field placements, engaging other health care professionals in the educational efforts, and implementing curriculum changes. Suggestions for social work program administrators interested in integrated care training are provided.     

Preparing Social Work Students for Interdisciplinary Practice

Summary

This article reports findings of an MSW interdisciplinary practice curriculum experiment. A diverse group of students at ten schools of social work were provided with specialized fieldwork and training. The agencies represented a broad array of services, fields of practice client populations and professional disciplines. Students encountered frequent interdisciplinary disputes and often found social workers coordinating interdisciplinary teams, a role upon which social work curricula rarely focus. This specialized experience seems to have not only enriched students' preparation for interdisciplinary work, but also deepened their understanding of social work as a unique discipline.     

The Social Work Outreach Service Within a School of Social Work

ABSTRACT

This article describes a unique community outreach service that is designed specifically to meet the needs of the local community, provide training ground for social work students, and experiment with the development of new practice models. Located within a school of social work, the service was born in an atmosphere in which both the university and the school were being called upon to play a greater part in the community. Since its inception in 1992, it has successfully served the local community through direct service, community organization activities, and consultation. Despite these successes in outreach to the community, internal challenges continue to exist.     

Potential Employers' Views of the Ideal Undergraduate Social Work Curriculum

Abstract

Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) curriculum design is generally considered a collaborative process involving educators, students, practitioners, and employers. The social agency contributes in critical economic, pedagogical, and political ways. The literature is ambiguous, however, regarding compatibility of educators' and practitioners' views on curricula, homogeneity of perceived training needs, and societal changes necessitating curriculum revision. In this study, 77 agency personnel reported their views of 56 BSW curriculum items. The development of communication competence, the mastery of content on socialization and the small group, and the cultivation of basic social work values were commonly viewed as essential. BSW program directors, graduates, and potential employers generally had compatible views. Practice conditions—especially service position (direct or indirect), field of practice, and client age group—influenced curriculum priorities. Changes in educational priorities across a decade were minor, with increasing emphasis on ethical practice, especially as related to confidentiality.