Teaching philosophies and practices in social work education: do the core competencies influence our consciousness?

Assessing the mechanisms by which EPAS core competencies are embodied in classroom teaching is important for comprehensively examining EPAS’ success. This case study of one program presents emergent findings about perceptions of teaching, and the influence of core competencies, derived from interviews conducted with faculty members at a graduate social work program. Participants were asked about their teaching philosophies and practices, and the influence of social work core competencies in framing their philosophies and practices. Four primary themes emerged: (1) engaging students in learning, (2) linking the classroom and field, (3) critical thinking, and (4) core competencies are not evident at a conscious level. Participants described strong ambiguity about how the core competencies consciously influence teaching approaches, while clearly stating goals for interacting with students, integrating field experiences in the classroom, and helping students build critical thinking skills. Implications for social work education are described.     

Assessing Cultural Competence in a BSW Student Population

Bachelor’s level social workers serve a population that is becoming more diverse. Social work educators must respond with adapted teaching methods, theories, and exercises to reflect the growing need for cultural competence in our practitioners. The 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) outline the knowledge, value, and skills competencies central to social work education. These competencies include thorough integration of cultural competence in social work education; the ways in which this content is taught likely vary greatly between programs. This study assessed whether students gained competence as a result of taking a bachelor’s level social work (BSW) course in cultural diversity at a mid-sized public university. Furthermore, the study assessed whether their level of competence was related to student demographics, such as being from an urban or rural community. One hundred twenty-three students completed the California Brief Multicultural Competence Scale (CBMCS) at the beginning and end of a course specifically dedicated to cultural competence. Results indicate that the course itself is effective in increasing significantly student’s self-reported cultural competence. Study results lay the foundation for future research that will (1) assess more broadly the implications of a specific cultural competence course and (2) aid in the development of a social work-specific measure of cultural competence.     

Motivational Interviewing: An Evidence-Based Practice for Improving Student Practice Skills

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based communication method to assist clients in resolving their ambivalence regarding change. With a school emphasis on evidence-based practice and learning outcomes, a social work department implemented a semester-long course on MI. The purpose of this study was to determine baseline skills and evaluate student skill outcomes. Students in 4 sections of the course (N = 137) completed validated pre- and posttest measures of empathy and MI skills to determine skill acquisition. Results indicated that students significantly increased on all skill measures with 85% scoring at beginning proficiency at posttest. Rationale for including MI in social work education and future research such as the need to determine skill transference into fieldwork are discussed.     

Social Work Student Learning Experiences of Family Therapy: Improving Competency in Pedagogy Through Qualitative Research

The purpose of this qualitative study is to evaluate graduate social work student experiences of pedagogy intended to improve competency in family therapy practice. Students from two classes (N = 37) completed open‐ended surveys assessing: perceptions of most helpful pedagogical practices; understanding of needed competencies; and perceived opportunities offered to them during their graduate training for learning about work with couples and families. Results, analysed using grounded theory methodology, revealed that students: (1) believed that experiential activities were especially critical for learning how to do clinical practice with couples and families; (2) understood important competencies related to professional development, therapeutic engagement with the family, and how to approach family practice; and (3) believed they were ‘somewhat prepared’ for practice. Implications include improving understanding of abstract skills in practice with couples and families, and emphasising relationship dynamics more in graduate social work education and training.     

Dementia: challenges for social work education in Europe

ABSTRACT

Dementia has been identified as a global challenge across the spectrum of health and social care (World Health Organisation. (2012) Dementia: A public health priority. Geneva: WHO). This paper will explore the implications of this for social work education and the challenges it poses. There is a lack of this focus on social work with older people and people with dementia (pwd) in social work education. Based on calls for an infusion of content on ageing and dementia in social work curricula, paper proposes that we should adopt a person-centred philosophy alongside gerontological social work competencies to achieve this. The specific aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore how we can use these ideas as teaching tools to engage social work students in the discourse on dementia and to develop appropriate skills to work with pwd, their families and carers.     

Integrating Social Work Perspectives and Models with Concepts,Methods and Skills with Other Professions’ Specialized Approaches

In this article, the authors encourage social work practitioners to identify with and adopt distinctive social work perspectives and practice models rather than solely embrace models or approaches developed by and for other professions. We do so because these perspectives are most responsive to our professions’ mission of social justice and social purpose of paying equal attention to people and their environments. For heuristic purposes, we present and illustrate the ecological perspective and life modeled approach. Since no social work model or approach can take into account every type of life stressor, event and condition, we demonstrate how we can borrow and integrate specialized concepts, methods and techniques from other profession’s approaches. The authors identify five characteristics which borrowed content should meet in order to integrate well with social work models. Accordingly, concepts, methods and skills from a few approaches have particular relevance for social work direct practice: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; Motivational Interviewing; Narrative Therapy and Solution-Focused Practice. Moreover, the authors present and illustrate the process of borrowing and integrating concepts, methods and skills from other professions to deepen social work practice.     

Making ideas “app”-en: the creation and evolution of a digital mobile resource to teach social work interviewing skills

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the processes involved in the design, delivery, and evolution of a mobile app.’ The initial app’ was funded by an institutional Teaching Award to update the delivery of Egan interviewing skills to social work students. The article charts the progress of development, beginning with the initial rationale for the app’ and its subsequent evolution into a Motivational Interviewing resource for social workers within a designated local authority. Arguing for the increasing importance of digital resources, within social work training and practice, the article draws from theories of digital pedagogy, as well as highlighting the work of some prominent figures within this emerging field. The article is written as a collaboration between the lead author and the app’ developers, who have contributed technical detail and emphasized the need for collaboration. Whilst the article touches briefly on the mechanics involved with app creation, its chief aim is to act as a guide to the practical, financial and relational aspects of development – in order that other social work practitioners and educators are inspired to progress their own ideas into innovative digital resources. To facilitate this, the article concludes with a practical list of suggestions for successful digital development.     

Why American business demands twenty-first century learning: A company perspective

Microsoft is an innovative corporation demonstrating the kind and caliber of job skills needed in the twenty-first century. It demonstrates its commitment to twenty-first century skills by holding its employees accountable to a set of core competencies, enabling the company to run effectively. The author explores how Microsoft's core competencies parallel the Partnership for 21st Century Skills learning frameworks. Both require advanced problem-solving skills and a passion for technology, both expect individuals to be able to work in teams, both look for a love of learning, and both call for the self-confidence to honestly self-evaluate. Microsoft also works to cultivate twenty-first century skills among future workers, investing in education to help prepare young people for competitive futures. As the need for digital literacy has become imperative, technology companies have taken the lead in facilitating technology training by partnering with schools and communities. Microsoft is playing a direct role in preparing students for what lies ahead in their careers. To further twenty-first century skills, or core competencies, among the nation's youth, Microsoft has established Partners in Learning, a program that helps education organizations build partnerships that leverage technology to improve teaching and learning. One Partners in Learning grantee is Global Kids, a nonprofit organization that trains students to design online games focused on global social issues resonating with civic and global competencies. As Microsoft believes the challenges of competing in today's economy and teaching today's students are substantial but not insurmountable, such partnerships and investments demonstrate Microsoft's belief in and commitment to twenty-first century skills.     

The role of empathy in training social work students in motivational interviewing

Motivational interviewing (MI), an evidence-based approach with empathy as a key principle, effectively addresses client concerns found in the child welfare population. Training social workers in MI, and to be empathic, would increase the likelihood of better service delivery. Live supervision (LS) is a form of training that provides real-time feedback by clinical supervisors. This randomized comparison trial compared the effectiveness of LS or Teaching as Usual (TAU) on empathy in 54 MSW and BSW social work students. TAU involved students receiving online modules and assigned readings. Data were collected at baseline, after the interventions, and at five months follow-up. Differences in perceived empathy and empathic behaviors were measured by the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) and Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). The study also assessed whether demographic variables or perceived empathy (TEQ) predicted empathic behaviors (MITI). Results indicate that, while both groups improved on empathy as measured by the MITI and TEQ, the LS group demonstrated more improvement. Demographic variables had no impact on empathy. The TEQ and MITI also did not demonstrate predictability suggesting the complexity of measuring empathy. The implications for social work education and future training are discussed.     

NCWWI Traineeships: A National Cross-Site Evaluation of Child Welfare Stipend Programs for Ethnically Diverse Students

The task of recruiting and retaining ethnically diverse, qualified, and committed social workers in child welfare is challenging. Federal funding supporting BSW and MSW education has been a catalyst for university–agency partnerships across the country. An important goal of these partnerships is to prepare social work students with the knowledge, skills, and competencies for effective child welfare practice. The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s innovative child welfare traineeships program prepares students from 12 social work programs around the country. This study focused on diversity, competency attainment, and readiness for the job. Results showed that programs recruited ethnically diverse students, and after receiving child welfare–specific content and hands-on experiences in the field, students felt competent and prepared for child welfare work.     

Mentoring for Educational Success: Advancing Foster Care Youth Incorporating the Core Competencies

A collaborative relationship among three organizations developed a mentoring project using social work students (mentors) and independent living program (ILP) foster youths (mentees). The goal was to increase the mentees' awareness of educational possibilities beyond high school graduation while analyzing the mentors' learning as defined by the Council on Social Work Education core competencies. This pilot project paired mentors with ILP youths in this experiential opportunity conducted on a university campus. The students, acting as positive role models applying social work skills, engaged in an effort to improve the mentees' educational outcome, which would ultimately lead to self-sufficiency.     

Learning pattern of social work students: a longitudinal study

Research on learning patterns of social work students is scare. This longitudinal study addresses this issue by employing mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative study design to understand the learning pattern of students throughout their undergraduate social work studies. Six rounds of quantitative data collected by structured questionnaires and four rounds of qualitative data collected by focus group interviews have been conducted at an interval of every 6 months to track the learning pattern and to evaluate the continuous impacts of social work education on students. Results indicate that although students’ evaluation on the curriculum was positive and with significant difference in mean scores, paired sample t-tests found no significant difference between time 1 and 6 of all outcome variables. With regard to students’ change in attitude, acquisition of knowledge and skills, results indicate a ‘U-shape’ trend and a fluctuating learning pattern with a rebound in different outcome variables toward the end of the three-year study. Qualitative data echoes the findings and reveals that students go through the confused freshman stage, to disillusioned in practicum and finally with enriching experience upon graduation. The paper discusses meanings and implications of student learning pattern to social work education.     

Assessing MSW Students’ Integrated Behavioral Health Skills Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination

Within the last decade, there has been a significant shift in the field of social work toward competency-based education. This article details the use of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Adapted for Social Work Performance Rating Scale. We used the measure to evaluate specific practice competencies among students (n=33) participating in a professional workforce development program, funded by the Health Resources Services Administration Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training for Professionals. We report on students’ performance and their views of the OSCE as an assessment measure and learning experience, and on the interrater reliability and consistency of the OSCE. Results can be used by other social work programs to inform the use of OSCEs to facilitate competency-based assessment.     

Assessing the Development of Cultural Proficiency Among Upper-Level Social Work Students

Graduate social work pedagogy is challenging to diverse faculty and students who work with diverse clients, often in international practice. We discuss the development, outcomes, and assessment of an assignment designed to stimulate students’ research on proverbs as cultural resources for practice and to promote attainment of six competencies related to diversity and social justice of the Council on Social Work Education’s Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. We used procedures from grounded theory and Atlas.ti to analyze 40 student papers. More than 70% of papers reflected students’ mastery of three competencies, suggesting the assignment was insufficient to ensure attainment of all six competencies and signaling errors in the structure of the assignment and in the rubric. Ensuring students’ achievement of the competencies requires careful design and assessment of assignments and deliberate, structured assessment of the assignment outcomes.     

Translating messages from research on child development into social work training and practice

Social work training should equip students with both the knowledge and the skills required for good practice. Although research messages are available through books and papers, they may more easily be conveyed through the repeated use of practice tools which have been developed from research findings. The Looking After Children Assessment and Action Records have been used in formal social work training to help students develop competencies, but their value as a means of conveying a knowledge basis of key issues in child development has yet to be exploited. The Children and Families Assessment Programme has a similar potential, to help practitioners set child protection issues within a developmental framework and further their understanding of those factors that impede children's satisfactory progress. New requirements to provide routine data on children's progress for aggregation and analysis can both improve practitioners' skills and understanding of the purpose of management information, as well as providing evidence of the effectiveness of services.     

The reflective diary: an experiential tool for enhancing social work students’ research learning

There has been substantial discussion internationally about the need for social work students to integrate research into practice. Little has been written, however, about teaching methods that address the cognitive and emotional challenges students experience in their efforts to develop research competencies. Many students believe that research does not apply to the ‘real’ world of practice and are anxious and fearful when they begin a research course. Using a retrospective review of students’ assignments, this article describes the use of reflective diaries in teaching MSW students from a university in the USA skills for practice-based social work research. Reflective diaries provide a safe forum for students to actively engage with the challenges they experience while taking a research course and take ownership of their learning needs. The diary entries provide instructors with windows into their students’ learning processes that enable them to create scaffolding opportunities that support students in developing confidence in their research skills. This article describes the pedagogical philosophy behind reflective diaries, details of the diaries assignment, and benefits of this learning tool for students and instructors. The authors offer recommendations for incorporating reflective diaries into social work research courses and implications for evidence-based practice.     

Research Note—Multiple Time Point Course Evaluation and Student Learning Outcomes in an MSW Course

ABSTRACT

Evaluation methods play a key role in measuring student learning outcomes. Yet traditional assessments focus on assessing student satisfaction with instructors or courses rather than their progress toward competencies. In addition, the common pretest-posttest assessment is problematic because of response-shift bias. Although multiple time point assessment is suggested, very little is known about its application and potential in social work education. This research note examines how student self-assessments of their progress on core competencies in an MSW-level social work course change across three time points (pretest, posttest, retrospective test). The findings suggest that students underrated and overrated their competencies at the pretest. We argue that using multiple time point self-assessment addresses this internal validity threat and should be considered in social work course evaluation.     

Research Note—A Pilot Cyber Counseling Course in a Graduate Social Work Program

Cyber counseling is a new and growing medium for offering mental health services to children and youth. However, there is a lack of identification of the core competencies required to provide effective online counseling. A school of social work, in partnership with a national service agency providing online counseling to children and youth, developed and offered a 13-week course to participating MSW social work students and agency staff. The development of online counseling competencies was assessed through individual interviews with participants and a content analysis of online posts. Participants scored well in areas of assessment and intervention. Challenges were identified in relationship building within an online environment.