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Volume 9, Number 2 Spring 2004 |
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Ron Federico Memorial Lecture The Professional Socialization of Undergraduate Social Work Students This article compares the early interest in social work students' professional development to the early professional socialization studies in allied professions. Disparity is noted between the early holistic inquiries in other disciplines and social work's predominantly narrow empirical focus on only one dimension of professional socialization-value acquisition. The author also reports the findings of a grounded case study exploring the process of professional socialization and the influence of role models, as experienced by undergraduate social work students. Data construct a process of six phases spanning from "expectation" to "affirmation" with regard to differential experiences based on gender, race, and age. Implications for further research and professional education are noted. Role Conflicts of BSW Students and Instructors in Experiential Learning: Lessons From a Case Study Experiential learning is an important component of social work education. However, experiential learning contexts often place both students and instructors into multiple, conflicting roles. This paper uses a case study methodology to explore role conflicts experienced by BSW students and an instructor involved in a community change effort on behalf of minority residents in a rural Midwest town. This case suggests that, despite some risks, role conflicts in experiential learning make a positive contribution to social work education. Rather than avoiding or minimizing role conflicts, educators should incorporate these conflicts intentionally but cautiously into the learning experience An Examination of Five Essential Competencies for Empowerment Practice This article presents five competencies - Informational, Intellectual, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Interventional - essential to acquiring knowledge, attitudes, and skills for empowerment practice. It provides readers with tools to help students and practitioners explore their personal and professional beliefs, values, and convictions about difference, tolerance, and oppression within a cultural competency framework. Examining How Professionals Describe the Strengths Perspective in Their Practice
Mona Struhsaker Schatz and Marita Nika Flagler Agency-based human services workers (N=17) were asked to describe five central principles they believe direct their practice with those they work with. All these workers are employed in an agency that embraces the strengths perspective as its overarching agency mission and practice approach when working with adults with disabilities in supported employment. The results from written surveys reveal that their practice principles are organized around two major tenets. First, the working relationship between their consumers and themselves is an essential component of the intervention and is characterized by mutuality, collaboration, and partnership. Second, an adherence to a value of consumer self-determination makes the consumer the director of the helping process. Components of these tenets or principles are addressed in the findings. This study contributes to our understanding of how a practice approach guides practice for social workers and other helping professionals in agencies that promote a strengths perspective. Incorporating Practice Evaluation With the Field Practicum Social work programs are expected to provide students with the research knowledge, skills, and applications they can use in their practice to develop interventions and evaluate their own practice effectiveness. Based on CSWE's Curriculum Policy Statement and Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, a rationale for and a model incorporating practice evaluation and research with the field practicum are described here. Several issues concerning implementation, such as alleviating student fears and enlisting agency support as well as the authors' experience incorporating practice research in the field practicum, are presented and discussed. Center for Social Research: A Social Work Program Innovation Yields Multiple Benefits Fostering research activities within social work education programs has long been a priority of social work educators. This article discusses how faculty of a baccalaureate social work program at a small college established a social research center within their department despite limited budget and resources. The process of creating the research center is explained, including issues related to budget, personnel, and other operational concerns. The research center's initial project is described. Also discussed are the benefits that accrued to the program's faculty and students, the college, and the community where the school is located. Developing and Implementing an MS Access 2000 Database for Baccalaureate Program Assessment and Continuous Improvement Strong program evaluation is a hallmark of quality social work education. All social work programs applying for candidacy, accreditation, or reaffirmation of accreditation are required to assess and evaluate their effectiveness according to the guidelines set forth by the Council of Social Work Education. The role of technology in program evaluation is growing in interest to social work educators, and new trends in strengthening program evaluation are emerging. In today's academic climate, the degree to which a program monitors its effectiveness will impact its ability to effectively educate future social work practitioners. In this article, the authors discuss the steps for developing and implementing an MS Access 2000 database for program assessment and continuous improvement in a baccalaureate social work program. Examples include data entry forms and copy-ready reports for reaffirmation generated from the database. Strengths and limitations of the database are explored, and issues of validity and reliability are discussed. Demonstrating Excellence Through Assessment: Measuring Students' Knowledge, Values, and Skills Excellence in social work education is partially measured by the degree to which assessment models support program uniqueness, foster micro and macro learning, and link mission, goals, and objectives to student outcomes. This article describes an integrated assessment model developed by a small undergraduate social work program that focused on incorporating theses characteristics of excellence into student-focused assessments. A modified portfolio approach culminating in a senior research colloquium was chosen because it not only supports student growth and development, but also provides a forum for internal and external reviewers to objectively evaluate student performance. The strengths and limitations of this assessment model for students, faculty, advisory members, and undergraduate social work programs, are identified. Solving Social Work Assessment Issues: A Program Evaluation Social work programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) conduct ongoing program assessment to routinely assess student outcomes relative to educational activities. To assist faculty in this effort, this article presents one undergraduate program's holistic social work program evaluation model (SWPEM). The arrangement of each of the SWPEM's eight evaluative elements is reviewed, and its administration procedures are outlined. Arguments for and barriers to program evaluation using the SWPEM are reviewed, and this faculty's experiences with the SWPEM model are discussed.
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