Part 1: With close reference to the requirements of Domain A (1-8), the Values for Work Based Assessors (Practice Educator Professional Standards for Social Work) and HCPC Standards, and to relevant theoretical models and sources relating to the “learning organisation” and the learning environment – Explore, reflect on and evaluate the ways in which you have created a physical and learning environment that is conducive to the demonstration of assessed competence in your work with a student in your agency.
Get Help With Your Essay
If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
In my role as a Practice Supervisor (PS) (Domain A.8), I wanted to ensure that I created a learning environment which would enable the student to have learning opportunities which would enable them to develop their practice and demonstrate their competences as a social worker. Before and during the placement, I considered the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the practice learning; the process of practice learning; preparing for the placement and agreements around practice learning (Kirwin Maclean Associates (2013; pg. 21). By taking this factors into account enabled me to manager the placement and create an effective learning environment. (Domain A.1)
Before the placement commenced, it was my intention to meet with the Practice Educator (PE) and the student, to introduce myself formally, discuss the induction and learning programme. I wanted to ensure that from the outset of the placement, myself, PE and the student had a close working relationship, open communication and that we worked collaboratively with each other to enhance the learning experience for the student. This meant that myself and the PE had to be clear on what teaching opportunities we were going to provide to the student to avoid repetition and also to ensure that our teaching complement each other. Unfortunately, due to ill health, I was off work for 2 months and missed the first week of the student’s placement. My intentions to meet with the student and PE before the placement commenced did not happen. The induction plan was not given to the student until her second week of placement and I was unable to attend the Placement Agreement meeting (PAM).
Due the lack of preparation for the placement, not attending the PAM and other work commitments, the placement did not start as planned. The relationship between myself and the PE was not developed during the placement. I believe that we were both working effectively with the student but not with each other. I am not sure what impact this had on the student has she did not mention anything during the placement or in her evaluation. I did not consider this until the student’s third supervision with me as I was concentrating on my role as the Team Manager (TM) as well as the PS. On reflection, when I returned from sick leave, I should have arranged the meeting as planned with the PE and the student to ensure that we had clear communication and clarified our roles and responsibilities.
The midpoint view provided us with an opportunity to review the learning programme –the opportunities that had been provided to the student, the effectiveness of those opportunities and clarified what teaching opportunities we were going to provide to the student for the remainder of the placement. This enabled for a joint up approach to working with the student and gave better clarity to the student on our roles and responsibilities in the placement. (Domain A.4, A.5 and A.7)
I had already done a lot of planning for the placement however certain documentation which would have allowed for an effective placement from the outset had not been completed. My team had already been briefed that a student would be coming to the team, along with the managers within my service and the service that the student would be also working in. Appropriate Learning opportunities were identified for the student within this team as the student would not be able to obtain the her objective learning through my service (Domain 3). Quote
I had identified an alternative PS within my team as a point of contact in my absence. I had already discussed the induction and learning programme with them which meant that the alternative PS was fully informed of the plans for the student and they were able to attend the PAM on my behalf.
I had planned to provide an induction plan for the first two weeks of placement, in written form. The plan was based upon the organisations induction plan for social students (information on the trust, identified training, policies and procedures). The induction would also include information on the service the student was joining, the practice model, shadowing opportunities within the service as well as other services within the organisation.
I was able to provide the alternative PS with a verbal account of the induction plan for the first week which was not put into written form to the student and not fully exercised. On my return to work, I met with the student and we reflected upon their first week in placement. I felt that the student did not have a great start from the reflections she provided however she verbalised that she was happy with how her first week went. I considered the power dynamic in our relationship as I would be deciding whether or not she passed her placement as well as being the TM of the team. I felt that the student did not feel able to openly say that it was not a good start. I made the decision to extend the induction for a further week to ensure that the student received a thorough induction. (Domain A.2).
Part of the induction was to discuss ground rules and boundaries which was done very briefly as I made the assumption that firstly, this was covered in the PAM and secondly, that this was the student second placement with the organisation and she had an understanding of professional boundaries however the culture within my service is different from her first placement. Issue arose around the students use of her personal mobile phone during working hours, professional behaviour when interacting with colleagues and dress code. The ground rules and boundaries should have been kept under review which would have developed “… a more partnership approach to agreeing ground rules” which “actually helps in promoting a safe learning environment since the student is clear about expectations” Kirwan Maclean Associates (2013: pg. 44).
The ending placement is also important. I competed the Quality Assurance for Practice Learning (QAPL) as well as evaluating the placement with the student using the Share Model (Domain A.6).
Part 2 – With close reference to the requirements for Domain B (1-9), the Values for Work Based Assessors and HCPC Standards, and to relevant theory and models of adult learning – Explore, reflect on and evaluate the ways in which you enabled a student in your agency to develop a particular aspect of their practice through the process of planning and delivery of a programme of learning.
I enabled my student to develop their knowledge on how legislation and policy links to practice.
The journey began at the start of the placement where the student was provided with opportunities to shadow colleagues and teams, working with specific team members, attend training, spending time with service users and joint working. Hafford-Letchfield, T (2011) stated that social work expertise is often about tacit knowledge – that is, we learn (often unconsciously) through experience and observing those around us, as opposed to explicitly being told how to do something or reading about it. This was a key element in the students learning however I missed the opportunity to embed what the student had learnt during this time by allowing the student to reflect on their experiences which would have provided a strong foundation to their learning programme.
In our first supervision, wanted to address the power dynamics between us with actually bring it to the surface. I explained to TB that we are both on a learning journey. TB to become a qualified social worker and me to become a PE. TB welcome this conversation as she felt that we were both helping each other to achieve our goals. I discussed with TB that she would receive direct teaching from myself and the PE. My direct teaching would be in the form of formal and informal supervision, this would be in a safe space which would provide her with information that she would then use in her practice. The teaching in supervision would be more structured and TB would be provided with an agenda in advance. The supervision outside of supervision was envisaged to be more practical based. TB was spoken to about directing her own learning throughout the placement by identifying her own learning needs around this area, to attend supervision with her own agenda, to research and talk to colleagues in readiness to learn. This would allow her to remain in control of her own learning and a key element to bring into her future career as a social worker. (Domain B, B.7 and B.10)
Learning around legislation was throughout the placement and time was taken to embed different parts of legislation and policy rather than provide TB with too much information at one time. This did not mean that we did not touch on areas of law which would arise through casework that was not planned. There were times when areas of law did arise outside of supervision and a brief explanations were given as planned group supervision was going to take place which would look at that area of law in more depth.
In my first supervisory session, I used this time to firstly agree the learning programme and how this would be delivered. Secondly, to gain an better understanding of TB’s learning styles by using the Honey and Mumford (1982) questionnaire. Honey and Mumford (2000) questionnaire probes general behavioural tendencies and to allow people to consider how best they learn. TB came out strong as an Activist “ they enjoy getting involved and they learn by “doing”” and her weaker area was ‘theorist’ (Kirwan Maclean Associates (2013: pg. 60). (Domain B.3, B.4, B.5) 07931 891 757
When working with TB, I used the theory of Experimental Learning which Kolb (1984) states that people need to go through a cycle in order to learn. The model looks at concrete experiences, what is happening in the here and now and encourages learners to reflect and observe these experiences and then form abstract concepts and generalisations such as theories, beliefs, values and policies to plan different approaches, test the implications of concepts in new situations. (Domain B.)
TB was provided with a range of learning opportunities however to compliment her learning styles TB was given more shadowing opportunities, casework and direct work with service users throughout the placement however her journey learning shadowing social workers in MASH.
I used Killian and Todnem (1992) model to “reflect for action” before she started the learning experience. This provided TB with an opportunity to reflect what might happen and how she might deal with it (Kirwan Maclean Associates (2013: pg. 64). TB welcomed this time as she had reflected on issues that she may come across in MASH however she had not thought about how she would deal with them or the impact certain issues could have on her. TB was also able to draw upon other experiences that she had had during the induction programme which led us to Schon (1987) Reflection on action. After the session TB stated that she felt more prepared for the learning experiences and less apprehensive. (Domain B.8 and B.10)
After, TB’s first week of shadowing social workers, we used formal supervision for TB to “Reflect on Action”. TB was asked to concentrate on an experience and I asked her a serious questions using the “What?” - “what are we doing, what have we accomplished, what have we learned?”; “So what?’ – “what difference does/did it make, why should we do it, how is it important, how do we feel about it?”; and ‘Now what?’ – . “what’s next, where do we go from here, what has this prepared us for?”. As TB was visual learner together we drew a flow chart of what she had learnt during this time, we then then liked the learning to legislation and how this informs her practice. This was a really good session and TB realised that she had learnt more than she thought just through the shadowing experience. (Domain B.1,B.5, B.9 and B.10)
Find Out How UKEssays.com Can Help You!
Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs.
View our academic writing services
TB had a further supervision sessions with myself and PE to make wider links and drawn conclusions. During this time TB was moving around the cycle but was also having new learning experiences. These new learning experience helped TB to make wider links and further conclusions. We were able to link what she had learnt in MASH to the work that she undertaking with former UASC Care leavers. There were discussion and how she would incorporate her leaning into her practice. In the following supervision TB would reflect how she used it and what difference it made. As the learning progress so did the flow chart. At the end of the placement, TB could visually see everything she had learnt and how she had used it in her practice. (Domain B.1,B.5, B.9 and B.10)
Part 3 – With close reference to the requirements for Domain C (1-14), the Values for Work Based Assessors and HCPC Standards and to relevant theory and models of adult learning, assessment and reflection – Explore, reflect on and evaluate the ways in which you managed the assessment of a student learner in practice, with whom you have undertaken the planning and delivery of a Programme of Learning. This should include your reflection on observing the social work student in practice.
I managed the assessment of TB by using the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and Holistic assessments. The area oof weakness in my assessment was using the PCF. I was aware if the PCF and these were referred to during supervision and direct observations and mid pint review. I assessed TB during these time look at the PCF as interdepenetd and reflect social worker progression with professionalism, values, dibversity and rights, justice ad ecominics having made sufficient prgeession in over the placament.
The main assessment that I used throughout the placement was the holistic assessment through observation of practice, Testimonial Evidence - feedback from colleagues, service users and other professionals and product evidence – case recordings, assessments and supervision notes.
The strongest source of evidence is observations as you can apply vacs however when this cannot be done look at the other two.
During the placement TB had 3 formal direct observations which was evidence in her portpfolico but she also had 3 informal direct observations to provide further opportunities torefect on her practice, for me and the PE to reflect on the student work and provide appropariet feedback. This was also an opportunities to meet the PCF and idenfiy arread of diffcultiis, area’s that need futher work or gaps in knowledge. - establish further learning opportunites and obtain eveiudnece to form professional judgement. (adapted from the University of York 2000) – (Kirwan Maclean Associates (2013: pg. 123).
All observations were cleared planned with TB and this helped releave a lot of the anxiety around being observed. For the first observation, I took the lead as TB did not know what area of practice she wanted to be obserbed and due to time contraints a decision needs to be made however the other direct observations were lead by TB - witout relsise she had used the university of YORK (2000) model - callorbateive approach, Stage set 2/3 objectoives stage 2 the observation takes place and stage 3 fure lerning - I met with the student and sicussed how it went and feedback on the objectives. The only area we did not do is have a rrflective discsion based around, surprise, satisfaction, discfaction and we un “It is an empowering approach which encouarges close and meaningdul partnership between the student and sassor” (Kirwan Maclean Associates (2013: pg. 124).
Feedbacl from others provided a excellent methoid to asses how well TB was doing especially since I had sporadic contact with her diuring the day. The student had 3 formal feddback using the university feedback sheets and the rest of feedback thaty was obtained was not requested but team members, social colleagues, amangers and young people wanting to let meknow how well TB was doing - the maining learning from the feedback was how well TB gained relationshios with the YP that’s he worked with, that she was caring - some were verbal other in written form. All feedback was shown or reported to TB. We rrflected on the feedback which was all positive. We thereoife reflected on the impact her good practice had had on her service user, team and professional colleagues.
I also provide feedback in supervison every fortnight on TB progress in the placament. In the first incident this is verbal feedback however, she would oban a copy of the feedback in wiritng as part oif her supervison notes. This wa away of evaluating the pacament and learning programme. The feedback was descriptive and examples were used from observations to illurtate the point. I gave actioons to help improve practice andnotes behaviours that TB did not know she was displaying - alterbative were provided to get a better outcome. I never had to provided difficult fededback to my student however as ateam mamnager this is something that I have to do. I am as comfortable as a person can be in these kind of situations and rely on my knowdlkfge oif the person on how I would responded to the feedback.
TB’s case recordings were also moniored during the placament, inclsuding assesments for the leaving care and cic team. There were always to an excellent standard and feedback from the recordings, assess,emts were always taken on board to improve the recordings.
TB was required to complete a Supervison Reflection sheet - this helped me assess her capability to record information, assess and action the information recieevd and decision making, assess risk
Evaulating the qulity of the work using VACS – look at the Validity – what does th evidene tell me- either the work being assessed or some other work activity. Authenticity – the work related to their own work – joint working check out which work is the student - this can be done through case records.
Consientency – evdicne is drawn from through out the packlment
Sufficiently – evince collect for portfiolo as directed from the university to demonstrate the the student as reuired standard. –
Judgelent is made on the student progress, development, their unstanding about their practice, the context of the placament and organisation settingand the level of pcf being considered – crically reflect on on my assessment of the student and my responsbilsities as a PS. I counter no issues within the student hosame to similar rational to out decision as to why TB should pass her placaent.
Bibliography
- Kolb, D., (1984) Experimental Learning: London: Prentice Hall.
- Hafford-Letchfield, T (2011) Managing new social workers in their assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE). Practice Guidance. Community Care Inform [online] https://www.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/guide-to-managing-new-social-workers-in-their-assessed-and-supported-year-in-employment-asye/ [accessed: 26 July 2019]
- Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (2000). The learning styles helper’s guide. Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd.
- Schon, D (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner. San franciso: Jossey Bass.
Cite This Work
To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:
