Northern Arizona University Social Work Field Practicum
BSW Learning Contract and Evaluation Measures Guide
Assessing Student Performance in Field Education:
As the signature pedagogy of social work education, assessing student performance in field is a critical component of individual field student and program assessment. The intent of field education is to connect theoretical and conceptual contributions of the classroom with the practical world of the practice setting. The Council on Social WorkEducation has set forth 10 Core Competencies that field students must understand and demonstrate. These core competencies are “an outcome performance approach to curriculum design”. Competencies are measurable practice behaviors that are comprised of knowledge, values, and skills. The goal of the outcome approach is to demonstrate the integration and application of the competencies in practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities”. (Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards, Council on Social Work Education, Inc., 2008, 2012)
Competency # 1 Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself accordingly. Social Workers serve as representatives of the profession, its mission, and its core values. They know the profession’s history. Social Workers commit themselves to the profession’s enhancement and to their own professional conduct and growth.
(Educational Policy 2.1.1)
Advocates for client access to services
Practices personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development
Attends to professional roles and boundaries
Demonstrates professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication.
Engage in opportunities that set the stage for career- long learning.
Engages in supervision and consultation to enhance professional performance.
Sample Field Practice Activities to Develop and Demonstrate Competency #1
Advocacy
Develop knowledge related to advocacy skills as a social worker
Become knowledgeable about services in the community and criteria for access.
Determine commonly used resources for clients and most effective referral process.
Assisting clients in applying for and receiving services
Attend community or agency planning meetings that focus on service gaps and restrictive eligibility criteria.
Work on a team that is developing new programs or grant proposals designed to expand service delivery.
Accompany clients to other agencies and observe how other agencies treat clients and respond to their needs.
Personal reflection and self- correction
Keep a log of issues you prepared beforehand to discuss with the Field Instructor at the weekly supervision meeting.
Use weekly journal to reflect on professional development and challenges; discuss in supervision.
Participate in supervision to actively seek feedback on your capacity and
skills in relating to clients and in carrying out interventions.
Incorporate feedback received in supervision into daily practice.
Utilize peer and group supervision at your agency; solicit feedback re: cases and other’s professional observations of you.
Attends to professional roles and boundaries
Attend Staff Meetings
Discuss boundary issues that are particular to clients within your agency with your field instructor.
Read the agencies policies regarding confidentiality. Observe how policies are implemented within the agency.
Discuss appropriate roles and boundaries of a student intern; practice these behaviors.
Review and discuss NASW Code of Ethics standards on boundaries and dual relationships, and professional behavior and discuss in supervision.
Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication.
Student will meet all the agency requirements for attendance, submission of documentation/reports by required deadlines, and will meet the dress code of the agency.
Student will give full attention to field placement activities during field hours.
Student will engage in respectful oral and written communication with field instructor, field liaison, colleagues, and clients in adherence with the NASW Code of Ethics.
Student will ask for feedback on professional behavior in supervision sessions.
Engage in opportunities that set the stage for career-long learning
Participate with field instructor in developing and writing up learning agreement.
Attend professional workshops, seminars, and lectures in the community using field placement time.
Read a scholarly article weekly and discuss in supervision.
Attend agency trainings and professional development activities.
Join/participate in local/national professional organizations (e.g., NASW. NABSW, and Federation of Student Social Workers).
Engages in supervision and consultation to enhance professional performance.
Attend weekly supervision meetings; prepare topics to discuss with supervisor.
Consult with agency staff when appropriate to discuss work related issues.
Competency #2 Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice.Social Workers have an obligation to conduct themselves ethically and to engage in ethical decision-making. Social Workers are knowledgeable about the value base of the profession, its ethical standards, and relevant law. (Educational Policy 2.1.2)
Demonstrates an awareness of own personal values
Demonstrates an awareness of professional values
Applies social work ethical values and principles
Articulates personal values that have been challenged and how they may conflict with professional value
Identifies ethical dilemmas and uses an appropriate process to reach an ethical decision
Tolerate ambiguity in resolving ethical conflicts
Demonstrates honesty and integrity in practice
Follows agency confidentiality guidelines
Practices with informed consent from clients
Apprises supervisor of any conflicts of interest
Sample Field Practice Activities to Develop and Demonstrate Competency #2
Ethical Issues, Personal/Professional Values
Recognize the differences between a personal response to a client and a professional response during an interaction with a client, and provide the rationale for your professional response.
Identify personal values and become knowledgeable about the NASW Code of Ethics and how it guides practice.
Articulate to field instructor ways in which you use professional values to guide practice. Discuss times when personal values or position may be in conflict.
Journal about a significant personal/ professional value-conflict that arises.
Demonstrate actions that protect client interests.
Discuss an ethical dilemma that is presented by the field instructor or taken from a case study.
Chose an interaction or situation with a client, which requires you to ground an action with a client in the NASW Code of Ethics and provide a rationale for your behavior.
Identify agency and client ethical dilemmas that may be caused by funding cuts; discuss with supervisor.
Discuss ethics with agency professionals and how they face ethics in practice.
Read professional journal articles as they pertain to values and ethics in practice.
Complete agency diversity training course and discuss how personal values could conflict with a client’s values and how intern is dealing with that.
Draw on principals of client self-determination and discuss how this relates to current clients they are working with.
Use supervision and process recordings to reflect on communication styles, values, and biases.
Competency #3 Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate
professional judgments. Social workers are knowledgeable about the principles
of logic, scientific inquiry, and reasoned discernment. They use critical thinking
augmented by creativity and curiosity. Critical thinking also requires the
synthesis and communication of relevant information.(Educational policy 2.1.3)
Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of
knowledge, including research-based knowledge, and practice wisdom.
Analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention and evaluation.
Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities and colleagues.
Sample Field Practice Activities to Develop and Demonstrate Competency #3
Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of knowledge
Review scholarly journals/articles/videos/books, and select those that apply to the internship setting and increase knowledge.
Read agency/organization newsletters and reports to improve knowledge and practice wisdom.
Student to discuss what is being learned in the classroom related to research based knowledge as a basis for interventions.
Student will use multiple sources of knowledge (i.e. classroom learning, Field Orientation information, NASW Code of Ethics, Service Learning experiences, consultation, etc.) to make sound principled decisions, and to guide actions steps related to field placement.
Interview members of a treatment team/professional staff for varying perspectives.
Analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention and evaluation.
Student to identify/analyze strengths and limitations of your agency’s models of assessment, prevention, intervention and evaluation.
Student to identify theoretical construct for models of assessment, prevention, intervention and evaluation.
Review models to determine effectiveness with specific age groups/populations.
Participate in and observe case staffing, review values, goals, outcomes, dynamics, and team effectiveness in strengths-based interventions and planning.
Interview stakeholders to evaluate program effectiveness; create interview questions, interview at least 5-10 consumers/clients, submit written report to Field Instructor, to include recommendations for improvements, and /or internal policy changes.
Conduct a needs assessment with an agency client system and identify one unmet need that takes into consideration all relevant diversity/cultural issues. Present your assessment to your FieldInstructor.
Select a micro-level client system and describe how a utilizedintervention was tailored to the client’s experience with poverty, powerlessness, and alienation. Discuss the intervention with your Field Instructor.
Submit and discuss Process Recordings. Discuss your assessment, interventions.
Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities and colleagues.
Write accurate, comprehensive client intakes/ assessments.
Review case documentation/intakes/assessments with supervisor and discuss strengths and area for work.
Have your Field Instructor/Task Instructor observe interactions with clients, groups, families and communities and provide constructive feedback.
Present a workshop to agency staff on topic of interest/relevance to staff/agency work. Solicit feedback on communication skills from attendees via an evaluation form or informal discussion
Discuss client Process Recordings with Field Instructor to review/assess oral and written communication skills.
Discuss a complex case in individual or team supervision.
Create an opportunity to do oral presentations
Lead/Co- lead a group activity/discussion
Lead/Co-lead a community event/presentation
Discuss follow-up phone calls and written communications to clients in supervision.
Prepare materials/newsletters for distribution to clients/stakeholders.
Competency #4 Engage diversity and difference in practice.
Social Workers understand how diversity characterizes and shapes the human experience and is critical to the formation of identity. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of multiple factors including age, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, immigration status, political ideology, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. Social Workers appreciate that, as a consequence of difference, a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power and acclaim. (Educational Policy 2.1.4)
Recognize the extent to which a culture’s structure and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, create or enhance privilege and power.
Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups.
Recognized and communicate understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences.
Views self as a learner and engage those with whom they work as informants.
Sample Field Practice Activities to Develop and Demonstrate Competency #4
Relate your own previous experiences with diversity to agency assignments
Identify strengths of diverse population served by the agency and build upon those strengths in case planning.
Visit religious or cultural organizations for diverse populations
Ask to work with a client whose culture, age, religion, sexual orientation, class, disability, ethnicity, family structure etc. is different from your own.
Identify the informal service network used by the oppressed populations to meet their needs.
Walk through the neighborhoods where your clients live
Look critically at your agency’s reception area. Are the books, brochures,and art, magazines that reflect the population served?Are there workers who speak the language of the population served? Are there translators or interpreters available?
Use supervision to identify and explore issues in cultural competency
Attend agency cultural competency training
Research cultures (traditions, values, religions, ad family structures) of clients, groups, or communities to better understand them.
Develop community resource list that serves client population
Prepare a program that meets the needs of a specific cultural group
Work with at least two assigned diverse individuals, families, groups or communities served by the agency.
Conduct a cultural competency assessment of the placement agency with reference to NASW standards and Indicators for Cultural Competency.
Interview colleagues/community members from diverse cultural backgrounds
Use supervision/journals to discuss the effects of oppression on specific client groups
Use supervision/journals to discuss the impact of social and economic issues that clients face
Competency # 5 Advances human rights and social and economicjustice. Each person has basic human rights, such as freedom, safety, privacy an adequate standard of living, health care, and education. Social workers recognize the global interconnections of oppression and are knowledgeable about theories of justice and strategies to promote human and civil rights. They incorporate social justice practices in organizations, institutions and society to ensure that these basic human rights are distributed equitably and without prejudice.(Educational Policy 2.15)
Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination;
Advocate for human rights and social and economic justice.
Engage in practices that advance social and economic justice.
Sample Field Practice Activities to Develop and Demonstrate Competency #5
Work with agency client committee to develop client advocacy project
Advocate for resources for client in need
Participate in NASW Legislative Days in Phoenix
Attend City Council meetings that relate to issues of human rights and social and economic justice.
Identify barriers that clients face when accessing services
Identify gaps in existing services and advocate for client group
Join and participate in local/national professional organizations such as NASW, Faith in Action, NAACP. etc.
Read research articles that address social and economic issues that pertain to client populations served and discuss in supervision/journal.
Attend local/community meetings that address service gaps for clients and work towards issues of social justice. (Flagstaff Continuum of Care, Coalition for Children- ask field supervisor to identify appropriate groups in your community.
Competency # 6Engage in research- informed practice and practice informedresearch. Social Workers use practice experience to inform research, employ evidenced-based interventions, evaluate their own practice, and use research findings to improve practice, policy, and social service delivery. They comprehend quantitative and qualitative research and understand scientific and ethical approaches to building knowledge. ( Educational Policy 2.16
Use practice experience to inform scientific inquiry
Use Research to inform practice
Sample Field Practice Activities to Develop and Demonstrate Competency #6
Locate and read two professional peer reviewed journal articles on a client or agency issue, share in supervision.
Develop a survey/needs assessment
Create, distribute, compile, and analyze a client satisfaction survey
Research relevant policies on services provided by your agency/community issues
Develop an intervention plan using an evidence-based process
Meet with agency personnel who are responsible for research and outcome measurement.
Develop a design to measure practice outcomes.
Address evidence-based practice questions with field supervisor/task instructors.
Discuss concerns re: skills, practice techniques and professionalism in supervision.
Participate in assessment and evaluation of client’s progress, satisfaction with services.
Familiarize self with agency evaluation protocols and standards.
Critically analyze data and be aware of personal bias
Raise questions for practice based on research and/or empirical observation
Interview other social work staff to explore their use of practice research and how they may apply research findings to their practice agency.
Competency #7 Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment:Social Workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course: the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social Workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development. ( Educational Policy 2.17)
Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the process of assessment, intervention, and evaluation.
Critique and apply knowledge to understand person and environment.
Sample Field Practice Activities to Develop and Demonstrate Competency #7
Discuss theories and frameworks of assessment, intervention and evaluation related to one client in formal assessment assignment.
Identify the theory or conceptual framework used to work with clients in your agency setting and discuss with Field Instructor/Task Instructor
Conduct assessments and intakes and assist in developing case plans, making referrals, and conducting interventions.
Understand what the purposes are for assessment tools
Apply ecological perspective in data collection, assessments, planning and implementation and discuss in journal.
Consult supervisor about use of theoretical models in agency work
Use eco-maps, genograms, and similar tools to facilitate assessment and intervention goals for assigned clients.
Read additional materials provided by the agency to supplement classroom knowledge.
Visit places that will increase understanding of client’s social systems