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This study explores the experiences and perceptions of clinicians from a range of professions to articulate general principles for clinical supervision in mental health. Seventy-seven volunteer clinicians participated in 14 focus groups in 2008–2009. They discussed their perceptions about clinical supervision, facilitators, and barriers. Discussions were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, and qualitative analytic methods were used to identify themes and exceptions. The study found frontline clinicians identified interacting factors they associated with quality clinical supervision. Themes related to the structure, content, and process of supervision and contained common elements across professions and those that were specific to nursing. Considerable agreement exists regarding principles for interprofessional supervision in mental health; that it is available on a regular and crisis-responsive basis, and that supervisors are expert in clinical interventions for specific populations and have the ...

In-depth interviews were conducted with lesbian and gay recent MSW graduates (n = 6) and experienced field instructors (n = 8) to explore sexual orientation–related challenges in social work field education. Data were analyzed using techniques from grounded theory and NVivo qualitative software. Self-disclosure emerged as a central theme in the establishment of a positive learning environment for lesbian and gay students in field education, including the benefits of student self-disclosure to learning, the responsibility of the field instructor, and the role of the agency context. Schools of social work may benefit from training and sensitizing field instructors to develop competence in providing educational experiences for LGBT students.

This paper reports on an analysis of qualitative data accrued across four research studies that addressed the experiences of field instructors in evaluating students and providing corrective feedback when necessary. Findings suggest that while tools for field evaluation are increasingly attempting to provide standardized, objective, and “impartial” measures of performance, these evaluations nevertheless occur within a professional and relational context that may undermine their value. As social workers, field instructors are guided by the professional values of respecting diversity, focusing on strengths and empowerment, advocating for vulnerable individuals, and valuing relationships as avenues for growth and change. By placing field instructors in a gatekeeping role, the university requires them to advocate for particular normative standards of professional behavior and to record a negative evaluation for a student who fails to achieve or adhere to these normative standards. Such activities can...

Recent studies on group supervision in social work and psychology have begun to build a systematic knowledge base on the benefits and challenges of group supervision from the perspective of students. Missing from the empirical data are supervisor perspectives on group supervision. In an attempt to address this gap, this qualitative exploratory study reports on the experiences of five field instructors who offered group supervision to 20 social work students. Although primarily focused on field instructors' perceptions, students' perspectives are also included especially when the two groups either strikingly paralleled or differed from one another. The study findings identified a number of related factors that affect the creation of a productive learning environment including: (1) extragroup factors such as students' previous histories with each other, and varying times for beginning the practicum, (2) managing difficult group member behaviours such as “the non-reflective students,” “the consultan...

A review of recent literature on field education revealed an extensive body of knowledge consisting of theoretical, educational, and empirical work. This paper reviews 40 studies on field education undertaken in the past five years. A number of relevant themes emerged from this review related to the context of field education, processes of field instruction, assessment of student learning and competence, training field instructors, and international practicum. Despite methodological limitations, these studies are building towards evidence-based field education practices.

In social work, supervision is valued as a crucial activity for professional learning and development. Over time, an extensive body of literature has developed that is largely theoretical and practice-oriented. The development of an empirical body of knowledge for supervision has been slow with most approaches supported solely by anecdotal accounts. An extensive review of the empirical studies on supervision conducted in the past decade was undertaken. Two separate streams of inquiry were found; one focused on supervision of professional staff and one focused on field education of students. This body of research is reviewed in two companion papers. Recent studies of supervision of staff are largely descriptive and exploratory yielding limited knowledge for evidence-based supervision. Organizational and professional issues related to the dearth of studies are discussed.

In an attempt to facilitate productive relationships between students and field instructors a series of educational workshops were offered to provide the knowledge and interpersonal skills associated with satisfactory learning partnerships. This paper presents the content and format of these workshops that aimed to address crucial topics identified as challenges for students and field instructors. These topics are (a) improving communication in providing reciprocal feedback about teaching and learning, especially about the working relationship; (b) attending to and managing perceptions and incidents related to the power differential inherent in the student and field instructor roles; (c) developing skills for effective conflict resolution.

Developing effective approaches for field instructor training is necessary to ensure quality field practicum. This paper reports the findings of a study of the infuluence of educational methodologies and group factors on new field instructors' perception of helpfulness of the training provided by one school of social work. Some differences were also found between the preferences of direct practice social workers as compared to social workers engaged in community practice and policy development. Implications for program planning and implementation will be presented.

Relationship competence is a critical learning objective for students aspiring to become clinical social workers. The field instructor student relationship provides a rich resource for teaching and learning relationship theory and practice. This paper reviews the empirical literature on effective social work educational relationships and discusses an educational focus, as distinct from a quasitherapeutic focus, wherein students are empowered to join with their instructors to maximize their learning about relationship development and maintenance.

The effectiveness of laboratory training for teaching students basic interpersonal interviewing skills has been demonstrated. This article presents research on transfer of skill from the laboratory to the field; a comparison of laboratory and field learning; and recommendations for field instruction technologies to facilitate student transfer of skills from the laboratory to the field.