1. Pathways to social work supervision.
- Author
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Schmidt, Glen and Kariuki, Anthony
- Subjects
EXPERIENTIAL learning ,INTERVIEWING ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH ,RESEARCH funding ,STATISTICAL sampling ,SOCIAL case work ,SOCIAL services ,SOCIAL workers ,SUPERVISION of employees ,WORK ,QUALITATIVE research ,PROFESSIONAL practice ,THEMATIC analysis - Abstract
Social work research and literature in the area of supervision tends to focus on the supervision of field education students. Less attention is given to the supervision of social work practitioners and there is almost no information that examines how social workers become supervisors. This exploratory study interviewed 27 practicing social work supervisors across different fields of social work practice in Western Canada. The participants included 15 supervisors with a graduate degree and 12 supervisors with an undergraduate degree. The supervisors completed a brief questionnaire that was followed by a structured interview. Supervisors were asked how they came to be social work supervisors. Thematic analysis of the supervisors' responses revealed three pathways to supervision: task exposure, supervision by happen chance, and deliberate decision. The responses suggested that additional focus on supervision might be included in undergraduate education and that universities, professional associations, and employers pay more attention to succession planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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