The utilisation of group supervision in practice education of undergraduate social work students

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This research investigates the utilisation of group supervision in the practice educationwith undergraduate social work students. Supervision is an component in practiceeducation, as it is the process whereby students are guided and prepared for beginnerpractice in social work.The practice educator is responsible to plan and organise the students' work, provideleadership in the group supervision sessions and evaluate the work performance ofstudents as set out in the practice education programme. The practice educators grantstudents the opportunity to learn to integrate theory and practice in social work.The learning needs of the students are assessed and compiled within an educationalassessment. These learning needs become the points for discussion for the content ofthe educational programme. The educational programme is presented in the supervisionsessions.Literature strongly supports the utilisation of group supervision in addition to individualsupervision. It is necessary that the practice educator determine the individual learningneeds of the group of students. The mutual learning needs of the students areaddressed within the group supervision sessions, once the learning needs of the groupare determined. Group supervision is not utilised in isolation as the practice educatormay have to consolidate the knowledge, skills and attitudes of students gained in theindividual supervision sessions.The empirical study involved the use of qualitative and quantitative methods in order toexplore the theoretical part of the research. The sample consisted of sixteen practiceeducators (N=16) who are presently supervising undergraduate students at theDepartment of Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch. This section can be dividedinto four sections: the nature of the training of practice educators, the knowledge, skillsand attitudes of practice educators with regard to the supervision functions of groupsupervision, the process in group supervision and the general experiences of practice educators when utilising group supervision in practice education.The findings and responsesof the practice educators were analysed and compared withthe findings from previous research undertaken by various authors. The study foundthat although practice educators have a minimum of training in group supervision, theyhave positive experiences of group supervision. The important aspects of groupsupervision: the planning phase, the beginning phase and the ending phase in theprocessof group supervision are dutifully practiced by practice educators. The utilisationof group supervision links effectively with the education system of outcomes basedlearning and teaching which has been adopted by the Department of Education inHigher Education. The findings of this study can be utilised to apply group supervision toa greater extent in the practice education with undergraduate social work students.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University