Relationship Communication in Early Fieldwork Conferences

Abstract

Social workers wishing to assess their own supervisory relationships may draw several inferences from the findings reported in this study

Learning Contracts

“…These transfers of power involve democratization of the relationship and empowerment of lhe student. Nelson (1974) reported lhat when lhey believed lhemselves to be on a somewhat more equal fooling wilh heir inslructors, students were more willing to openly express lheir ideas. A concern in social work educalion is that it needs lo graduate more asserlive students.…”

The Open Expression of Differences in the Field Practicum: Report of a Pilot Study

“…Robinson described a tendency to "annihilate difference" (1949, p. 39) as a way of establishing identification in the early stages of the field instructor-student relationship; Studt (1954) wrote about the inclination to surrender leadership to the person possessing knowledge-derived authority. Nelson (1974) observed that students were more willing to risk venting their ideas when they felt themselves to be on a more equal footing with their instructors. On the other hand, some researchers have raised the specter of the punitive potential of authority Wilson, 198l), by relating the student's reluctance to express differences to the power of the field instructor to grade student practicum performance.…”

Student Satisfaction with Field Placement

“…Placements involved 67 percent of students in public agencies, 19 percent in private not-for-profit agencies, and the rest in sectarian, for-profit, and other agencies. In terms of client age groups, 40 percent of the students worked primarily with young adults and 26 percent with middle-aged adults: the rest were split among children, adolescents, elderly, whole families, and a mixture of age group ings.…”