Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 8:00 AM

This presentation is part of: Social Work Education and Practice

Enhancement of Integrated Personal/Professional Self (IPPS) through Reflective/Experiential Learning in Graduate Social Work Students

This mixed method Invivo exploratory study looks directly at the learning strategies that better prepare students for practice at any level of social work and begins to show that the strategies can make a measurable difference. Though many authors (Acker,1999; Dane,2000; Goldstein,2001; Grossbard, 1954; Kondrat,1999) have called for the development of an integrated sense of professional/personal self, the concept of Integrated Personal/Professional Self (IPPS) has not previously been defined, operationalized, or formally validated with any instrument. Purpose: This study was aimed at identifying the effectiveness of incorporating several reflective/experiential methods into a uniquely designed course over four years at a graduate school of social work. Further, the study defined and operationalized IPPS for future study and validation Methods: This mixed method approach to the study of students’ IPPS is divided into three phases. In the (1) first phase, analyses of the qualitative data collected during the course in four trials supported the conceptual framework of designing the study. The use of student written assignments focused on analyzing the format, process, and implementation of the various reflective/experiential methods. (2) Second, based on the literature review and the first-phase data, a comparison is made between students’ written content and specific phases of Perry’s Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development (Perry, 1970). Development in Perry’s model is characterized by a progression through four major categories: dualism, multiplicity, relativism and empathy. The Scale of Intellectual Development (SID-IV) (Erwin, 1983), a 115–item Likert-type scale instrument was used to measure these four dimensions of cognitive development as defined by Perry’s Scheme. To address the gap in the literature, IPPS was then operationalized from the qualitative data as the highest level (Empathy) on Perry’s Scheme. (3)Third, the SID-IV, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-HSS) (Maslach, 1996), and a Competency Self Evaluation developed by the chosen MSW program were administered to two comparison groups of alumni to test the hypothesis that there are significant differences in the IPPS, burnout level, and practice competencies as defined by the school’s educational goals. These two groups were 16 MSW-degreed alumni who were exposed to certain reflective/experiential teaching modalities in a specially designed course on self examination entitled SELF, and 21 alumni who were not. Results: Examination of t-test results showed that IPPS as measured by the empathy factor on SID-IV seemed to be significantly enhanced by participation in SELF. Burnout as measured by the MBI is significantly lower among those who took SELF than those who did not. Competency though not statistically significant is higher, among those who participated in SELF than those who did not. Implications for Practice: This study begins to demonstrate that social worker effectiveness might be enhanced and burnout rates reduced among social workers by educational methods that focus on self examination. The qualitative data from the students written material suggests that many of the methods used in the course hold great potential for classroom and field use, particularly, the use of licensed practitioners with students for self exploration.

See more of Social Work Education and Practice
See more of Oral and Poster

See more of Celebrating a Decade of SSWR (January 13 - 16, 2005)