1. INTEGRATING THEORY AND PRACTICE
UW School of Social Work
Field Instructor Training

2. Competency Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Describe the importance of integrating theory and practice in field education.
Define essential knowledge, values, and skills in social work practice.
Create learning opportunities that will assist students in integrating social work knowledge, values and skills.
Practice using methods designed to assist students with the process of integration.

3. ITP AGENDA Review Introductory exercise: challenges experienced
Presentation: What is integrating theory and practice?
Exercises: Identifying and Teaching Essential Social Work Knowledge, Values, Skills
Creating learning opportunities
Three methods for Integrating Theory and Practice

4. Student Examples
Identify challenges experienced helping students to apply classroom learning to their practicum

5. The Role of Field Instructor as Educator – Changing Roles
Create possible tensions and stresses;
Involves personal growth and expansion of professional responsibilities;
Entails the functions of staff supervision;
Administrative
Supportive
Educative
Making transition from:
Helper ►► teacher & mentor of future colleagues

6. Changing roles Supervisor/supervisee/trainer ► educator;
Doer ► explainer;
Service giver ► service critic and analyst;
Employee ► advocate of a conducive learning environment within the organization;
Consumer of professional education ► collaborator with social work educators

7. Integrating theory and practice
Process of making connections
between the classroom social work knowledge, values, and skills, and experiences students have at the agency
When considering an option for intervention,
Learning to ask “Why choose this particular action?”
Articulate the rationale that supports an intervention?

8. Field Instructor’s Role
Students should be helped to understand:
the social work skills that were necessary during every professional interaction;
the social work knowledge that informed these actions, and
the social work values that influenced the interaction.

9. Integrating Theory and Practice
Students need to understand how their field experiences are connected to social work practice by answering the following questions:
Where do these actions fit in the overall helping process?
Why was this interaction necessary for effective social work practice with this client?

10. Field Instructors Play a Significant Role
Student challenges in Integrating Theory and Practice:
Focus on task completion rather than on the reasons behind the task;
Imitate actions of their field instructor or others they have observed;
Students rarely critically analyze their actions

11. Field Instructor Role in ITP
Students must be prompted to make the connections between the tasks and the reasons behind the tasks
This process of making connections is the process of integrating theory and practice.
It is the role of the field instructor to assist the student in making these connections
Students must learn how to apply knowledge so that their skills are transferable to any agency.

12. Essential Social Work Knowledge, Values, and Skills
EXERCISES
Before you can teach your students to integrate theory and practice, what do you need to know?
Brainstorm principles of social work
Review Handout 6A: Essential SW Knowledge Values and Skills

13. Exercise: Creating Learning Opportunities
Part I: Handout 6B
In small groups: Identify the knowledge, values, and skills necessary for practice in your agency;
Part II: Handout 6C:
Develop tasks and assignments that allow students to practice these elements.
How do you teach these elements to your students?
What agency specific tasks do you have your students conduct in order to learn these social work elements.

14. Methods of Integrating Theory and Practice
Processing the interaction – Ongoing Integration Model
The ITP Loop: Integrating Theory and Practice
The Field Journal

15. Handout 6D: Ongoing Integration Model
Involves processing the following questions with students:
What was the purpose of the interaction?
What was the knowledge, values, and skills used in the interaction;
How were these elements used and why were they necessary for effective practice?
How can your use of these knowledge, values, and skills be improved in future interactions?

16. Handout 6E: The ITP Loop
Bogo and Vayda’s 1998 model trains instructors and students to cover 4 process elements during supervision and 4 content elements:
Process
Retrieval/assessment of data
Reflection of personal responses, concerns
Linkage to theory
Response: Professional Plan

17. ITP Loop, cont’d. Content
Psychosocial factors: people, situation, problems
Interactive factors: personalities, communications
Contextual factors: cultural, systemic factors
Organizational factors: agency approaches
The ITP Process is seen as a continuous learning loop for supervision, repeating components during the course of a student’s learning about cases and projects

18. Handout 6F 1 & 2: Field Journal
Analysis of client contact;
Student describes a recent contact with a client and then links this contact to social work literature by identifying the knowledge, values, and skills used during the interaction;
Student required to cite the social work literature;
Used weekly; discussed in supervision.

19. Self-Evaluate Your Teaching Techniques
Refer to Handout on Teaching Styles in Adult Learning Module 3
Assess your personal teaching style
Which teaching methods are most effective?
How can you help students to become more self-aware and confident in their practice?

20. A Checklist for Skillful Teaching
Be clear about the purpose of your teaching.
Reflect on your own learning.
Adapt standardized models and approaches;
Expect ambiguity;
Remember that perfection is impossible;
Understand your students’ backgrounds.
Attend to how your students experience learning.
Talk to your colleagues and practicum liaison.

21. A Checklist for Skillful Teaching
Trust your instincts.
Create diversity in your teaching methods.
Take risks.
Recognize the emotionality of learning – students learn best in a positive relationship and a positive environment.
Acknowledge your personality.
Balance support and challenge.
View yourself as a helper of learning.