Interview with Field Supervisor
Question Description
Getting Started
At this point in your field placement, you have likely met with your field supervisor at least twice, and you may have engaged with him or her previously in your interview and onboarding process as an MSW intern. In this activity, you will get to know your field supervisor through structured questions, which may result in further dialogue that will help you to be successful in your field placement. You will reflect on this interview experience in a brief paper.
Resources
- Textbook: The Social Work Practicum: A Guide and Workbook for Students
Background Information
Supervisors have an important role at any job site; in social work practice, the responsibilities of supervisors are made explicit. These responsibilities are fulfilled with a variety of styles and personalities, but all revolve around fulfilling many administrative, educational, and supportive functions. You can read about these functions in Chapter 3 of your textbook, The Social Work Practicum. Discussing expectations and responsibilities at the beginning of a field placement has immense benefits for both the student and the field supervisor, as does building rapport and getting to know each other. This activity will support you in that goal.
Instructions
- Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
- In your textbook, The Social Work Practicum: A Guide and Workbook for Students, read Chapter 3, “Learning from Supervision,” pages 28–40. Consider how you are being oriented to your field placement and the role and style of your field supervisor thus far in your internship.
- In your textbook, The Social Work Practicum: A Guide and Workbook for Students, read Chapter 4, “Personal Safety,” pages 41–50. Consider how your safety or others’ may be jeopardized in your field placement or in your future social work practice, and how you will work to maintain personal safety by preventing or intervening in unsafe situations.
- Arrange to conduct a thirty-minute interview with your field supervisor to discuss expectations for the field placement and to learn about his or her supervision style and role. Be sure to thank your field supervisor for his/her time.
- In the interview, ask questions to find information about:
- Skills, values, or knowledge bases most necessary to working with clients, and within agencies and communities, at your field placement
- Specific techniques, practices, and theoretical approaches or frameworks used or preferred by your supervisor to engage diverse clients
- Style(s) used by your supervisor with field interns, and any preferences or suggestions they have for how you work together
- Your supervisor’s experiences when they were in their MSW program and in field placements
- Advice your supervisor has for maintaining personal safety in practice
- You may add more questions and consider asking your field supervisor the questions from chapter 4 of The Social Work Practicum.
- Write a two- to three-page reflection paper to describe what you learned from the interview.
- Include references to ideas and concepts in your paper from your textbook, The Social Work Practicum: A Guide and Workbook for Students, Chapter 3, “Learning from Supervision” and Chapter 4, “Personal Safety”.
- Include a summary at the end of the most important things you learned from this exercise and how you will apply it to your practicum.
- Be sure your writing is well developed by providing evidence of critical thinking and incorporating course materials using proper citation and references to support your ideas.
- Before finalizing your work, ensure that you:
- Read the assignment instructions carefully.
- Consult the grading rubric and assess your paper based on the rubric.
- Use a spelling and grammar check.
- Review APA formatting and citation.
- Use APA format for organization, style, and crediting sources, including:
- Use of 12-point, double-spaced Times New Roman font
- Use of in-text citations
- Title page and reference page
- Use of properly formatted headings (if applicable)
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