4.3 Experiences in supervising social work students
4.3.1 Criteria for selecting supervisors
78 The majority of the supervisors (7) have supervised between two to four students, with a steady decline in the number of supervisors who supervised a large number of students. In 2005, the ratio of registered social workers (11 111) to the population (4 700 745) was 23.6 per 100 000.
According to the Scarce & Critical Skills Research Project (2008) in order to maintain this ratio in the face of population growth and the loss of social workers through retirement and death, a total of 3282 additional social workers will be needed by 2015. This implies that the number of students being supervised ought to increase rather than decrease.
79 supervising staff members (including practicing social workers) and students, and the years spent at the agency. These participants confirmed that they were requested to supervise students due to their number of years of work experience and seniority at their agencies.
A few participants indicated that passion and willingness to contribute to the growth and progress of student social workers was the quality considered when they were requested to supervise. The majority of the participants elaborated on the additional load that supervising a student entails since it adds to their existing workload exerting pressure on them in carrying out their day to day routines. They expressed that it was essential for a supervisor to maintain high work ethics, competency, be active within the agency, reliable, nurturing, passionate about supervision and have a high level of motivation. The competency and reliability of a supervisor is important as emphasized by participant 14 who stated that:
…managers and directors know which social worker is capable of handling the load, if a social worker is not handling her own caseload, the manager will not select or nominate her to take on the additional task of supervising a student.
This response coheres with Peleg-Oren, et al (2007), who found that the agency social worker must be suitable for the task of field instructor. The authors compare programmes in Western countries such as USA and Israel and find that it is common that supervisors of field placement must have at least a BA degree in social work, between four and five years of social work experience, and undergo a process of selection. Furthermore, the field instructor must be employed at the agency, be familiar with the procedures in that agency and the specific tasks and needs of the population served by that agency. In a document compiled by ASAWEI and SACSSP in 2009 entitled Situation analyses of current social work practice training in South Africa, 17 higher education institutions provided feedback in terms of understanding the current practices in field practice placement. One of the indicators referred to the criteria used, in selecting field practice supervisors. Universities varied in terms of the minimum years of experience that the supervisor should have, with some stating two, others three and yet another five years of experience. Supervisors must be employed at the agency; with a minimum of a BSW degree, however one university had a minimum requirement of MSW degree. One university indicated that availability and willingness to supervise was a criteria.
80 It is evident that social workers’ knowledge and skills derived through years of practice were the main criteria used in selecting them as supervisors. It is encouraging to note that supervisors recognise that they have been selected due to their passion, commitment and high quality of work. This serves to acknowledge and reinforce their professional contribution to the field.
Participant 17 regarded supervision of students, “as an opportunity for promotion and other senior posts”. As indicated by Davys & Beddoe (2009), supervising of students is often seen as a developmental step in the career path of social work practitioners, and this is reinforced by Smith (1996, 2005, 2011), who states that “practice teachers can regard themselves as having come full cycle in their careers”, in that their journey commenced as a student in training to a practitioner and finally to acquiring the competence and confidence to undertake the role of student supervisor.
Three participants indicated that they were the only social workers at their agencies and thus had no choice but to assume responsibility for the management of the agency and the staff, including supervising the student. They were however all senior staff with extensive experience in their varying roles.
Two participants indicated that at their agencies, selection of student supervisors was done through a process of rotation amongst staff members which provided every social worker the opportunity to gain experience in supervision. However, this selection criterion did not usually work because some staff members were not willing to supervise students; Participant 13 stressed this by saying:
…staff refuse to supervise, therefore I am stuck supervising all the time. I take it on because no one else wants to do it, and I think it’s necessary, and I remember being a student.
Whilst it is clear from this quotation that some supervisors are passionate and committed to the needs of the profession and are assets in their role as supervisors, caution must be exercised that these individuals are not overloaded. As in this case, this was the only participant who stated that
81 she would not want to continue to supervise students in the future (Section 4.7.2.1 page 118). On probing further it was evident she was a caring, passionate and committed supervisor who indicated feeling overworked and constantly rescuing the agency because staff were allowed to say no to the task of supervising a student.
In some agencies there was no need for a selection process because there was only one social worker available. In such cases, the social worker automatically assumed the responsibility to manage the agency and supervise the student. As was evident from this study, these social workers were of the opinion that accepting students, particularly 4th years, at their agencies would benefit them and the agency in terms of human resources. Some supervisors, however, indicated that this was not the case due to the students’ lack of skills and need for intensive supervision and monitoring.
The belief that the transition from student to supervisor is a well-planned and supported exercise appears to be different from the reality of the situation as indicated by Davys & Beddoe (2009).
For many student supervisors their initiation into the role is a compassionate response to the universities’ fieldwork coordinators’ desperate attempts to secure student placement. Whilst agencies juggle their ongoing dilemmas regarding lack of resources and high turnover of staff, they do offer student placements (Davys & Beddoe 2009).