Showing papers on "Professional development published in 1977"

Resident Characteristics and Staff Behavior in Two Hospitals for Mentally Retarded Adults.

Abstract: Results of part of a study aimed at evaluating the implications of different nurse staffing levels were reported. Two samples of 30 patients were observed in the two hospitals and measures were obtained of the proportion of time they were involved in adaptive and maladaptive activities, the frequency with which they interacted in particular ways with the nursing staff, and their Adaptive Behavior Scale scores. When these various measures were examined, we found that those patients who needed more attention received it but not necessarily of the appropriate type. While such results are understandable and even perhaps predictable, they do serve to reveal a situation deserving remedial attention. We in fact suggested that one possible means of countering this tendency to ignore the less attractive patients is for the nursing staff to be assigned much smaller groups of patients than is customary.

Retooling Staff Development in a Period of Retrenchment.

Abstract: Two reasons seem to underlie the current re surgence of interest in staff development. One has to do with student enrollment decline. More and more districts are faced with the reality of fewer students, a decreased budget, and conse quently, a stable and possibly stale staff. Districts have fewer opportunities to "hire" enthusiasm and new ideas, but instead must consider the pro fessional development needs of the staff they already have. A second reason is that research has confirmed what practitioners knew all along: new technologies, "validated" programs, or more money are not panaceas. Specifically, researchers have shown that the "best" educational products in the hands of unmotivated or inadequately trained teachers are unlikely to fulfill their prom ise. Thus, the research community is beginning to turn its attention from assessing the effectiveness of educational "products" to the training and pro fessional development needs of teachers. While staff development is increasingly rec ognized as a critical concern for school districts— not just a frill or an extra—there also seems to be consensus that current staff development prac tices are poor. Teachers, administrators, research ers, and bureaucrats all agree that current staff development or in-service programs are irrele vant, ineffective, and generally a waste of time and money. To make matters worse, most staff development programs lack any solid conceptual model. Instead, "staff development" within school districts typically appears to be a hodgepodge of incompatible workshops and courses. What would an effective model of staff de velopment look like? For the past four years, Rand has been doing research on how change comes about in local school districts. The Change Agent Study ' involved survey research in 293 Title III, Vocational Education Part D, Title VII bilingual, and Right-To-Read projects in school districts across the country. Intensive fieldwork was done in 30 of these districts. As we reviewed the data collected from these very different local innova tive projects, one lesson emerged clearly: success ful change agent projects seem to be operating as staff development projects.

Interdisciplinary Education and Implications for Social Work Practice.

Abstract: Social workers practice with many partner professions. Interdisciplinary practice requires ability to practice one's own profession, and ability to link into the work of others. This requires knowledge and skill that differentiates one's work from that of others within a single frame of reference. Clients gain from the advantages of interdependent practice in that various needs are met, continuity of service is likely, and practitioners are open to several approaches. This paper lists advantages, assumptions, constraints, and desirable attitudes regarding interdisciplinary practice. Educational implications are made explicit with emphasis on professional identity formation.

Integrating Professional Programs in a Traditional Undergraduate Psychology Program

Abstract: The following four papers were presented as a symposium at the 1974 meeting of the American Psychological Association. The symposium centered on discussions of four specific professional areas for which undergraduate psychology majors can be prepared without a marked deviation from a traditional undergraduate psychology program. Because of the emphasis on the need for graduatelevel training for performance as a psychologist, undergraduate programs have de-emphasized professional training as such, leaving for those who do not plan to attend graduate school the promise that the \"liberal education\" in psychology would help them in a \"broad variety\" of professions. Although a certain proportion of undergraduates do attend graduate school, a larger proportion enter the active job market upon graduation. Many students today express a desire to be prepared for a professional occupation upon graduation from college. Without any drastic revision of our undergraduate program at Clemson University, we have begun to focus on curriculum modules that will prepare the student for specific occupations upon graduation. In 1968 Boneau reported that only one-fourth of all undergraduate psychology majors ever obtained a master's degree. He expressed serious concerns about the manpower waste implicit in this situation. He projected that 200,000 psychology majors would graduate between 1968 and 1978 who would not obtain advanced degrees (Boneau, 1968). There is more recent evidence that Boneau's estimate is conservative. Cates (1973) reported that bachelor's degrees in psychology are expected to rise to 79,000per year by the end of the 1970's. If this increase becomes a reality, it will represent a growth of 114% during this decade. Obviously, the interest in psychology as an undergraduate major is growing dramatically in all areas of the country. However, many students do not feel that graduate training is appropriate for them. For those seeking advanced training, it is often found that the opportunities for graduate study have not increased proportionately. Thus, the percentage of psychology graduates seeking employment and a vocational identity upon receiving a B.A. degree may reach and surpass 80%. Are undergraduate curricula changing to meet the vocational needs of all students, or is the challenge of providing an immediate vocational identity going unheeded? Certainly the mere addition of two or three elective courses to the curriculum does not adequately meet this challenge Coupled with these pressures for change has come an increasing awareness among academic psychologists that teaching techniques and methodologies are in drastic need of revision. The traditionally heavy emphasis upon course content and the dispensing of information is shifting from such information giving to information getting. Rather than trying to provide answers for students, they are taughthow to go about trying to find answers to meaningful questions. In essence, an attitude or an approach to knowledge is taught rather than specifrc content. Helping students learn how to learn is generally accompanied by greater personal involvement and participation. It is not surprising that these student-centered techniques and emphases have resulted in a variety of self-paced learning programs (e.g., personalized systems of instruction). Given these two sources of pressure-the undergraduate who seeks an immediate vocational identity and the need for revised teaching techniques-we must discover and implement alternatives to and modifications of the traditionally structured undergraduate program. Unfortunately, the very discipline which ostensibly is concerned with the study and development of individual differences has lost this perspective in its undergraduate programs. Education forthe masses has failed to stimulate individually defined compentencies and, in general, undergraduate curricula have not met changing social and personal needs. Individual differences do indeed exist! A curriculum that forces all students to achieve along a single, linear dimension denies the individuality of each student and lessens his or her sense of competence and self-worth. The 1973 Vail Conference on Levels and Patterns of Professional Training in Psychology concurred with this appraisal. They recommended that some programs be oriented to training students in specific competence areas so that they can meet specific community needs (Korman, 1974). The four areas discussed in this symposium were (a) The Industrial-Applied Option; (b) The Community-Clinical Option; (c) The Pre-College Teaching of Psychology Option, and (d) The Interdisciplinary Option. Since we have experienced a great deal of student enthusiasm for these programs, and they are still in various stages of development, we would like to share ourexperiences. Hopefully others who have plans for such programs, or who are themselves engaged in the development of similar programs, will be encouraged to share their insights with us. We feel that

Faculty consensus as a socializing agent in professional education.

Abstract: To assess the effectiveness of the professional socialization process in a professional school, this study focused on emerging attitueds of nursing students, perceived limits of their role, nursing autonomy, and rights of patients. Student attitudes were compared to attitudes of instructors to determine if socialization was taking place. Consensus among student attitudes was found to increase during the educational program, and attitudes of nursing students did approach those of their instructors. Degree of faculty consensus was suggested as a major determinant of the effectiveness of the socialization process in professional schools.

Liberation in Social Work Education: Applications from Paulo Freire

Abstract: Liberation theory from a Third World adult educator is seen as consistent with social work ideals and an avenue for social work education to travel in developing better learning and more motivated, knowledgeable, critical, responsible, and autonomous learners. Conscious choice can free professional education from its pedagogical overtones, recast it in an androgogical perspective, and help it produce learners who are creative subjects rather than receiving objects.

Crisis intervention in professional practice: implications for clinical training.

Abstract: Crisis intervention as a therapeutic model has had multiple roots, and is presently defined in a sound body of principles that provides an effective framework for professional practice. However, there are several areas of ambiguity that have prevented effective use of this model by clinicians, and have hindered its inclusion in professional training programs. Strategies toward the development of an effective training model for crisis therapists are suggested.

Values in Social Work Education: Implications for Baccalaureate Degree Programs

Abstract: The value base of social work has long been a foundation of professional education. Research to date on social work values as a facet of the educational process has focused primarily on students in graduate schools of social work. This article examines the literature and research on values in terms of the implications for teaching values at the baccalaureate level and suggests instructional strategies that are compatible with the valuing process.

Professional Self-image of the Social Worker: Implications for Social Work Education

Abstract: This paper details a study of the professional self-image of social workers from three NASW chapters. Professional self-image is defined as the evaluation of the occupational group by members of that group, including judgments concerning the prestige of the group in society, the worth of the profession to society, the personal and behavioral characteristics of its members, its occupational opportunities, and the achievement of the attributes of professionalization. The overall self-image of social workers was found to be positive. Differences in attitude toward each component of self-image are presented and implications for social work education discussed.

Entrance and Exit Requirements of Professional Social Work Education.

Abstract: This paper explicates a competency-based direct practice curriculum for graduate social work education. Specifically, admission and graduation requirements related to five knowledge-skill areas are outlined: (1) interpersonal behavioral control, (2) judgment and decision making, (3) contracting and goal setting, (4) selection and application of change method, and (5) assessment of outcomes. The implications of this empirically based educational model are discussed in terms of accountability and congruence between educational objectives and practice behaviors.

RX for social death: The cancer patient as counselor

Abstract: Cancer patients frequently encounter psychological problems distinct from those with other serious illnesses. Cancer's deadly nature and its drastic treatment often alienate patients from relatives and caregivers. The CanCervive program trained cancer patients to counsel other patients. They functioned as role models and provided opportunities for catharsis. Yet their own unresolved conflicts often led them to overidentify with patients. Volunteers lacked insight into their own feelings of stress at seeing dying patients and their own guilt over their relatively advantaged medical status. Despite this, they helped patients cope with their insecurities and dependency needs, and assisted with professional education.

Agency Constraints Affecting Links between Practice and Education

Abstract: Education and practice are closely interrelated and interdependent. There are, however, inherent constraints within agencies that complicate or interfere with the achievement of an ideal relationship. These relate to such factors as the history and culture of the agency, its structure and funding pattern, its commitment to the educational task, the qualifications of its staff for the educational function, the attitude of its staff toward partners in the educational venture, the demands on it for service, and the confidential and political aspects of some of its operations.

Integrating the Liberal Arts and Preprofessionalism Through Field Experience: A Process Analysis.

Abstract: Qualitative studies of seven field internship programs have focused on understanding the key meanings of field study for students and on key variables associated with significant meanings. Based on self-report data and on analysis of student performance, two processes have been identified as central to the achievement of liberal arts goals in a field setting. These processes are reciprocity and decentering, both implying, in Piagetian terms, the coordination of multiple perspectives on the experience. The simultaneous occurrence involves an integrative process that bridges the liberal versus vocational education gap. Operational definitions and practical applications are presented, along with a theoretical model for understanding the utility of field study in higher education.

Selected Constraints in the Relationship Between Social Work Education and Practice.

Abstract: The gap between graduate social work education and practice has long been identified as an issue of concern to both groups as well as to the professional organizations with which they are affiliated. In the past decade the gap has widened and become of sufficient magnitude to warrant action so that the relationship between the two can be enhanced. This paper highlights some of the critical issues identified by both practitioners and educators.

The Effects of Videotape Self-Image Confrontation on Helping Perceptions

Abstract: Using videotape recordings to provide a self-encounter may yield valuable self-knowledge, difficult to obtain during ordinary student training, but important to professional development This article describes a study that examined the effectiveness of videotape self-image confrontation as a procedure to create changes in self-perceptions related to the helping process. Results indicated that a self-image confrontation produced significant amounts of perceptual change. While the initial impact was powerful, the effects of a single self-image aonfrontation tended to decrease over time. The findings suggest that effective use requires periodic and varied self-encounters throughout professional education.

The Effects of Professional Counselor Training on Empathy: Continued Cause for Concern

Abstract: The evidence reviewed, especially that from the most methodologically sound studies, indicates that professional training in counseling generally fails to increase trainees' empathy. Further, professional status may establish social distance between counselor and client, and posttraining experience in counseling cannot be counted on to have uniformly positive, empathy-enhancing effects. The review points to the needs for: (a) the incorporation into professional programs of brief, effective empathy-skills training, (b) supplementing intellectual program selection methods with more counseling-relevant measures, (c) defining and upgrading of acceptable posttraining empathy levels and retention of training effects, and (d) research into differences between professional programs that do and do not enhance empathy.

A staff development model for part-time instructors

Abstract: A professional development model is presented for the effective utilization of part-time instructors in cornmunity colleges.

Continuing education for librarians

Abstract: The article presents the views of a group of 1966 Associates of the Library Association on incentives and deterrents to professional development, as expressed in replies to a postal questionnaire (...