When Values Collide: Field Instructors Experiences of Providing Feedback and Evaluating Competence

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When Values Collide Field Instructors
Experiences of Providing Feedback and Evaluating
Competence
Marion Bogo and Roxanne Power Faculty of
Social Work University of TorontoFunding
provided by Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada
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The Challenge

• Ensure graduates are competent to practice
• In social work, educational program serves a
  gate-keeping function
• Evaluation of practice competence is largely
  dependent on field performance and evaluation in
  a practicum

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Teaching and Learning

• Field instructors provide feedback
• Open and active student learners
• Field instructors experience satisfaction
  regarding generativity and giving back
• What happens to instructors in their teaching
  role when students are not able to develop the
  necessary competencies?

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Relevant Research

• Defining outcome objectives and criteria for
  evaluation of practice competence
• Developing reliable and valid measures of field
  performance. (See Bogo et al., 2002 for a review
  of scales.)
• Some research on terminating students for
  professional unsuitability highlights the
  importance of explicit feedback about
  unacceptable performance.

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Research on Giving Feedback

• Little research in social work on the process
  dynamics in evaluation and communicating critical
  or negative feedback.
• Social workers dislike giving or receiving
  criticism, hence caution against giving only
  positives (Munson, 2002).
• Balanced feedback, systematic, timely, clear,
  invites dialogue (Freeman, 1985).

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Research on Giving Feedback

• Criticism helpful in the context of a positive
  and trusting relationship
• Criticism seen as harmful when delivered in a
  harsh or demeaning manner
• Balanced with positive comments
• Important for student to be prepared or damage to
  self-esteem and self-confidence, decreases
  motivation, and impedes growth.
• (Abbott Lyter, 1998)

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Research on Evaluation Role

• Evaluation and gate-keeping role of field
  instructor is crucial.
• Anecdotal evidence that evaluation and
  gate-keeping is hard to do.
• How do field instructor evaluate students and
  provide feedback, especially when performance
  does not meet expected standards?

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Project Objectives

• Understand field instructors experiences when
  providing feedback to students about their level
  of performance.
• Understand field instructors experience as
  evaluators and gatekeepers.

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Method

• Program of research on conceptualizing and
  assessing student competence.
• Four separate studies (Bogo et al., 2004, in
  press, Regehr et al., in review).
• Sample
• 100 experienced field instructors
• 19 in depth qualitative interviews
• 81 in focus groups of 5-10 participants

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Method

• Field instructors spontaneously spoke about or
  responded to direct questions about
• giving feedback, especially corrective or
  negative feedback
• working with students who present problematic
  behaviors,
• providing summative (final) evaluations
• gate-keeping

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Method

• While talking about student competence, ranking
  students and establishing levels of competence
• In response to questions about new methods of
  evaluation and new evaluation tools
• In response to direct questions.

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Themes

• Posture Towards Evaluation
• Student Response to Feedback and Evaluation
• Relationship as a Context for Feedback and
  Evaluation
• The Practicum Setting as an Influence
• The Responsibility of the School
• The Field Instructors Sense of Self

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Posture Towards Evaluation

• Facilitating learning more appealing than judging
  performance
• Social work values of being nonjudgmental,
  strengths perspective, individualization,
  understanding performance behavior in context
• Preferred neutral language, critical of
  value-laden terms and reference to qualities
  despite earlier acknowledgement.

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Student Response to Feedback and Evaluation

• Gratification when could see the feedback in the
  next student interaction
• Difficult when not accepted-range of student
  reactions.
• Circumstances
• Student does not understand the role
  (conceptualize practice)
• Previous experience and self perception
• Personality style
• Concerns about failing-deteriorating cycle.

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Relationship as a Context

• Similar to work in practice-can produce growth
  and change.
• Have to be open and honest earn the right to
  give feedback.
• Importance of non judgmental approach.
• Student participation
• Pressure for high marks, time

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Relationship as a Context

• Intensity of dyad-personal
• giving negative feedback to the student is so
  difficultit feels so personal
• Impact on working relationship-acrimonious,
  tense, emotional.

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The Practicum Setting as an Influence

• Impact of view of social work on
  multi-disciplinary team
• Desire to be fair to student and provide
  opportunities
• Not comfortable predicting students ability to
  practice competently in another setting

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The Responsibility of the School

• Where is the school?
• Liaison as helpful and supportive
• Concerned about the school supporting their
  judgments
• Isolated re other staff and other instructors
• Critical of structure of social work education
• Resented burden to serve as gate-keeper

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Instructors Sense of Self

• Questioned competence and judgment
• Sharing impressions with other field instructors
  or colleagues undercut isolation
• Stress of continuing to teach in highly charged
  atmosphere-depleted, exhausting

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Implications

• Training field instructors as evaluators
• New models for evaluating students practice
  competence are needed