9-10-07
A Fieldwork Training Course for Entry-Level Students
Donna M. Costa
Students are the future of our profession; within a year of graduation, they are likely to begin supervising fieldwork students themselves. Entry-level academic programs for both the occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistant have to meet the myriad requirements set forth in accreditation standards, and it is difficult for educators to find time to schedule additional coursework. However, despite these competing demands, it is useful to introduce a fieldwork course before graduation. The structure of such a course or training program can vary based on the learning needs and time frames available.
Little has been written in the occupational therapy literature about ways to address a problem that has been observed for decades—the lack of training for fieldwork educators. I developed a fieldwork educator training course that I have taught for the past 3 years to entry-level students at Stony Brook University that has been well received. An important part of any fieldwork educator course is building on the experiences practitioners have already had with fieldwork students. When teaching this material to entry-level students, it is useful to have them reflect on their own fieldwork experiences and discuss supervision strategies and situations they encountered. What follows is a topical outline of the major components of such a course.
Overview of Supervision: Definitions of supervision, qualities of effective supervision, history of supervision in fieldwork education, purpose of supervision, and the expectations and skills of being a clinical educator. Students learn about the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Self-Assessment Tool for Fieldwork Educator Competency1 and are encouraged to use this tool before beginning to supervise.
Learning About Learning: Defining andragogy, importance of learning in fieldwork education as an extension of the curriculum, adult learning theories, learning styles, use of Bloom’s taxonomy in formulating behavioral objectives, and experiential learning cycles. Again, we build on the students’ own fieldwork experiences; they assess their own learning styles and discuss how to adapt supervision to individual students’ learning styles.
The Process of Supervision: Functions, models, and formats for supervision (e.g., individual, group, peer, team, collaborative, remote, audiotaped, videotaped, virtual); reflective practice; and supervision styles. Students have the opportunity to learn that there are multiple forms of supervision that can be adapted to various practice settings and supervisory needs.
Skills of Clinical Supervisors: Communication skills, feedback, listening skills, developing and maintaining relationships, openness to learning, ethical conduct, multicultural competence, legal issues, confidentiality, and flexibility. A great deal of time goes into this section because communication and feedback are critical components of any supervisory relationship. We role-play interactions between a supervisor and a student, and students get to “try out” what it feels like to be the fieldwork supervisor.
Supervisor’s Toolbox: Learning contracts, supervision contracts, supervisory session notes, self-assessment of supervisory skills and competencies, professional development plan, evaluation of supervisee competencies, supervisees’ evaluations of supervisor, self-care skills, and supervision for the supervisor. Students are required to create a resource binder that contains examples of many of the toolbox items so they will have all of the resources as a starting point when they begin to supervise. There are also many fieldwork resources available on the AOTA Web site, and students are required to find these so they know how to access them when needed.
Typical Problems in Supervision: Having supervisors bring in problems they have encountered with supervisees is an effective way to apply the theories and concepts to practice. It may be helpful to have some sample situations or questions for supervisors to discuss, or role-play if they feel uncomfortable sharing their own situations. Students enjoy telling stories of supervisory encounters during their entry-level education, and these are discussed in terms of how they could have been different if both the student and supervisor had had some training in fieldwork education. Through this process students learn that there are different ways to approach situations based on learning theories and supervision models. The following are some of the situations we have role-played in class:
- What to do when there is a personality conflict or disagreement between the fieldwork educator and student
- How to handle a supervisee being overly dependent on you
- How to deal with your supervisee appearing anxious around you
- What to do when your supervisee does not come prepared to supervisory sessions
- How to handle your supervisee failing to follow established policies, or failing to modify behavior based on your recommendations
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What to do when your supervisee asks questions—which to respond to directly, which to avoid, and which require further probing by supervisor to facilitate reflective practice
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How to respond to a supervisee who is continually seeking praise and positive reinforcement from you
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What to do when you, as the supervisor, are feeling insecure
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How to best respond to a supervisee who is blaming himself or herself for failures in a client’s treatment
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What to do when the supervisee is not progressing toward learning objectives
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What to do when there are differences between you and the supervisee in terms of age, gender, academic degree, culture, religion, values, and so forth
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What to do when your supervisee cries when given negative feedback
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How to proceed when a supervisee is failing at the midterm point of fieldwork
A good starting point for the above role-plays is to use the DVD enclosed in the new AOTA publication Clinical Supervision in Occupational Therapy: A Guide for Fieldwork and Practice.2 Because practitioners with just 1 year of experience can begin supervising students, it makes sense to introduce students to the concepts underlying the theory and practice of clinical supervision.
References
1. American Occupational Therapy Association. (1997). Self-assessment tool for fieldwork educator competency. Retrieved July 6, 2007, from http://www.aota.org/Educate/EdRes/Fieldwork/Supervisor/Forms/38251.aspx
2. Costa, D. (2007). Clinical supervision in occupational therapy: A guide for fieldwork and practice. Bethesda, MD: AOTA Press
Donna M. Costa, DHS, OTR/L, is the chairperson of and a clinical associate professor in the Occupational Therapy Program at Stony Brook University, HSC School of Health Technology and Management, in New York. She is the author of Clinical Supervision in Occupational Therapy: A Guide for Fieldwork and Practice, which was published by AOTA Press.