SW 211
Fall/Winter, 2008; 2009
Dr. Wilfred Gallant
DIADS (GROUPS OF FOUR)
Development of Competency:
By focusing your attention on the development of effective social work skills in practice,
you will gain a sense of confidence of the various skills required as part of your
professional development. This will reduce discouragement and the feeling of being
overwhelmed. The key is “practice”, “practice” and more “practice”.
To evaluate your progress in mastering social work communication and interactional
skills, it is essential that you solicit creative, honest and constructive feedback. The
importance that is imputed to mastering discrete operational social work skills rest on the
strong premise that successful outcomes of the helping process are determined not by
competent masterful execution of a few interventions but by competent performance in
countless moment-by-moment transactions that occur during the entire course of the
helping process.
This teaching/learning approach will build a strong base that will enable students to
internalize theories and skills used in social work interactions with future clients, clients
systems and other significant populations. The focus is upon the professional
relationship, the understanding of human responses and the responsibility of the student
to develop professional self-skills in the use of social relationships.
Role of “Student/Worker”
Each “student/worker” will decide which way s/he wants to:
a)
b)
c)
Begin,
Maintain, and
Conclude the interview, using the sandwich principle as a key element in
reviewing the major themes discussed.
The “student/worker” is responsible for the control of the interview. The concluding
aspect of the interview is to be evaluated in light of its impact on the “student/client”.
Continued practice will enable the “student/worker” to be constructively exposed to the
beginning, middle and termination phase of interviewing. At the conclusion of the
interview, the “student/worker” should demonstrate the ability to apply the sandwich
principle. (See endnote below).
The “student/worker” must bear in mind that when questions are asked, they must be
based on the theory found in the course text or in other relevant professional sources.
Questions should be facilitative probes that enhances the interviewing process. They
should not be “interrogative questions” which originate primarily from the
“student/worker’s” frame of reference, but more importantly, from the clients frame of
reference. The emphasis should be on the “student/worker’s” ability to pick up on the
relevant dimensions which the “student/client” brings to the interview as these pertain to
the thinking, feeling, behaviour and experience elements of their present situation. In all,
these skills call for flexibility and “at-ease-ment”. Students are invited to be gentle with
their learning process and to trust their insight and intuition as they give “birth” to a new
“social-work-self”.
By the time the “student/worker” does her/his final CD/audio recording for assignment
#2, it is expected that the “student/worker” brings with her/him a enriching repertoire of
attending, listening and responding skill to enable and facilitate the “student/client”
during the interviewing process. There is no fixed format of “techiniquing” the interview.
In a more dynamic thrust, the students are expected to be able to discriminate the level of
client functioning (energy level, feeling tone and general disposition), to attend, listen
and respond to the clients full communication and to provide the necessary and
appropriate interviewing skills which will enable the “student/client” to respond more
effectively to her/his world in terms of self-expression and self-exploration. The “studentworker” will utilize the knowledge and skills learned, and internalized from the course
test. The “student/worker” should base her/his interviewing skills on their level of
effectiveness based on their extensive investment in the learning process in their
readings, the classroom teaching/learning experience and their commitment to the
interviewing assignment.
Role of “Student/Client”
One way of learning the stages of the communication and intervention social
work model of helping is to apply them to problems and concerns you may have about
friends or people close to you. This means placing yourself in their shoes. You may take
a composite of different people and combine them into one client for the purpose of the
interview. You will role-play that client for a 5 minute period. You can use any of the
problems displayed in the Cournoyer test to assist you in narrowing down your selected
scenario.
Role of “Student Observer”
Each interview will last 5 minutes. The observers will keep track of the time and give the
“student/client” an indication that there is only a minute or so left to conclude the session.
The observers will evaluate the “student/worker” based on the knowledge acquired this
term from the course text and other relevant professional sources. The “student/observer”
will look carefully for verbal as well as non-verbal cues displayed by the
“student/worker”. The observer will also note verbal and non-verbal cues that were
missed by the “student/worker” during the interview. “Student/observers” are to enter
creatively and constructively into the dialogue which unfolds between the
“student/worker” and the “student/client” while concentrating on strengths and
weaknesses. Since there will be two observers to enhance the constructive critique of the
“student/worker/, it would be profitable to provide the “student/worker” with the written
comments that were jotted down by the observers.
Working Task Following the Five Minute Role Play Interview
Following each 5 minute interview, the “student/client” will have the opportunity
to indicate verbally:
1.
a)
b)
c)
d)
2.
In what way s/he experienced the interviewing session?
Her/his overall reaction to the interview.
Anything about the interviewer specifically (strengths as well as
weaknesses)
Any other general or overall reaction.
The “student/worker will then respond to how she/he experienced the
interviewing session with the “student/client”, indicating verbally:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Her/his immediate overall reaction to the interview.
Any reaction, feelings, or impressions related to the “student/client”.
Any further general or overall reactions.
Appreciation of her/his beginning, attending, listening, and responding
skills.
3. Next, the “student/observers, having sensitively and carefully
down the significant observations, will indicate
verbally and in writing:
jotted
a)
the “student/worker’s” ability or lack of ability in
beginning the interview, use of attending, listening and responding
skills.
b)
The various “student/worker” responses to the
“student/client” and their overall effectiveness or lack of
effectiveness in the interviewing session.
c)
the “student/worker’s” strengths and weaknesses in
both the verbal and non-verbal domain.
d)
Indicate the verbal or non-verbal skills the
“student/client” could have used as well as the communication and
interactional skills that could have been utilized in the interview.
d)
Any general or overall observations?
In the spirit of trust and mutual caring and sharing, it is hoped that students will allow
themselves in a sensitive, empathic and challenging way to remain open to the growing
pains entailed, not only in the teaching/learning process but in the process of giving birth
to a “new-social-work-self” - which spells out effectiveness in practice. The Carkhuff
and Berenson motto apply applies:
CARING
+
CONFRONTATION
=
GROWTH
It is expected that students will use the insight from the classroom lecture material, the
text book exercises and the small group encounters as material for their constructive
critique of the interviewing sessions as well as content for your major paper (i.e.
assignment #2). As a result of your commitment to the communication and interactional
skills required for professional practice and your concrete investment in this course, there
should be a marked improvement in the last interview required for this second
assignment.
The Sandwich Principle
The sandwich principle is a tool which allows the “student/worker” to sandwich an “end
to the interview” message between two empathic responses. The sandwich provides an
appropriate means to put closure to an interviewing session and is an important way to
communicate respect for the client. The sandwich principle is applied in the last minute
of the 5 minute interview (In an actual interview, this should be at least five minutes).
The sandwich principle has three integral components.
1. At the top of the sandwich, as it were, the “student/client”
provides the “student/worker” with an immediate verbal
response to the last communication.
2.
Immediately following this verbal response, the
“student/worker” indicates the end of the interviewing session.
(i.e. “We have about one minute left.”
3. At the bottom of the sandwich, the “student/worker” provides a
detailed summary of the content of the last 5 minute interview
picking up on the content, feeling, meaning, behaviour and
experience of the client. (Remember that the use of the
sandwich principle is an ideal way to let the client know how
much you listened to the major themes presented and it gives
you the content necessary to write your report for the agency
file).
211CompetencyDev08_09.doc
Created on 18/08/2008 4:26:00 PM
Created by Dr. Wilfred Gallant