SOCIAL WORK

SUPERVISION
SUPERVISION – IS A DYNAMIC
ENABLING PROCESS
• by which individual workers, who have a direct
responsibility for carrying out some of the agency program
plans, are helped by
the designated staff member
• to make the best use of their ability so that they can do
their job more effectively and with increasing
satisfaction to themselves and to the agency (Cordero,
et.al)
SUPERVISION : CHARLOTTE
TOWLE
• An administrative process in the conduct of which
staff development is a major concern.
• In this process, the supervisor has three functions:
administrative, teaching and helping. -
SUPERVISION: CHARLES
ZASTROW

Regarding Supervision, every agency administrator wants

social workers who are “team players “and who respond
to supervision in a positive manner rather than becoming
defensive when critical comments and suggestions are
given.
ALFRED KADUSHIN

An agency administrative staff member to whom the

authority is delegated to direct, coordinate, enhance and
evaluate the on- the job performance of the supervisees
for whose work he is held accountable.
SOCIAL WORK SUPERVISION

• Authority
• Direct
• Coordinate
• Enhance
• Evaluate

• Functions
• Administrative
• Educational
• Supportive
Social Work
Supervision as
Art and Process
PASWI, 1997 in
Pangalangan 2000
 SOCIAL WORK SUPERVISION
• Enabling workers and students to perform their functions under the
guidance of the supervisor
• Meaningful learning process experienced by supervisor and supervisee
• Both develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes
• Process is aimed at development of creativity
• As supervisee gain competence, better quality of service is achieved
Historical
Development
of Social
Work
Supervision
 HISTORY
• US
• 1898- 1st full time school of social work: New York School of Philanthropy
(Columbia U School of Social Work)
• Philippines
• Mid 30’s – Social Welfare Administrators – School Teachers without social
work training
• CEU offered non-degree social work training
 HISTORY

• 1947 – PNRC, Social Welfare Commission and PRRA (Assisted by UN

Consultants) – in – service training in social work

• 12 November 1947 – PASW (now PASWI)

• 1950 – PWU – 1st formal education – 1 year graduate social work to
incumbent social welfare agency heads

• 1951 – MSSW
 HISTORY
• Other Pioneer Schools of Social Work: UP, CEU & ASI

• 50’s – undergraduate social work curriculum approved by Dept. of

Education
• Some British social workers went to US for training in supervision

• Dec. 1951 (PASWI, organized in 1948 held) Supervisors’ Conference on

supervisory techniques with foreign lecturers and consultants

• 1961-1963 UP CSWCD sponsored seminars defining the group of

students and agency supervisor
 HISTORY

• 19 June 1965 – RA 4373 – 1000 hours of supervised fieldwork

• Inclusion of Introduction to Social Work Administration and Group in
BSSW Curriculum

• May 1980 Agency Field Instructors Seminar jointly sponsored by MSSD

and SSWAP. The objectives were to develop guidelines for school and
agency partnership in field instructors & enhance skills in student
supervision
OBJECTIVES
OF
SUPERVISION:
 OBJECTIVES

• To deliver the best possible service (quantitatively, qualitatively) in

accordance with policies and procedures.
• Supervisor performs indirect service to clients.
• To implement agency purposes and plans and continually deepen the
quality of service
• Provides opportunity for development of skills, knowledge and techniques
in social work practice.
Basic
Assumptions
That Provide
Essential
Framework of
Supervision in
the Philippines
 ASSUMPTIONS

1. Supervision aims towards the agency’s control over services and practice.
• Supervision always involves intellectual teaching
• All supervision has psychological component which includes emotional
support, power or use of authority and self-actualization.
 ASSUMPTION
2. Recognizes that supervision is essentially a function of administrative
leadership which is aimed at:
• accomplishment of the administrative goals of the agency rather than
therapeutic for supervisees.
• fusion of administrative and teaching activities in one dynamic process.
• judicious use of administrative power and authority.
 ASSUMPTIONS
3. Stresses the supervisory process as a learning process when:
• There is acceptance of the learner
• There is an orderly process of integration of materials from simple to
complex
• Giving of specific knowledge to ease anxiety
• Requires basic knowledge in the social work methods through formal
graduate training in social work.
ROLE AND
FUNCTION OF
SUPERVISOR:
Supervisor is a mid-
position in a social
agency or in a
department whose
main function is to
provide a social work
service.
ROLE AND FUNCTION
• a member of agency team employed to accomplish the agency’s purpose
and functions.
• Carries responsibilities within allotted segment of the agency.
• Has a responsibility for a certain number workers and or student.
• Has the responsibility for seeing to it that the work of the agency gets
done and done well.
ROLE AND FUNCTION
• Workers/ students are enabled to improve their skills to the limits of their
ability through a combination of administration, teaching and helping
functions enhanced throughout by clear communication.
• Carries mid- management role; responsible to and helping those above
and below him in the hierarchy of his agency.
• Utilizing his knowledge of administration to enhance services to the
clients
ROLE AND FUNCTION

• Utilizing knowledge and skills in social work practice to improve agency

functioning through teaching and stimulating and enabling staff to carry out
their responsibilities most effectively.
• Ability to form a variety of relationship, patience, enthusiasm, and keep
one’s head when all around are losing theirs and blaming him for it.
TEACHING
FUNCTION
OF THE
SUPERVISOR:
 TEACHING

A.) Planning

Supervisor has to plan work

experience for a supervisee which
will give him the opportunity to
learn and to progress as a worker.
 TEACHING
B.) Providing a climate for learning

Supervisor teaches sensitivity to the

needs of the worker at both the
intellectual and feeling level which enable
the worker to integrate feeling and
intellectual functioning in the practice
of social work.
TEACHING
INCLUDES:
TEACHING
• Helps SUPERVISEES learn what they need to know so that they can do
their assignment effectively.
• Transfers knowledge, stimulates thinking, leads out with new ideas, holds
workers to grapple with new ideas, encourages conscious thinking
process.
• Provides workers opportunity to discuss their work and appraise it to
arrive at decisions and learn helping skills.
TEACHING

• Regularly scheduled individual or group supervisory conference is the

primary methodology utilized for teaching in supervision;
a. The content is the supervisee’s performance
b. Pre-planning and preparation are extremely
necessary; supervisor and
supervisee engage in critical analysis of
the work submitted by the supervisee
SOME
POINTS OF
EFFECTIVE
TEACHING:
 EFFECTIVE TEACHING
1. Start with the familiar and move to the unfamiliar.

2. Start with simple and move on to the complex.

3. Learning should be done in an orderly progression.

 EFFECTIVE TEACHING
4. Repetition reinforces learning.

5. Learning by doing increases motivation and provides opportunities

for the correction of misunderstood principles or theories.

6. Recognition of good works stimulates further learning.

Kadushin
Principles:
 KADUSHIN PRINCIPLES
1. They are highly motivated to learn.

2. They can devote most of their energies to learning.

3. Learning is attended by positive satisfaction.

 KADUSHIN PRINCIPLES
4. Learners are actively involved in the learning process.

5. The contents to be learned is meaningfully presented

6. The uniqueness of the learner is considered.

HELPING
FUNCTION
OF THE
SUPERVISO
R:
HELPING FUNCTION
a. Supporting and sustaining the worker through stressful situations.

b. Providing a positive climate for learning

c. Managing the supervisory relationship in a helping way.

d. Making sure of what he knows about people and their behavior in

working with others.
 HELPING FUNCTION
e. Helping workers to identify and modify feelings and other obstacles
which are impeding their progress.

f. Helping the supervisee deal with job- related stress.

g. Developing attitudes and feelings in the workers which are conducive

to job performance.
 MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF
SUPERVISOR:

- decision making - communication

- planning - coordination
- staffing - monitoring
- human resource - evaluation
development
Supervisory
Relationship
(Supervisor-
Supervisee
Relationship)
 SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP
• central to process of working together

• professional and interactive – not personal

• for purpose of achieving better service to clients

• partnership of unequals with authority vested on supervisor

 SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP
• democratic and participative

• guided by organizational goals and professional ethics

• mutual acceptance of each other’s roles

• positive interaction
3 Core
Elements of
Supervision
(Kaiser 1997)
CORE ELEMENTS
1. Power and authority
- attitude toward power differential
- power that underlie dual roles
2. Shared meaning
- mutual understanding and agreement in sup
process
3. Trust
- honesty
- handling of supervisee’s feelings of
vulnerability

Rapport, trust, caring – Elements parallel to Social Worker-Client Relationship

(Shulman 1995)
Ethical
Principles of
Supervisory
Relationship
(Levy 1973)
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
1. must be in consonance with spec values and judged not by
consequence but by its intention.
2. Action is motivated by worth and dignity of supervisee.
3. In involving supervisee in providing agency
services and working together in doing
expected tasks, ethics demand an unbiased
approach in evaluating supervisee’s
performance.
 ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
3. Provide opportunity for the supervisee’s creative growth and
development, even beyond that which is necessary for immediate agency
work
4. provide opportunity for supervisee to realize
professional aspirations within and beyond the agency situation.
5. work expectation must be clarified with supervisee and provide bases
for evaluating job performance
.
Types of
Supervision
TYPES OF SUPERVISION
Individual - one to one supervision
Group - orientation, case presentation, sharing
of knowledge and experiences
Consultation - worker is responsible for the focus
Tutorial - case accountability, performance
evaluation, linkage to rest of agency
Peer – group supervision - case discussion
among equals; group leader facilitates
- members are experienced enough
TYPES OF SUPERVISION
Tandem – like peer group supervision to make vital contributions
- experienced workers
- collaboration, can cover each other’s cases
Team
- consists of varied members of agency
- assigned leader not responsible for
teaching
- meet regularly; team decides in every case
presented
 REFERENCES:
• Cordero, Erlinda A. et. al. (2013). Administration and Supervision in Social
Work. Philippines: Cordero, Gutierrez and Pangalangan.
• De Guzman, L.S.(1983). Fundamentals of Social Work. Manila: SSWAP.
• Mendoza, T.L. (2008). Social Welfare and Social Work. (3rd Edition). Quezon
City, Philippines. Central Book Supply, Inc.
REFERENCES
• Pangalangan, Evelina A. (2000). Supervision in Social Work. Philippine
Encyclopedia of Social Work (2000 edition). Manila: NASWEI.
• Smith, M. K. (1996, 2005) 'The functions of supervision', the encyclopedia
of informal education,
• Zastrow, C. Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: Empowering
People. (10th Edition). Canada. PrePress PMG.