In Search of an Informed Supervisory Practice: An Exploratory Study

In Search of a Professional Supervisory Practice: External Social Work Supervision in China

“…Belardi () reported that most supervisors hold a full time job in the social service sector but provide consultation services on a part‐time basis. In New Zealand, social work supervision is pluralistic and external supervisors provide training through short courses or other forms of support for inexperienced social workers (O’ Donoghue & Tsui, ).…”

“…In England, social work supervision is seen as a tool to place accountability and a kind of managerial control (Manthorpe, Moriarty, Hussein, Stevens & Sharpe, ). In Australia, the educational functions of a supervisor are largely neglected (O’ Donoghue & Tsui, ). Performance management and accountability have become the focus of attention.…”

The historical development of knowledge in social work supervision: Finding new directions from the past

“…The impact of managerialism facilitated the rise of external supervision (Bradley and Höjer, 2009; Maidment and Beddoe, 2012). O’Donoghue and Tsui (2012) claimed that the professional functions of supervision were gradually eroded by the effects of managerialism. Social workers expected a kind of supervision that was worker-focused and growth-oriented (Manthorpe et al, 2015), and supported a movement for professional autonomy (Beddoe, 2012, 2015).…”

“…Knowing what social work supervision is, how to practice it, and how to work through what is presented and transpires in the interactional process is a prerequisite for supervisory practice. In relation to these prerequisites, O’Donoghue and Tsui (2012) developed a knowledge map for informed supervisory practice that comprises three domains of knowledge: experiential wisdom, conceptual interpretive reasoning, and personal and interpersonal sensitivity. Having provided an overview of the background, the remainder of this article focuses on the development of knowledge in social work supervision, first by providing an overview of the historical development of knowledge in social work supervision across five distinct phases, and second by discussing the future direction of the development of knowledge in social work supervision.…”

Toward an indigenized external supervision approach in China

“…Although most of the contemporary social work organizations adopt a line management supervision model (Cousins, 2010), tensions inherent in the supervision process and issues of professional autonomy become an area of concern (Beddoe and Egan, 2009). Moreover, the educative functions of supervision gradually disappear because of the effects of managerialism (Tsui and Cheung, 2004; O’Donoghue and Tsui, 2012). However, many social workers still hope that their supervisors can support them with competent knowledge in social work theories and methods (Bradley and Hojer, 2009; Maidment and Beddoe, 2012).…”