Making the connections: A practice model for reflective supervision

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Over several decades, social work in Aotearoa New Zealand has undergone major alterations in service delivery in response to the management of risk and surveillance of practice within the neoliberal government agenda. Working in such an environment, social workers struggle to critically explore their position and professionally develop their practice. To support current professional practice in social work, reflective supervision has become a necessity for analysing and amplifying positive practice outcomes that benefit practitioners and service users. METHOD:A four-layered practice model of reflective supervision has been developed by the researcher from a theoretical analysis of a study involving key informant and supervisory dyads. The purpose of the reflective supervision model is to support the agenda, task and process in the supervisory relationship towards critical reflection of practice. FINDINGS:The four-layered practice model highlights the interrelationship between the social worker, the organisation, relationships with others, and the systemic contexts where practice occurs. The supervisee and supervisor have vital roles in order for reflection to occur in each supervision session. CONCLUSIONS:Reflective supervision is seen as a co-constructed partnership between the supervisor and supervisee and the four-layered practice model assists in providing a structure for the session. The four-layered model supports critical thinking in the socio-political and socio-cultural environment, promotes social justice strategies and has versatility within a number of practice settings.

Social work supervision in child and family services: Developing a working theory of how and why it works

“…In England, there has also been a concerted effort in practice to provide more effective supervisory support, particularly for early-career practitioners (Schraer, 2016). Similar efforts have been made elsewhere, as Rankine (2017) outlines in relation to Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite these well-intended and in many cases successful efforts the general picture remains one of concern about the managerial capture of supervision (Manthorpe, Moriarty, Hussein, Stevens, & Sharpe, 2015;Wilkins, Forrester, & Grant, 2017).…”

“…Turner-Daly and Jack (2015) found that supervision sessions in England may focus on case-management to the exclusion of much else, while Baginsky et al (2010) reported that senior managers often consider supervision to be a mechanism for performance-management, rather than a forum for support. In Aotearoa New Zealand, similar concerns have been expressed by Rankine (2017) and Moorhouse, Hay, and O'Donoghue (2014), with the suggestion that supervision functions in many cases as a mechanism for the surveillance of practice within a neoliberal context.…”

A manager’s challenge: Is external supervision more valuable than increased training money for staff?

“…Within the organisation it is easier to fully manage service delivery, facilitate professional development and focus practitioner work (Beddoe & Davys, 2016). Rankine (2017) noted that internal supervision can be used to recreate and change team culture through exploring the assumptions behind staff actions and the organisation's policies and, if there are differences noted, whether they could be used to improve the client service.…”

“…Internal supervision does, however, tend to emphasise organisational policies and tends to focus on casework and organisational goals (Rankine, 2017). For this reason it can be useful to split the session between focusing on organisation requirements and using the supervision time to let the person explore possible options that would benefit clients most.…”

What we were reading in 2018

“…Matt Rankine (2017), in 'Making the connections: A practice model for reflective supervision,' describes a new model of reflective supervision arguing for an approach to community social work supervision that is grounded in a co-constructed partnership between the supervisor and supervisee. Rankine presents a four-layered model to support critical thinking in the diverse socio-political and cultural contexts of social work and promotes social justice strategies.…”