Social transformation,collective health and community-based arts: ‘Buen Vivir’ and Ecuador's social circus programme

ABSTRACT

Worldwide, interest is increasing in community-based arts to promote social transformation. This study analyzes one such case. Ecuador's government, elected in 2006 after decades of neoliberalism, introduced Buen Vivir (‘good living’ derived from the Kichwan sumak kawsay), to guide development. Plans included launching a countrywide programme using circus arts as a sociocultural intervention for street-involved youth and other marginalised groups. To examine the complex ways by which such interventions intercede in ‘ways of being’ at the individual and collective level, we integrated qualitative and quantitative methods to document relationships between programme policies over a 5-year period and transformations in personal growth, social inclusion, social engagement and health-related lifestyles of social circus participants. We also conducted comparisons across programmes and with youth in other community arts. While programmes emphasising social, collective and inclusive pedagogy generated significantly better wellbeing outcomes, economic pressures led to prioritising productive skill-building and performing. Critiques of the government's operationalisation of Buen Vivir, including its ambitious technical goals and pragmatic economic compromising, were mirrored in social circus programmes. However, the programme seeded a grassroots social circus movement. Our study suggests that creative programmes introduced to promote social transformation can indeed contribute significantly to nurturing a culture of collective wellbeing.     

Does Practice Make Perfect?

Abstract

We tested an underlying assumption of social work field education, that more frequent practice of professional skills is associated with better student outcomes. One hundred eighty-eight students from four social work programs rated their skills and satisfaction and answered questions about frequency of practicing professional skills in field practicum. In addition, we had performance evaluations by their field instructors for 120 students. More frequent practice of nearly all 38 skills was associated with greater satisfaction with field education and greater self-evaluation of performance. Frequency of practicing about one-third of the skills was also associated with field instructors' evaluations of students. The results support the usefulness of repeatedly practicing skills in field education.     

Supporting personal and social development through child-led art projects in the early years settings

ABSTRACT

Personal and social development is an important area which influences children’s learning journey in all levels of education. Examining the impact of the arts on children’s development, there are several studies that adopt this focus. However, the majority of them focus on either primary or secondary education or on specific personal and social skills through a structured intervention, which is not compatible with the liberal context of the arts. Considering the importance of this area and the statement above, this research project was designed. The purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of a child-led art intervention in children’s personal and social development in the early years settings. The intervention used the ‘Play and Learn through the Arts’ (PLA) programme for a full school year. The participants were from a case study of a Greek early years setting with 5–6-year-old children. Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study. The findings revealed a positive influence of the arts, and more specifically of the PLA, on children’s personal and social skills.     

Supplementary Educational Model (SEM) in Social Work Education for Health Care Settings

ABSTRACT

A supplementary educational model (SEM) was developed and evaluated in order to expand educational opportunities for social work students, to enable a professional interaction for field instructors and to connect the academia teachers to the field. The study highlights the importance of SEM to update the current academic curricula to meet the ongoing changes and challenges in health care settings. One hundred thirty-seven B.A. students and 58 field instructors employed in health care settings participated in the project. Results indicated that 90% of the participants rated the knowledge contributions of the study days and study day satisfaction positively. The results suggest that SEM has potential as a tool to complement traditional field instruction programs.     

When Values Collide

Abstract

This paper reports on an analysis of qualitative data accrued across four research studies that addressed the experiences of field instructors in evaluating students and providing corrective feedback when necessary. Findings suggest that while tools for field evaluation are increasingly attempting to provide standardized, objective, and “impartial” measures of performance, these evaluations nevertheless occur within a professional and relational context that may undermine their value. As social workers, field instructors are guided by the professional values of respecting diversity, focusing on strengths and empowerment, advocating for vulnerable individuals, and valuing relationships as avenues for growth and change. By placing field instructors in a gatekeeping role, the university requires them to advocate for particular normative standards of professional behavior and to record a negative evaluation for a student who fails to achieve or adhere to these normative standards. Such activities can be in direct conflict with social workers' personal and professional values, thereby creating a disquieting paradox for the field instructor. Models of student evaluation must consider the influence of this conflict on the field instructor's ability to fulfill the role of professional gatekeeper and must find new ways of addressing the problematic student.     

Learning from lives together: medical and social work students’ experiences of learning from people with disabilities in the community

The study aims to evaluate an interprofessional community‐based learning event, focussing on disability. The learning opportunity was based on the Leicester Model of Interprofessional Education, organised around the experiences and perceptions of service users and their carers. Programme participants were drawn from medicine and social work education in Leicester, UK, bringing together diverse traditions in the care of people with disabilities. Small student groups (3–4 students) worked from one of the eight community rehabilitation hospitals through a programme of contact with people with disabilities in hospital, at home or in other community settings. The evaluation, in March 2005, used a mixed methods approach, incorporating questionnaire surveys, focus group interviews with students and feedback from service users. Responses were collated and analysed using quantitative and qualitative measures. Fifty social work and 100 medical students completed the first combined delivery of the module. The findings indicated that the merging of social work and medical perspectives appear to create some tensions, although overall the student experience was found to be beneficial. Service users (16 responses) valued the process. They were not concerned at the prospect of meeting a number of students at home or elsewhere and were pleased to think of themselves as educators. Problems and obstacles still anticipated include changing the mindset of clinicians and practising social workers to enable them to support students from each other’s disciplines in practice learning. The generally positive outcomes highlight that disability focussed joint learning offers a meaningful platform for interprofessional education in a practice environment.     

Field Instructor Turnover

This study examined the turnover of field instructors in relation to agency and university support, and to the intrinsic satisfaction from field instruction. As expected, both agency and university supports positively influenced the decision of field instructors to continue taking students. The intrinsic rewards that evolved from the content of the work were: teaching and sharpening practice skills; learning new ideas; contributing to the profession; and relieving the boredom of the job. As hypothesized, all the above variables correlated positively with the plans of field instructors to take students the next year. The quality of the student correlated with all the major variables of the study.     

The Heart of Social Work: Best Practitioners Rise to Challenges in Field Instruction

ABSTRACT

Field, as the “signature pedagogy,” is the heart of social work education. However, field education has encountered challenges both in academia and in agencies that serve as field placements. This study explores the ways in which best practitioners in field instruction—10 field instructors who won the Heart of Social Work Award through the Council on Social Work Education—are rising to the challenges of supervising social work interns. These include (a) teaching a wide variety of skills of assessment and intervention, (b) balancing the teaching of these skills with the encouragement of reflection, (c) teaching interns to connect theory and practice, (d) developing an integrative model of supervision, (e) applying research to practice, (f) showing appropriate support to interns, and (g) upholding the mission of field education in the face of fiscal retrenchment and pressures for accountability. Findings of the study show that field instructors are responding with impressive energy and creativity to these challenges and also suggest the need for greater collaboration between field instructors and schools of social work.     

How effectively does the full-day,play-based kindergarten programme in Ontario promote self-regulation,literacy, and numeracy?

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten (FDELK) programme, which integrates play-based learning and team teaching, in promoting 32,027 kindergarteners’ self-regulation (SR), literacy, and numeracy outcomes. Outcome measures derived from teacher reports of students’ school readiness in the Early Development Instrument were analysed in separate hierarchical regression analyses that controlled for individual and school-level characteristics. Results revealed essentially no benefit for students participating in the FDELK programme when compared to peers in Half-Day Kindergarten (HDK) or Alternate-Day Kindergarten programmes. Being older, female, and in higher socio-economic status schools with a history of higher achievement predicted more positive SR, literacy, and numeracy outcomes. Findings suggest the FDELK programme requires improvement. Play-based learning programmes, such as the FDELK, might be enhanced by incorporating evidence-based guidelines and goals for play, reducing class sizes to more effectively scaffold learning, and revising curriculum expectations to include a greater focus on SR, literacy, and numeracy skills.     

Music‐making for health and wellbeing in youth justice settings: mediated affordances and the impact of context and social relations

Young people in the criminal justice system experience significant health and wellbeing issues that often stem from poverty and disadvantage and, in turn, are linked with offending and reoffending behaviour. There is ongoing interest in interventions such as participatory music programmes that seek to foster social reintegration, support mental wellbeing and equip young offenders with life skills, competencies and emotional resilience. However, there is a need for a situated understanding of both positive and negative experiences that shape potential outcomes of music projects. This article reports on a research study undertaken between 2010 and 2013 with 118 young people aged 13–21 years across eight youth justice settings in England and Wales. Using mixed methods we explored the experiences of young people and their responses to a participatory music programme led by a national UK arts charity. Here, we explore the impact of young people's encounters with music and musicians with reference to the notion of ‘musical affordances’ (DeNora 2000 , 2003 ). We examine the ways that such affordances, including unintended outcomes, are mediated by features of the youth justice environment, including its rules and regulations, as well as issues of power, identity and social relations.     

Field Instructors' Position in the Organization and Their Function with Students

ABSTRACT

This study examines the differences in organizational variables among field instructors holding positions on three organizational levels: direct workers, supervisors, and executives. Social work students from Canada and Israel reported their view of field instructors on self-administered questionnaires. The students of field instructors holding management positions perceived their field instructors as being more competent and less formal. Students of agency supervisors perceived their field instructor as concerned less with recording, and devoting less time to the instruction. These results are discussed in light of the unity of command model.     

Self-Disclosure of Sexual Orientation in Social Work Field Education: Field Instructor and Lesbian and Gay Student Perspectives

ABSTRACT

In-depth interviews were conducted with lesbian and gay recent MSW graduates (n = 6) and experienced field instructors (n = 8) to explore sexual orientation–related challenges in social work field education. Data were analyzed using techniques from grounded theory and NVivo qualitative software. Self-disclosure emerged as a central theme in the establishment of a positive learning environment for lesbian and gay students in field education, including the benefits of student self-disclosure to learning, the responsibility of the field instructor, and the role of the agency context. Schools of social work may benefit from training and sensitizing field instructors to develop competence in providing educational experiences for LGBT students.     

An Experiential Learning Lab Embedded in a Didactic Course: Outcomes from a Pediatric Intervention Course

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the outcomes of an experiential learning lab embedded in a didactic course. Program evaluation results were derived from student surveys and reflective journaling. The outcomes indicate that students valued the opportunity for experiential learning citing the primary benefits as the opportunity to, apply and manipulate knowledge, build clinical reasoning skills, and develop the professional skills to engage in and effectively manage an intervention session.     

Arts-based learning in medical education: the students' perspective

Medical Education 2011: 45 : 1090–1100 Context Arts subjects are often included in medical school curricula to facilitate the exploration of non‐scientific elements of medicine, such as communication, social, political, emotional and spiritual issues. However, little research has reported on students’ experience of arts teaching. Performing Medicine is a programme created by the Clod Ensemble theatre company in collaboration with Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and the Department of Drama at Queen Mary University, London. Professional artists run a range of workshops exploring issues relating to health care and work to develop students’ professional skills in self‐presentation, observation, communication, self‐care and their understanding of difference. This article presents an analysis of student‐written material about Performing Medicine. Methods A dataset of written student materials (reflections and feedback), drawn from three academic years (2006–2009), was analysed using the qualitative methods of thematic analysis and word frequency analysis. Results Five prevalent themes were identified: (i) Acting like a doctor; (ii) Developing broader awareness of others; (iii) The self in focus; (iv) The art of communication, and (v) A place for arts‐based teaching within the medical curriculum. The corpus linguistic analysis confirmed and elaborated on the five themes found in the thematic analysis. Conclusions Students generally felt that arts teaching made a valuable contribution to the medical curriculum. Many felt the training would reduce ‘performance anxiety’ in situations such as examinations, presentations and new placements. Group work developed camaraderie and students enjoyed the opportunity to learn new skills through creative writing, theatre and movement sessions. Some sessions developed students' ability to engage with and relate to people from very different backgrounds than their own.     

Promoting social inclusion for young people affected by psycho-social disability in India – a realist evaluation of a pilot intervention

ABSTRACT

India has 600 million young people, more than any other country in the world. Mental illness is the leading burden of disease for young people, and those affected experience restrictions in social participation that compromise recovery. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a peer-led, community-based, participatory group intervention on social inclusion and mental health among 142 young people affected by psycho-social disability (PSD) in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand. Qualitative data were obtained via in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions. A realist evaluation identified contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes to develop the programme theory. Group participants described intermediate outcomes including establishment of new peer friendship networks, increased community participation, greater self-efficacy (for young women particularly), and improved public image (for young men) that are likely to have contributed to the primary outcomes of greater (self-perceived) social inclusion and improved mental health (as assessed quantitatively). Mechanisms were identified that explain the link between intervention and outcomes. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of a brief intervention to improve mental health and social inclusion for young people with PSD and are potentially relevant to programme implementers and policy-makers working with young people and promoting social inclusion, in other low- and middle-income settings.     

What field instructors of social work students need from hospital field work programs.

Hospital field instructors of graduate social work students can experience considerable stress in managing their dual roles as practitioners and teachers. This paper looks at the kinds of supports that field instructors need from hospital social work departments to help them experience field instruction positively. Annual program evaluations completed by field instructors at one hospital over a five year period were analyzed. Findings suggest that ongoing departmental seminars for field instructors can be critical in supporting them in this role well beyond the first year. Implications for retaining field instructors and directions for further research are highlighted.     

Ranking Desirable Field Instructor Characteristics: Viewing Student Preferences in Context with Field and Class Experience

Although research on what students consider desirable in field instructors is extensive, little of it focuses on the relative weight students assign to each of their preferences or the context within which student preferences emerge. This article reports the survey findings from a case study that asked BSW graduates to rank the desirable characteristics of field instructors, and then provides supporting interview data that describe their experiences with the six most highly rated items. The social worker scale received the highest mean compared with the teacher and person scales, respectively. Specifically, “availability” ranked highest followed by four items on the social worker scale. In aggregate, the data suggest that students expect their instructors to be role models and learn much about professional behavior by observing it negatively enacted. Implications for research and field education are discussed.