Teaching and Learning in Supervision

In-person Seminar  
Instructor: Ronjonette O’Bannon, M.S.W., Ph.D.
Level: Intermediate  
CE/Contact Hours: 8.5 
Target Audience: Social workers and other social service providers who are currently providing clinical supervision and have supervised for at least three years.
Course Delivery Method, Format and Instructor Interaction: Live in-person seminar

In this course participants will review theories that inform the process of teaching and learning in supervision of clinical practice. Learning theories, developmental models for supervisors and supervisees, and matters of power, social identity, cultural diversity, and contexts of practice will be discussed as they affect the process of teaching within social work supervision. These models will be reviewed as a means of assisting participants in conceptualizing factors that influence how they think about and practice the art of teaching the adult learner in the supervisory context. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the operative elements of social work supervision with specific attention to learning strategies specific to clinical practice
2. Identify stages of supervisor and supervisee development and explore their impact on the supervisory process  
3. Demonstrate understanding of selected theories of learning that impact the supervisory situation
4. Discover the interface of power (individual, institutional and structural) and intersectional identities with attention to the ways in which these dynamics may influence the teaching and learning processes in the supervisory process
5. Explain the importance of context as it shapes social work practice and supervision and can shape the learning experience

Outline:

Session 1: Introduction, Overview and Framing    
Class Outline Day 1: 1.75 hours with 10-minute break 

1. Exploring the supervision contract as a frame for learning 
2. Central learning strategies in clinical supervision 
3. Developmental trajectories of supervisor and supervisee and the impact on the supervisory process 

Session 2: Vygotsky and Theories of Learning: Affective, Cognitive, Cultural and Interpersonal aspects   

Class Outline Day 2: 2 hours with 10-minute break

1. Cultural perspectives on theory 
2. Learning as having affective, cognitive, cultural and interpersonal components 
3. Vygotsky: Social context of learning, language as it assists and mediates learning, zone of proximal development, scaffolding 
4. Bruner: Scaffolding, the role of the "tutor" 
5. Applications to supervision 

Session 3: Andragogy, Experiential Learning and Learning Styles   

Class Outline Day 3: 2 hours with 10-minute break

1. Andragogy vs. pedagogy 
2. Cognitive learning styles 

Session 4 – Intersectionality, Power and Context in Supervision   

Class Outline Day 4: 2 hours with 10-minute break

1. Navigating intersectional identities in supervision 
2. Accounting for context (individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural) 
3. Critical consciousness and cultural humility as ongoing learning strategies 
4. Dialogic reflexivity as a pedagogy of relationship 

Session 5 – Integrating theoretical concepts in supervision   

Class Outline Day 5: 2 hours with 10-minute break

1. Conceptualizing as asset, mode and defense 
2. Domains of SW theory: "Know your own" and share it 
3. Questions that encourage conceptual work 
4. Teaching theory through process recording
5. Self-care for supervisor and supervisee in challenging clinical settings