Running Head: Evaluation of Practice Paper 1

Evaluation of Practice Paper

Trisha Wisniewski
Wayne State University
Saturday, June 7, 14

Evaluation of Practice Paper 2

Introduction

This paper will provide an evaluation into my field placement at the Boll Family
YMCA, the mission of the organization, and the I Rise program. This paper will take a
closer look at the evaluation of my personal discipline with the group, analysis if this
placement was a good fit, ways to enhance my practice, and how this placement has
helped in developing and understanding the professional values and ethics needed in
social work.

Discussion
The Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) is a charitable organization
dedicated to creating social responsibility and both lasting personal and social change
(Young Mens Christian Association [YMCA], 2012). The YMCAs mission is to
strengthen the community through supporting and encouraging youth development,
instilling a sense of social responsibility, and promoting healthy living (YMCA, 2012).
The YMCA is devoted to ensuring a positive self-esteem and optimism for the people.
The fostering of activities is designed in an appropriate manner to inspire healthier
lifestyles and strong bodies. Educational services are thoughtfully created and delivered
for the sake of underprivileged people that lead to satisfactory education.
The I Rise program is an outstanding representation of the mission of the YMCA.
The I Rise program is a family empowerment program, which designed to help families
rise out of the gap population and from relying assistance. The program is designed to
help families achieve and maintain a level of self-sufficiency along with educational,
financial, career and life goals support (YMCA, 2012). The partners are motivated to
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visualize more and accomplish it for themselves though life coaching. The life coach
encourages the partners to identify personal and professional goals, aid partners to
recognize their own personal strengthens and hidden potential. The use of a warm
community referral connects our partners to the resources within their community
(YMCA, 2012). Lastly, a childcare scholarship is provided to the partners to help lessen
the burden of cost of quality childcare. Together these resources help families rise out of
the gap and overcome obstacles related to economic, financial, educational, and social
stigmas.
Evaluation of Personal Practice
To evaluate personal practice within the group, I mainly use self-reflection and
self-feedback. The BSW program strongly encourages the use of self-reflection
throughout the program, so I felt empowered to incorporate this into my field placement.
During field placement, I was encouraged to keep a journal of my accounts and
experiences. Field instructor, Nikita Buckhoy, encouraged the use of a journal as tool for
self-evaluation and self-feedback. Developing lifelong learning skills has an importance,
by evaluating myself; I am able to recognize my strengths and my weaknesses. This built
an understanding of critical thinking skills necessary for feedback. In addition, positive
feedback and negative feedback is something that one must welcome as room for growth
and potential. Although, I welcome all forms of feedback I particularly welcome
negative feedback as a form of constructive criticism and using that as a pathway for
success. Negative feedback can provide an incredible opportunity to show your ability for
learning and growth potential.
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During field placement, I have demonstrated the use of self-reflection and self-
evaluation in a form of a journal. For example, after weekly forums self-reflection was a
tool that I used to determine the success of the forum or things that could be improved
upon. In my journal, I would record my personal expectancies, purpose, objective, and
results. I would then list how the children interrupted the forum and presentation. I
found this to be beneficial, to assist me with working through my feelings about the
forum, but also to come up with questions for the task and field supervisors. I found that
when I have a chance to talk through my thoughts and feelings on paper (or the
computer), I am able to have a more beneficial discussion with my leadership team.
Reflecting also allows me to gain a better understanding of my own thought process,
reaction and approach.
Overall, self-reflection helped me identify my effectiveness in the presentations
and my level of engagement during the childrens activities. Similarly, self-reflection has
helped me to identify weaknesses and areas for development. In my journal, I leave a
column at the end labeled things that could have been done differently, this is where I
critique myself then encourage guidance or advice from my supervisor. My leadership
team and I have forum recaps after every forum to talk about the skills, strategies and
techniques that were used during the forum. I found these meetings highly rewarding and
an excellent opportunity to gain both positive and negative constructive feedback.
Impact on the Group
The I Rise program is a family empowerment program designed to give parents
life coaching and encourage family empowerment. When parents enter into the I Rise
program they are surveyed and assessed using a matrix. The program itself is designed
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around the adult members of the group and not their children. With that being said, I am
only working with the children of the I Rise program. The children are not required to
take any surveys, nor are they evaluated or assessed during this process. At first, I had a
hard time judging my impact on the group. However, based off my observations and
parent feedback I can see that I am making a positive impact on the children. For
example, when the children return to their parents, many times I hear the children
discussing the activities and happenings with their parent. There is a level of enthusiasm
in their voice, which leads me to think that some of the children are engaged and
connected to the learning experience. The second way I can measure my impact on the
group is the childrens behavior and participation level. Prior to having interns, the
children in the group were sent to a child watch room at the YMCA. Many of the
children were accustomed to free play without any structure activities. At first, the
children were highly resistant to the change. I was trying to implement a new plan;
therefore causing them to be hesitant to participate in structured play. Many of the
children at first would express avoidance, refuse to participate and not follow the any of
the rules of the group. For example, some of the children would mock the instructors,
disrespect each other property and not follow the rules and values established by the Y. I
found that changes in positive behavior modification, setting clear and appropriate
boundaries provided the group with a better learning experience. Overtime, I have
noticed all of the children now want to participate in the group activities and no longer
displaying disruptive behaviors. I feel that the changes in behavior and participation may
be an indication that the strategies implemented are proving to be effective.

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Skills
My field placement granted me the opportunity to test the knowledge and skills
that I have acquired in my academic courses while allowing me to identify areas where I
still need some training and improvement. The skills needed to work in my field
placement include the generalist social work skills such as interpersonal skills, experience
in research and knowledge of theories and methods. The interpersonal skills I found
most useful while in field placement where: active listening, non-verbal responses/body
language, empathic responses and the use of open-ended questions. Interpersonal skills
are a necessary skill set when working with clients because it is these very skills that
allow us to interact in a meaningful way. Another skill that has been added to my
toolbox is research. At my field placement, I have started seeking and researching grants
for the sustainment of the I Rise program. Once the appropriate grant is found I will then
assist the management team with writing the proposal. The ability to locate grants and
attain them is highly sought after skill for many non-profit organizations.
Additionally, another skillset that is useful for this field placement is the
knowledge of different theories and models. The learning of theories and models in the
classroom surrounding human behavior in a social environment has proven to be useful
and beneficial in my field placement. During my placement, I am predominantly
working with children of all different age groups, from ages 3 years old on up to 15 years
of age. What I found, was that the children of the I Rise program were never involved in
structure play prior to my arrival; therefore, they were allowed to free play the entire
time. As a result, I found that the children would not behave or listen when I would try to
engage them in the scheduled structure activities. The use of theories of child
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development and learning along with the constructivist theory as a basis, I was able to
create a program that was more age appropriate to the childrens developmental needs. I
found that the children respond when they are engaged as active participates in the
learning process. To reinforce positive behavior, I implemented the strengths perspective
as a means to empower the children so that they have control over the learning process.
Other techniques used when a child encountered a difficult situation were the use of
individualized attention plans and customization to the agenda to help the child address
his or her difficulties. My main goal was not to label or retain the child but to let them
flourish through the incorporation of their experiences into the agenda. For example,
when a child was having a hard time in the group there was a table where they could go
and talk to one of the interns and get individual redirection or to help develop a change in
the groups agenda.
Was it a Good Fit
In the beginning, the population that I was serving did not seem like a good fit for
me because I was not aware that I would be working exclusively with children. During
my interview, I was under the assumption that I would be working with the adult
members of the I Rise program by providing community resources and assisting with
case management. As it became evident, I was working with the children fulltime, I was
able to engage and effectively serve this population. I realize that the miscommunication
inhibited my experience. It was not that I did not know about the population, I felt that
my expectations were misguided. As a result, I began to develop activities and projects
based around the childrens interests and participated as a facilitated learner in the
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learning process. Overall, working with the youth population was a good fit for me
because it was something that I was already very familiar with.
Improvements
Working with children can be a rewarding yet challenging experience. Even
though I have a knowledge base in the population more information and skills are needed
to facilitate the childrens forum. The forums are continuing to be a work in progress; I
have found that what works with one group of children may not necessary work on
another groups of children. The implementation of different strategies and having
backup plans readily available are critical. Secondly, being more assertive with the
children. At times, I find that the children are not necessary listening and having method
available to help redirect the children can be helpful. I have researched some evidence
based best practices to gain a better understanding of the topic and have found many of
the skills I am already using in the literature. Finally, reaching out to other experts or
experienced professionals who have knowledge in the field of working with children may
add value and insight. For example, my task supervisor also helps facilitates the day
camps at the YMCA, by expressing my concern she was able to provide me with an age
appropriate activity playbook to help facilitate the structure activities.
Ethical Social Work Practices
My field placement at the YMCA has contributed to my knowledge of ethical,
social work practices in multiple ways. An ethical dilemma is a complex situation for an
intern. If an ethical dilemma occurred during my placement I felt comfortable seeking
out the direction of my field supervisor and task supervisor. For example, some of the
children in the group love dramatic play. A few of the children decided to take some
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bandanas from the play area and place them around their face, as a ski mask, and then use
toy blocks as guns. The children then ran around the room using offensive language and
gestures. I am familiar enough with children to know that children love dramatic play;
however, I was unsure if this was appropriate behavior within a group environment. I did
not want to impose my values and beliefs onto the client. I know that valuing the
differences among individuals is important, so I sought out guidance from my field
supervisor. Seeking guidance and direction from qualified colleagues is apart of my
competency and my duty to uphold the values and ethics set forth in the NASW
principles.
Values in Social Work
This field placement has guided and helps shape my understanding of the values
of the social work profession in a multitude of ways. First, by observing members at the
agency upholding clients confidentiality and privacy practice helps me gain a better
understanding of the NASW Code of Ethics. For example, my task supervisor always
kept client information under restriction and only employees of the YMCA I Rise
program had access to client case notes and personal information. In addition, interns
were not privileged to this information. The ethical standards of privacy and
confidentiality need to carefully balance, the disclosure with their ethical obligations to
protect their clients confidentiality. I often had my field supervisor ask, On what basis
am I making this disclosure, as a means for self-checking. Secondly, working at the
YMCA, I gain the opportunity to work with people from different disciplines this has
opened conversations around the social work NASW Code of Ethics, but also other
professions, as well. For Example, my task supervisor background in is psychology.
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Although the Psychology Code of Ethics is similar, Social Work Code of Ethics is still
unique to the profession of social work.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think this field placement was a good fit for me. While it was
thought provoking and stimulating, there were many aspects of the organization I did not
have a chance to encounter. Because the complexities in the program and the fact that it
was already an established program not accepting new members, I was not able to
participate an intake or assessment process. In addition, I was not able to experience a
termination nor did they have a termination process in place. I know there are areas of
competencies that were not addressed in my field placement, with that I understand the
importance of a life-long learner and will continue to grow, seek consultation and
guidance from other professionals, and examination concepts and theories using
evidence-based practices.


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Reference
The Young Mens Christian Association. (2012). About the Y. Retrieved from
http://ymcadetroit.org/boll/about-the-y
The Young Mens Christian Association. (2012). Volunteer and Giving. Retrieved from
http://ymcadetroit.org/boll/social-responsibility/volunteering-and-giving/volunteer-at-the-
y
The Young Mens Christian Association. (2012).YMCA of Metropolitan Detroits Fundraiser.
Retrieved from http://www.crowdrise.com/Boll2014