Papers by Shirley-ann Chinnery
Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 2016
INTRODUCTION: Social work practice knowledge was seminal to the evolution of attachment theory. T... more INTRODUCTION: Social work practice knowledge was seminal to the evolution of attachment theory. This disciplinary connection is little known to many social work practitioners. This article seeks to remind care practice social workers specifically of this association, as the social work skills upon which early attachment knowledge was premised remain important to contemporary care practice.METHOD: Through a three-part discussion, this article aims to deepen care practice social workers’ understanding of attachment theory and its practical relevance for care practice assessment. The first section outlines the watershed moments of the theory’s development. The second highlights social work’s connection to this development. The third and final section reviews the construct of the internal working model and its value for distinguishing emotional differences in an adult’s relational biography.FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: A key care practice goal is to facilitate the healthy growth and devel...
Good preparation for reflective practice is a challenge for social work educators. Opportunities ... more Good preparation for reflective practice is a challenge for social work educators. Opportunities for facilitated reflection in the placement are often compromised due to field educator focus on 'doing' in the practice context. Equipping students with a tangible set of awareness skills that engages them with a 'being' mode of mind augments their capacity for reflective practice and competent 'use of self ' in the field. We report the use of mindfulness as a pre-placement teaching intervention designed to facilitate acquisition of awareness skills in a Bachelor of Social Work programme in a New Zealand university. The teaching interventions developed are described, enriched by excerpts from reflective writing undertaken by participating students who consented to inclusion in the study. Notable shifts in student awareness accompanied the method trialled. In arriving at this point, students progressed from a simple noticing to taking steps toward the initiation of critical consciousness. An emergent model of mindful reflexivity concludes the paper.
Social Work Education, 2011
Frequently, observation of social work students in ‘live’ work is absent or haphazard. An overvie... more Frequently, observation of social work students in ‘live’ work is absent or haphazard. An overview of the key literature examines the need for observation of students during training, explores the strengths and challenges of live supervision and describes a planned process for conducting live supervision. This approach incorporates four phases: collaborative preparation for a session of direct practice; observation of the student's work by a field educator; debriefing and feedback; and the development of a plan for further learning steps. Brief vignettes are used to illustrate the process. The article is enriched by the inclusion of student comments from the evaluations undertaken after live supervision activities.
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Papers by Shirley-ann Chinnery