Professional Development Plan Resource Guide

The Professional Development Plan (PDP) is a process in which the intern, with the field instructor’s support, develops a comprehensive plan that meets the unique needs and the experiences the intern will have in the internship. The PDP is a “living” document that will be reviewed, revised, and added to throughout the course of the internship.The PDP has three sections and is completed through several online documents in the Tevera Field Education Software Program. The PDP documents the process for student learning and field instructor teaching. It is a joint process and negotiated agreement between the student and the field instructor. The PDP provides structure and guidelines for the learning in the field placement, as well as socializing the student to a competency-based development plan often experienced in the profession of social work. It helps to identify and define the following:

• What the student needs and wants to learn, this includes social work specific competency areas and aligned behavioral indicators

• What learning activities/tasks/strategies will be used to demonstrate the student’s competency attainment

• How the student’s learning and accomplishments will be monitored and evaluated

• The instructional/supervisory meeting times and process of instruction/supervision

• The roles and responsibilities of all those involved in the student’s learning, including the student.

• Opportunities for self-reflection, feedback, and modification of competency behaviors

Student Preparation:

• Link to the Experiential Learning Cloud through your corresponding field course in Blackboard. Please refer to your seminar instructor for more information about this. 

• Review the syllabi and course objectives for field related Social Work courses (these are in Blackboard for residential students and Digital Campus for online students)

• Review of the Field Instruction Manual

• Reflect on your learning style and how you learn best.

• Identify your expectations of field instruction/supervision.

• Identify what you know about Social Work supervision and how you would effectively communicate your needs to your new field instructor.

• Reflect on how you communicate, respond to feedback and authority, engage in self-directed learning, and manage conflict.

Field Instructor Preparation:

• Register for Experiential Learning Cloud (ELC) through the email invite from the ELC and watch the brief tutorials. Please refer to the student’s assigned seminar instructor for more information about this.

• Review the syllabi and course objectives for field related Social Work courses shared by the student.

• Review the School of Social Work expectations for field instructors and field settings.

• Review the Field Instruction Manual

• Identify what learning opportunities exist in the field setting.

• Identify ways in which you will train, orient and support students in the field setting.

• Identify and prepare colleagues who may be involved in the field instruction activities.

• Reflect on personal expectations of the student and of yourself.

• Reflect on your teaching style and how you will communicate this to the student.

• Reflect on your ability to negotiate

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) provide Core Competencies whereby performance is measured in Social Work education. CSWE operationalized the generalist competencies through a “set of measurable behaviors that are comprised of knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive/affective processes.” The internship plays a key role in teaching behaviors to students while measuring and reflecting on the student’s ability to demonstrate capacity in the nine core competencies identified by CSWE. The Core Competencies are also the field related course objectives as outlined in your field instruction syllabus. 

At the BSSW & MSW foundation level the competencies are consistent with generalist practice. At the MSW concentration level, the generalist competencies are enhanced and extended and are operationalized and described consistent with the specific concentration. (See Competency Resources)

Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Competency 2: Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice

Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice

Competency 4: Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice

Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice

Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

The PDP document provides a framework for developing an individualized learning plan which is responsive to the needs of the student, utilizes the resources of the field setting and meets the requirements of the program. It is designed to give direction and learning structure to the field experience and is developed around the core practice competencies that are designated in the 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

The PDP assignments are completed in the Experiential Learning Cloud (ELC) Field Education Software system which the student and field instructor will have direct access to.

Section I of the PDP concretizes the logistics of the placement and is a formal contract between the student and field instructor. In the first three weeks of the first semester of the internship the student and field instructor negotiate an internship logistical plan that meets both the student’s and program/agency scheduling needs. It is essential for the student to be oriented to his/her new placement, clients, co-workers, and other professional staff. The student must have a clear understanding of what is expected at the placement site, as well as, have a basic knowledge of the agency/program, tasks, and evaluation methods. NOTE: If a student is replaced, they must complete the PDP I to reflect the new site and internship.

Contact Information:

• Fully complete all contact information for student and field instructor

• Students and field instructors can add a Task Supervisor if applicable to the setting. A Task supervisor is a non MSW that has been assigned to mentor and provide day to day direction as needed and is not required.

Schedule:

• Make sure to negotiate with your field instructor/site supervisor, this is a negotiation and is based on program, field instructor and student schedules

• Your weekly schedule & plan for academic breaks (students can attend their internship during their academic breaks)

• Note any additional comments section regarding time off you already have planned for the semester

Supervision Plan (field instructors/site supervisors should provide at least 1 hour per week supervision, recognizing most students will likely need more at the start of an internship or at the start of a new learning task):

• Record the typical day and time of supervision

• Identify all the different supervision types the student will engage in

Internship Overview:

Complete all placement overview sections including orientation details, safety planning, agency and program description, basic learning goals, *internship description and *evaluation methods.

 *Examples of Initial Tasks: Familiarize oneself with the policy and procedure manual; Review program or service qualifications (how do clients access services at your agency?); Review intake, assessment, treatment, and discharge paperwork; Develop a list of formal tasks, expectations, and supervision.

*Check any examples of Evaluation Methods, a check list is provided ex: field Instructor direct observation, review of written materials, discussion in supervision, formal and informal feedback from clients and colleagues.

Section II focuses on the specific tasks, assignments, learning opportunities the intern will be expected to perform throughout the internship and how those assignments align with competency. To add rows to the table in the form, click the + sign in the top right of the table.

Describe the tasks/assignments/learning opportunities expected during the internship, this should be at least a semester plan with the understanding that some tasks will be time limited, and others will be ongoing throughout the internship. The student and field instructor/site supervisor are not required to have a full plan for the entirety of the internship because students will be required to add to their lists of tasks/learning opportunities and assignments at the beginning of each semester in an internship. 

• Over the course of the internship, the student should have learning tasks that align with all the 9 competencies.

• Students will align their tasks, assignments and learning opportunities to 1-2 of the social work competencies.

Describe Task/Assignments/Learning Opportunities

When considering developing the tasks list, be mindful of using agency/program language, write out any acronyms and utilize the SMART goal framework to define tasks and assignments (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Framed). The tasks/assignments and learning opportunities should be written in a full sentence format. Your tasks should be consistent with the level of internship you are in. Please refer to the resources titled Generalist Examples of Tasks, ACP Examples of Tasks and/or AIP Examples of Tasks located in Blackboard. The examples of tasks are not written in a SMART goal framework and should not be simply copied and pasted. They should reflect the unique work being done at the site. See Table 1 below for examples. Include 7-10 distinct tasks to the table the first time it is completed.

Competency Alignment

When considering competency alignment, students should thoroughly read each competency definition and the correlating behavioral indicators (found at the end of this resource guide). Each level of internship (foundation, AIP, and ACP) has different definitions and behavioral indicators. Students should consider which 1-2 competencies align with the learning opportunity. Consider what the task allows you to develop form a competency perspective. It is recognized that there could be an argument that most of the competencies will align with the task/learning opportunity since they are interrelated, we ask that you identify the competencies that are best and most fully aligned. See Table 1 below for examples.

Table 1-to add a row in the PDP II document you should click the + sign in the right hand top corner of the table