Abstract
A wide range of professions use professional competence frameworks to articulate the fundamental dimensions of the particular occupation. While many schools of social work have developed such frameworks, concerns are also expressed. This chapter will review the conceptual underpinnings of competence models and the critique of this approach. Based on a long-standing program of research, a Model of Holistic Competence in Social Work will be presented and discussed. The model has important implications for university-based social work education and was tested in studies using simulation-based education. It can also guide field education. Finally, the model lends itself well to testing educational outcomes in specific courses, for the field practicum, and for the entire program. In this way, using a competence framework to assess professional growth and learning provides important information to determine the readiness of students to progress to the next level of education or practice. Additionally, it provides data about the effectiveness of the program with respect to content taught and pedagogical methods.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aronowitz, T., Aronowitz, S., Mardin-Small, J., & Kim, B. R. (2017). Using Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as education in advanced practice registered nursing education. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(2), 119–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.06.003
Aronson, J., & Hemingway, D. (2011). Competence in neoliberal times: Defining the future of social work. The Canadian Social Work Review, 28(2), 281–285.
Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive therapy: Basics and beyond (2nd ed.). Guilford.
Bogo, M. (2015). Field education for clinical social work practice: Best practices and contemporary challenges. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(3), 317–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-015-0526-5
Bogo, M. (2018). Social work practice: Integrating concepts, processes, & skills. Columbia University Press.
Bogo, M., Regehr, C., Power, R., Hughes, J., Woodford, M., & Regehr, G. (2004). Toward new approaches for evaluating student field performance: Tapping the implicit criteria used by experienced field instructors. Journal of Social Work Education, 40(3), 417–426.
Bogo, M., Regehr, C., Woodford, M., Hughes, J., Power, R., & Regehr, G. (2006). Beyond competencies: Field instructors’ descriptions of student performance. Journal of Social Work Education, 42(3), 579–593. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2006.200404145
Bogo, M., Regehr, C., Power, R., & Regehr, G. (2007). When values collide: Providing feedback and evaluating competence in social work. The Clinical Supervisor, 26(1/2), 99–117. https://doi.org/10.1300/J001v26n01_08
Bogo, M., Regehr, C., Logie, C., Katz, E., Mylopoulos, M., & Regehr, G. (2011). Adapting objective structured clinical examinations to assess social work students’ performance and reflections. Journal of Social Work Education, 47(1), 5–18.
Bogo, M., Regehr, C., Katz, E., Logie, C., Tufford, L., & Litvack, A. (2012). Evaluating the use of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) adapted for social work. Research in Social Work Practice, 22(4), 428–436. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731512437557
Bogo, M., Rawlings, M., Katz, E., & Logie, C. (2014). Using simulation in assessment and teaching: OSCE adapted for social work. CSWE Press.
Bogo, M., Regehr, C., Baird, S., Paterson, J., & LeBlanc, V. R. (2017). Cognitive and affective elements of practice confidence in social work students and practitioners. British Journal of Social Work, 47, 701–718. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcw026
Campbell, C. (2011). Competency-based social work. The Canadian Social Work Review, 28(2), 311–315.
Canadian Association of Social Work Education-Association Canadienne pour la Formation en Travail Social. CASWE-ACFTS. (2014). Standards for accreditation. Ottawa. https://caswe-acfts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CASWE-ACFTS.Standards-11-2014-1.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan 2020.
Canadian Association of Social Work Education-Association Canadienne pour la Formation en Travail Social. CASWE-ACFTS. (2020). Proposed educational policies and standards for accreditation for Canadian social work education. Ottawa. https://caswe-acfts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ÉBAUCHE-PPNA_Jan-2020_EPAS-DRAFT.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan 2020.
Cheetham, G., & Chivers, G. (2005). Professions, competence and informal learning. Edward Elgar.
Council on Social Work Education, CSWE. (2015). Education Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). http://www.cswe.org/File.aspx?id=81660. Accessed 15 Jan 2020.
Cozolino, L. J., & Santos, E. N. (2014). Why we need therapy-and why it works: A neuroscientific perspective. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 84(2–3), 157–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2014.923630
Damron-Rodriguez, J., Frank, J. C., Maiden, R. J., Abushakrah, J., Jukema, J. S., Pianosi, B., & Sterns, H. L. (2019). Gerontology competencies: Construction, consensus and contribution. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2019.1647835
Dreyfus, H. L., & Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over machine: The power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer. Free Press.
Elrod, S., & Bullock, K. (2018). Assessing the quality of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) reports in pharmacy education: A review of the literature. MedEd Publish. https://www.mededpublish.org/manuscripts/1797. https://doi.org/10.15694/mep.2018.0000257.1
Ericsson, K. A., & Lehmann, A. C. (1996). Expert and exceptional performance: Evidence of maximal adaptation to task constraints. Annual Review of Psychology, 47(1), 273–305. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.47.1.273
Finch, J., & Taylor, I. (2013). Failure to fail: Practice educators’ emotional experiences of assessing failing social work students. Social Work Education, 32(2), 244–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2012.720250
Frank, J. R., Mungroo, R., Ahmad, Y., Wang, M., Rossi, S., & Horsley, T. (2010a). Toward a definition of competency-based education in medicine: A systematic review of published definitions. Medical Teacher, 32(8), 631–637.
Frank, J. R., Snell, L. S., Cate, O. T., Homboe, E., Carraccio, C., Swing, S. R., et al. (2010b). Competency-based medical education: Theory to practice. Medical Teacher, 32(8), 638–645. https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2010.500898
Hackett, S. (2001). Educating for competency and reflective practice: Fostering a conjoint approach in education and training. Journal of Workplace Learning, 13(3), 103–112. https://doi.org/10.1108/13665620110388406
Harden, R. M., Stevenson, M., Downie, W. W., & Wilson, G. M. (1975). Assessment of clinical competence using objective structured examination. British Medical Journal, 1(5955), 447–451. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.5955.447
Hodges, B. D., & Lingard, L. (Eds.). (2012). The question of competence. Cornell University Press.
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW). (2014). Global definition of social work. https://www.ifsw.org/global-definition-of-social-work/. Accessed 15 Jan 2020.
Kane, M. T. (1992). The assessment of professional competence. Evaluation and The Health Professions, 15(2), 163–182. https://doi.org/10.1177/016327879201500203
Kelly, J., & Horder, W. (2001). The how and why: Competences and holistic practice. Social Work Education, 20(6), 689–699. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470120089861
Kourgiantakis, T., Bogo, M., & Sewell, K. (2019). Practice Fridays: Using simulation to develop holistic competence. Journal of Social Work Education, 55(3), 551–564. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2018.1548989
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2020). Competence. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/competence. Accessed 15 Jan 2020.
Reamer, F. G. (Ed.). (1994). The foundations of social work knowledge. Columbia University Press.
Regan, J. A. R. C., & Dettlaff, A. J. (2016). Understanding and assessing competence: Challenges associated with the competency based approach to social work education. In I. Taylor, M. Bogo, M. Lefevre, & B. Teater (Eds.), International handbook of social work education (pp. 27–37). Routledge.
Regehr, G., Bogo, M., Regehr, C., & Power, R. (2007). Can we build a better mousetrap? Improving measures of social work practice performance in the field. Journal of Social Work Education, 43(2), 327–343. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2007.200600607
Regehr, C., Bogo, M., Shlonsky, A., & LeBlanc, V. (2010). Confidence and professional judgment in assessing children’s risk of abuse. Research on Social Work Practice, 20(6), 621–628. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731510368050
Regehr, C., Bogo, M., & Regehr, G. (2011). The development of an online practice-based evaluation tool. Research on Social Work Practice, 21(4), 469–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731510395948
Regehr, C., Bogo, M., Donovan, K., Anstice, S., & Kim, A. (2012a). Identifying student competencies in macro practice: Articulating the practice wisdom of field instructors. Journal of Social Work Education, 48(2), 307–319. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2012.201000114
Regehr, C., Bogo, M., Donovan, K., Lim, A., & Regehr, G. (2012b). Evaluating a scale to measure student competencies in macro social work practice. Journal of Social Service Research, 38(1), 100–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2011.616756
Rossiter, A., & Heron, B. (2011). Neoliberalism, competencies, and the devaluing of social work practice. The Canadian Social Work Review, 28(2), 305–309.
Schenck, J., & Cruickshank, J. (2015). Evolving Kolb: Experiential education in the age of neuroscience. The Journal of Experimental Education, 38(1), 73–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825914547153
Schon, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Temple Smith.
Schon, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. Jossey-Bass.
Shulman, L. S. (2005). Signature pedagogies in the profession. Daedalus, 134(3), 52–59.
Siegel, D. (2006). An interpersonal neurobiological approach to psychotherapy. Awareness, mirror neurons, and neural plasticity in the development of well-being. Psychiatric Annals, 36(4), 248–256. https://doi.org/10.3928/00485713-20060401-06
Stokes, J. (2016). Competencies: A unifying thread for education, practice and public portection. The Canadian Social Work Review, 33(1), 125–129. https://doi.org/10.7202/1037095ar
Taylor, I., & Bogo, M. (2014). Perfect opportunity~perfect storm? Raising the standards of social work education in England. British Journal of Social Work, 44, 2443–2447. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bct077
Taylor, K., & Lamoreaux, A. (2008). Teaching with the brain in mind. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, n119, 49–59.
Ten Cate, O. (2017). Competency-based postgraduate medical education: Past, present and future. GMS Journal for Medical Education, 34(5). https://doi.org/10.3205/zma00146
The College of Social Work (TCSW). (2012). An introduction to qualifying standards and professional social work education. www.collegeofsocialwork.org/professional-development/educators/. Accessed 15 Jan 2020.
Vinton, L., & Wilke, D. J. (2011). Leniency bias in evaluating clinical social work student interns. Clinical Social Work Journal, 39(3), 288–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-009-0221-5
Winterton, J. (2009). Competence across Europe: Highest common factor or lowest common denominator? Journal of European Industrial Training, 33(8/9), 681–700. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590910993571
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bogo, M. (2022). A Model of Holistic Competence in Social Work: Implications for Education. In: Opačić, A. (eds) Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach. European Social Work Education and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-13527-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-13528-6
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)