Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior
Professionalism and ethical behavior encompass a wide variety of activities. These activities and behaviors include supervision strategies to ensure ethical and appropriate practices, utilizing evidence-based practices, professional appearances and communication, and everything in between. The demonstration of ethical and professional behavior is integral to the social work profession, because it is the foundation on which all social work practice is built. It is my desire to not only demonstrate this competency at my workplace, but to integrate it throughout all aspects of my life.
Develop a Practice Framework for Analysis of Complex Environments, that is Ethical, Value-Grounded, and Evidenced-Based
Field: I reviewed best practices for interacting with people with disabilities and became familiar with the ADA rules and regulations for disability practice.
Class: Through an administrative class that I took, I helped develop a program for a local agency that aims to increase their volunteer participation. Throughout the course of this project, I have learned about different frameworks for analyzing environments. One of these such frameworks is a SWOT analysis that we used to analyze the proposed program’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Other: In order to assess my theoretical and working knowledge of social work values and ethics, I studied and reviewed information about the Social Work Code of Ethics and then took a quiz on it. Here is a picture showing that I passed the quiz with a high understanding of the Social Work Code of Ethics.
Implement Supervisory and Self-Care Strategies that Integrate Professional Strenghts, Limitations, and Challenges
Field: I met with my MSW level Field Instructor each week for one hour of scheduled practicum supervision so that I could promote the development of my professional practice.
Class: I will utilize my chosen peer for my portfolio class to give me good feedback about the development of my e-portfolio. This is evidenced through the portfolio peer assessment.
Other: I completed a self-care inventory and self-care plan that analyzed my current self-care practices and brainstormed ways in which I could improve my current strategies. I utilized this assessment and plan throughout my MSW internship and program.
Exhibit Commitment to Professional Growth Through Continuing Educations, Supervision, and Ongoing Consultation
Field: I attended two conferences related to my experience in the Disability Access office at Dalton State College to show my demonstration of, and commitment to, continuing education. I attended the annual suicide prevention conference and the annual north Georgia Autism conference.
Class: I demonstrated my commitment to continuing education by researching a topic in which I was interesed in, Hoarding Disorder. This is evidenced through the product of my research, a literature review on the subject.
Other: I attended an online webinar that discussed how other colleges strive to eliminate disability discrimination on their campuses and the steps that they have taken to be an accessible campus. I discussed the information with my supervisor and journaled about it.
One day during my internship, I met with Jenny, the head counselor at the college’s counseling center, over lunch where she provided me with diversity information about the counseling center, the trends in practice that she sees, and how she handles them. We set this meeting up so that I could learn more about other areas of student support and become more familiar with how they interact with our department.
Demonstrate Professional Oral and Written Communication Skills
Field: This practice behavior is demonstrated through my continual professional documentation. This is evidenced in my written correspondence with students and faculty and in my client records.
Class: I demonstrated professional oral communication skills when I participated in a panel of graduate students for undergraduate Psychology seniors at Southern Adventist University who are getting ready to consider and apply to graduate program. I had the opportunity to share my experiences about how I got into my field, how my application process went for my program, as well as tips and advice for the students as they begin their graduate school journey. Here is a list of sample questions that we covered in the panel.
Other: Throughout my Graduate Assistantship, I continually demonstrated profesionalism though oral and written means.
