Making the transition from practitioner to supervisor: reflections on the contribution made by a post-qualifying supervisory course

ABSTRACT

Within Scotland, as elsewhere, there has been a resurgence of interest in the critical role of supervision within social work practice. However, those in transition from practitioner to supervisor still commonly report feeling unprepared for their changing role and uncertain about what it entails. This paper will explore our experiences of delivering an accredited post-qualifying supervision course since 2008 to professionals from different sectors, diverse professional backgrounds, and with varying levels of supervisory experience. The course provides time and space to think about the different elements of supervision, and to consider how these translate into day-to-day practice. We will argue that the opportunity to explore the complexity of the supervisory task, while learning from and with peers, is an important part of making the transition in professional role and identity. Moreover, in organisational contexts where the reflective space which supervision can provide may feel under threat, and where the focus on people who use services can at times be lost, professional staff undertaking supervision training describe feeling more confident and competent in their role, with renewed commitment both to uphold the value of reflective supervision, and to sustain a clear emphasis on people who use services.

KEYWORDS:

• Supervision
• post-qualifying course
• interprofessional supervision
• reflection
• learning

Acknowledgments

The ideas presented in the article are developed from teaching on a post-qualifying course for managers and supervisors in Scotland’s social services. Thanks are due to course participants for their engagement, commitment and contribution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Helen Whincup, Lecturer, University of Stirling, Helen qualified as a social worker in 1991, working in statutory and voluntary settings with children and their parents/ carers. In 2004 she joined University of Dundee to teach post-qualifying child protection courses, and developed Key Capabilities in Child Care and Protection (Scottish Executive, 2006). In 2008 Helen moved to Stirling University, and teaches post-qualifying Masters courses including the module in Professional Supervision. She is joint PI on a longitudinal research project which, with York University and AFA (Scotland), is researching decision-making and outcomes for children 0–5 years placed permanently away from birth parents.

Frances Patterson, Senior Teaching Fellow, University of Stirling, Frances worked as a social work practitioner and manager in adult services for over 20 years before moving to University of Stirling in 2007. Her teaching is focused on leadership, management and supervision in social services and she values the opportunity for cross-sector and cross-specialism learning afforded by working with diverse groups of managers. She has undertaken research projects on behalf of SSSC including a scoping analysis of the role and function of middle managers (2014) and an exploration of ‘what good leadership looks like’ in social care (SSSC, 2016).

ORCID

Frances Patterson http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8187-3417