Student Placement Experience - Essay Example

Reflective Essay [Name] [Course] [Institution] [Instructor’s name] Introduction Practicum experience also referred to as student placement, serves to equip students with additional hands-on experience in their respective professional fields, builds a student’s overall development personally and professionally, prepares students for their future career path, enlighten them on the internal operations of organizations and it exposes students to diverse workplace environments and enhance their professional network (Hamner, 2002). According to Hamner (2002), student practice enhances the self -confidence of the students as professionals, exposes students to organizational structure, role delegation and goal attainment in the workplace, it offers students opportunities to bring into the organization new and fresh ideas and skills and it allows students to have direct contact and interactions with clients and giving them an opportunity to make an impact in the client’s life. The importance of student placement has been increasing in the recent past, which has driven the majority of universities to treat practicum experience as a mandatory requirement in fulfilling a particular course. Student placement is a suitable platform where students are able to supplement their academic learning needs with applied learning as suggested by Carless & Prodan (2003). Student placement is essential for students in helping them integrate theory and practice and assessing how theories functions in real life situations and in so doing, students enhance their wealth of knowledge and are better able to approach and help their clients in an informed way as supported by Sweitzer & King (2004). It is in this background that I write this reflective essay, discussing ways in which I plan to develop my professional practice during my first student placement experience. Key learning goals for my student placement experience It is important to have realistic, attainable, specific, measurable and time bound learning goals for my student placement experience. These goals are important because they will act as a guide to inform my practicum experience and ensure that my student placement is not only productive but also effective in developing my professional practice. My key learning goals for my student placement experience includes: I. To integrate what I have learnt in the course into practice, in real life situations II. To learn how organizations operate, how they are structured, how responsibilities are delegated, how goals are attained and identify workplace challenges and how they can effectively be dealt with III. To enhance my professional network through the contacts I make during my student practice, which will be important for me in one way or another in the present and in the future IV. To improve my knowledge and skills to help me in my career path V. To generate new ideas and perspectives based on what I have learnt in class in the place of placement and in so doing, help the organization that I am placed in to achieve its goals and objectives Selecting the right placement An important step in student placement is deciding on the right placement. This is because, student placement is not only an exercise that I am mandated by the university to do, but it is a chance towards establishing a foundation for my professional career path. Findings in a study carried out by Carless & Prodan (2003) suggested that students who have a comprehensive student placement have greater clarity of what they want to do and pursue in a vocation in comparison with students who have no practicum training. Therefore, the first task in developing my professional practice during my first student placement experience is choosing the right placement (Cleak & Wilson, 2007). This I will achieve by identifying through extensive research, the type of organizations and institutions in the human service industry that are not only presently doing well, but also those that are reputed for and rated well in offering favorable working conditions that will offer me an opportunity to fully exploit my potential and enrich my practice experience and as a result develop my professional practice. Application of reflection to enhance my professional development during my first student placement experience Reflection is an essential component in any practice (Harms, 2007). Through reflection, students in student practice are able to review what they have learnt from coursework and assessments and how their belief systems, ideals, perceptions, life experiences and attitudes affects how they approach and deal with clients and how they make sense of the situations their clients are in. According to Carroll and Gilbert (2006), reflection entails examining, analyzing and self –interrogating about past activities and events in order to better understand the reasons why things happened the way they did, reasons why a person responded or acted the way they did and more importantly, identifying alternative ways of dealing with the situations in order to generate different and better results in the future. As noted by Payne (2002), reflective practice is important in helping one reflect on events and situations in depth and think through a wide range of meanings and possible alternatives, and in so doing, improving one’s position to help clients. In addition, it allows one to obtain evidence of how effective or ineffective their actions are and thus, one is able to change their actions based on the evidence of the value of their actions. In my student practice, I seek to integrate reflective practice in my work and learning and in the long run, make reflective practice my way of being in my personal and professional life as suggested by Harms (2007). The impact of this in my life is that as a professional I will be able to think beyond the surface of issues and fully appreciate the situations my clients are in and in my personal life, it will ensure that my actions do not harm others and I am best able to deal with social and personal events and situations. Among ways I am going to integrate reflective practice during my student placement with the view of developing my professional practice is through reflective journal writing, writing online blogs and through peer feedback (Boud, 1995). For every new situation I will find myself in during my student placement and for every case I will be assigned to or I will be called to assist in, I will write them in my personal journal, which I will use during my sessions of reflection later on, to inform my future actions and decisions. Other than that, for cases and clients that I feel I need more insights about in order to enrich my knowledge about how to deal with them, I will develop and regularly update an online blog, which I will use to post work-related dilemmas that I am experiencing during my student practice and encourage contributions from others in the same field (Matheson, 2004). According to Matheson (2004), web blogs generate varied perspectives of looking at an event, which will be important for me in understanding client’s situation and helping improve my way of responding to a client’s needs and expectations. It is important that I obtain feedback from not only my supervisor about my actions and decisions when dealing with clients but also from my peers in order to learn where I did good or wrong as well as in identifying my strengths and weaknesses as a human service worker, which is crucial in developing my professional practice in the future (Carroll and Gilbert, 2006). By knowing what my strengths are, I will know when best to apply them and by knowing my weaknesses, I will know how to improve on them to better approach and deal with client’s needs and situations and as a consequence, develop my professional practice (Cleak & Wilson, 2007). The other way I will incorporate reflective learning to develop my professional practice is by developing my professional portfolio. According to Brown (2002), a professional portfolio is a self -directed way of students in student placement to gather evidence of best practice and their learning process from the organization of student placement, field visits and from resources from clients. As described by Brown (2002), professional portfolios are collection of items that offers a visual representation of a person’s most relevant knowledge, skills and experiences, reflects their personality and areas of interests professionally and charts their career path and professional development. As suggested by Zubizarreta (2009), professional portfolio allows an individual to build and develop their skills and knowledge and they generate important insights into what one knows and ways they can construct the knowledge they have. Zubizaretta (2009) is categorical in implying that professional portfolios are important for any student in acting as a basis for their career growth, continuous learning and as a reflective instrument for in depth learning. By developing a professional portfolio during my student placement I hope to enhance my learning and incorporate theory with practice in varied ways as argued by Cleak & Wilson (2007). By developing my own professional portfolio as a reflective tool during my student placement, I will be able to gather sufficient insights about my professional performance and I will be able to track my professional and learning progress and as a result, I will be able to identify areas that I have obtained competence and areas that I need to improve on (Tillema, 2001). My student placement experience will offer me opportunities to apply the skills and knowledge that I have acquired during coursework and assignments into real life events and as a result, developing a professional portfolio. I will ensure I record these experiences, reflect on them and consequently, develop my professional practice. Primarily, a professional portfolio will help me integrate theory with practice while allowing me to record my strengths, skills, competences and abilities over time. The role of supervision in developing my professional practice during my first student placement experience Supervision during my first student placement experience will help me in developing my knowledge, skills and abilities to develop my professional practice and for the benefit of my clients, providing encouragement and helping me integrate theory with practice (Hawkins & Shohet, 2006). Most importantly, supervision will help me in assessing my professional practice against professional ethics and standards and in my reflection process and in analyzing the different ways and options of approaching and dealing with clients to be able to effectively and competently meet the individual needs and expectations of each client as noted by Hawkins & Shohet (2006). Through supervision, I will obtain feedback from my supervisor about my strengths, competences and weaknesses, which will help charter my career path and more importantly, the feedback from the supervisor will be crucial in helping me make sense of events and understanding client’s situations from different perspectives (Carroll and Gilbert, 2006). According to Harms (2007), supervision has important preventative and supportive functions that are important to me as a supervisee and to the place of placement, and hence, in the long run, beneficial to the clients. During my student placement I plan to work cohesively with my supervisor so that I can enhance my placement experiences and in so doing improve my professional skills, abilities and knowledge that are important in developing my professional practice as a human service worker. I plan to offer as a gift, a copy of Campbell’s book, “Becoming an effective supervisor: A workbook for counselors and psychotherapists” to help my supervisor at my place of placement, so that they can become an even better supervisor not only for me but for others under their supervision. This is not to say that I will not encounter challenges that are related to supervision. There are challenges that often occur during placement in relation to supervision that may hinder me from obtaining the type of supervision I need. Among these challenges includes anxiety, regardless of who is experiencing it, the negative implications of anxiety has the potential to infiltrate different work systems, affecting the supervisory relationship between the supervisor and the supervisee. In my student placement, anxiety is more likely to originate from my work and from my interactions with my supervisor (Power & Bogo, 2002). Therefore to overcome anxiety and ensure an effective and productive supervisory relationship, I need to identify the sources of anxiety during my student placement and identify effective and relevant strategies of dealing with anxiety such as having clear work roles in order to help me avoid role ambiguities and role conflicts that are major sources of anxiety as discussed by Power & Bogo (2002). The other challenge related with supervision in my student placement is conflict between me and my supervisor, where my personality and input do not match with the expectations of the supervisor. The way to resolve this challenge is by identifying ways I can manage these differences and ensure I play an active role as a supervisee in terms of being clear about my objectives and learning needs, sharing my experiences with my supervisor openly and being open to supervisor feedback and utilizing the feedback to inform my choices, actions and decisions. Conclusion Continuous learning where theory is integrated with practice and development of professional practice cannot fully occur without hands-on experience and reflection afforded and provided by student placement. As highlighted in the reflective essay, my student placement will be an ample opportunity for me to not only apply what I have learnt during coursework into real life situations but also, it will be an important platform to exercise reflective practice. Through reflection during my student placement, I will be able to gather sufficient insights about my professional performance and I will be able to track my professional and learning progress and as a result, I will be able to identify areas that I have obtained competence and areas that I need to improve on. References Boud, D. (1995). Enhancing learning through self-assessment. London: Kogan Page. Brown, J. O. (2002). Know thyself: The impact of portfolio development on adult learning. Adult Education Quarterly, 52(3): 228-245. Campbell, J. M. (2000). Becoming an effective supervisor: A workbook for counsellors and psychotherapists. Philadelphia, PA: Accelerated Development. Carless, S. A., & Prodan, O. (2003). The impact of practicum training on career and job search attitudes of postgraduate psychology students. Australian Journal of Psychology, 55(2): 89-94. Carroll, M., & Gilbert, M. (2006). On being a supervisee: Creating learning partnerships. Cleak, H., & Wilson, J. (2007). Making the most of field placement (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Thomson Learning. Hamner, D. M. (2002). Building bridges: The Allyn and Bacon student guide to service-learning. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Harms, L. (2007). Working with people: Communication skills for reflective practice. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Hawkins, P., & Shohet, R. (2006). Supervision in the helping professions (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press. Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online journalism. New Media & Society, 6 (4): 443–468. Payne, M. (2002). Individuals, groups and communities. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Power, R., & Bogo, M. (2002). Educating field instructors and students to deal with challenges in their teaching relationships. The Clinical Supervisor, 21(1): 39-58. Sweitzer, H., & King, M. (2004). The successful internship: Transformation and empowerment in experiential learning (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning. Tillema, H. H. (2001). Portfolios as developmental assessment tools. International Journal of Training and Development, 5(2): 126-135. Read More

Findings in a study carried out by Carless & Prodan (2003) suggested that students who have a comprehensive student placement have greater clarity of what they want to do and pursue in a vocation in comparison with students who have no practicum training. Therefore, the first task in developing my professional practice during my first student placement experience is choosing the right placement (Cleak & Wilson, 2007). This I will achieve by identifying through extensive research, the type of organizations and institutions in the human service industry that are not only presently doing well, but also those that are reputed for and rated well in offering favorable working conditions that will offer me an opportunity to fully exploit my potential and enrich my practice experience and as a result develop my professional practice.

Application of reflection to enhance my professional development during my first student placement experience Reflection is an essential component in any practice (Harms, 2007). Through reflection, students in student practice are able to review what they have learnt from coursework and assessments and how their belief systems, ideals, perceptions, life experiences and attitudes affects how they approach and deal with clients and how they make sense of the situations their clients are in. According to Carroll and Gilbert (2006), reflection entails examining, analyzing and self –interrogating about past activities and events in order to better understand the reasons why things happened the way they did, reasons why a person responded or acted the way they did and more importantly, identifying alternative ways of dealing with the situations in order to generate different and better results in the future.

As noted by Payne (2002), reflective practice is important in helping one reflect on events and situations in depth and think through a wide range of meanings and possible alternatives, and in so doing, improving one’s position to help clients. In addition, it allows one to obtain evidence of how effective or ineffective their actions are and thus, one is able to change their actions based on the evidence of the value of their actions. In my student practice, I seek to integrate reflective practice in my work and learning and in the long run, make reflective practice my way of being in my personal and professional life as suggested by Harms (2007).

The impact of this in my life is that as a professional I will be able to think beyond the surface of issues and fully appreciate the situations my clients are in and in my personal life, it will ensure that my actions do not harm others and I am best able to deal with social and personal events and situations. Among ways I am going to integrate reflective practice during my student placement with the view of developing my professional practice is through reflective journal writing, writing online blogs and through peer feedback (Boud, 1995).

For every new situation I will find myself in during my student placement and for every case I will be assigned to or I will be called to assist in, I will write them in my personal journal, which I will use during my sessions of reflection later on, to inform my future actions and decisions. Other than that, for cases and clients that I feel I need more insights about in order to enrich my knowledge about how to deal with them, I will develop and regularly update an online blog, which I will use to post work-related dilemmas that I am experiencing during my student practice and encourage contributions from others in the same field (Matheson, 2004).

According to Matheson (2004), web blogs generate varied perspectives of looking at an event, which will be important for me in understanding client’s situation and helping improve my way of responding to a client’s needs and expectations. It is important that I obtain feedback from not only my supervisor about my actions and decisions when dealing with clients but also from my peers in order to learn where I did good or wrong as well as in identifying my strengths and weaknesses as a human service worker, which is crucial in developing my professional practice in the future (Carroll and Gilbert, 2006).

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