Exam 1

1   1.  Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the associates in Human Services practicum and the bachelor’s in Human Services Management practicum in terms of roles and expectations.

In the 104 practicum it was all very basic level. It was a lot of observing and taking notes, not a lot of action involved. In the 400 hour internship people are more open to a person doing their own thing, learning more skills, receiving more leadership positions, and more power but in a good way. I feel like I can really take the reins in the 400 hour internship. In my 104 internship I found it boring because I wasn’t doing too much.

2  2. Compare and contrast the roles and expectations of teachers and students in the traditional classroom and seminar models of learning.

The traditional classroom model includes the instructor has the most to contribute, there are many students/one instructor, students and instructor blame each other when things go wrong, and the group is a collection of individuals.

The seminar model includes everyone has something to contribute, all are instructors, all are learners, students and instructors have collective responsibility, and the group is necessary to the accomplishment of learning goals.

3 3. Personal reflection is a key activity in experiential education. Describe Kolb’s Experiential Leaning Cycle and what tools you are using to incorporate reflection in your practicum learning experience.

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle has 4 steps concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Concrete conceptualization is having a specific experience in an internship. Reflective observation is reflecting on the experience. Reflection is what connects and integrates the service to learning. Reflection helps a person grow, have success, learn, and develop. The tools a person would use would be observation, and documentation in a journal to learn from it or challenge them to solve a problem. Abstract conceptualization is to form generalizations or principles based on the experience and reflection. Active experimentation is to test the principle in a new situation.

44. We were introduced to Kiser’s Integrative Processing Model in the associate’s practicum seminar and the Kiser model is cited once again in our current text. As a manager conducting in-service training for your staff, how would you describe the Kiser Model and suggest applications in your agency setting?

The Kiser processing model is important in training and future endeavors in this agency. Step one is gathering data from a past experience, step 2 is reflecting, step 3 is seeking out knowledge to help you understand, step 4 examine conflict, step 5 what did you learn, and step 6 develop a plan. These are excellent skills for trying to figure out how to solve a problem and keeping future hardships from happening.

55. Our text identifies five sources of personal power that are essentials for empowerment. Again, as a manager leading your staff, how would you describe the five sources of personal empowerment and identify ways of applying them in your agency setting?

The power of expectations will be helpful in this agency because of the specific guidelines of your job.

I expect you to be hard working, follow through on commitments in a timely manner, have a positive attitude, and do the best job possible.  

The power of perspective is how we look at things. We are all unique and seeking to understand something in its full context before becoming judgmental and discovering blind spots in your schema can help prevent disagreements.

The power of discussion can bring out concerns with the manager about issue you may have at the agency. Talking reasonably with the manger can help create realistic solutions to issues.

The power of humor can help us cope, get through stress, and make us feel uplifted, encouraged, and empowered. This makes us better workers and helpers in all ways. This helps us keep an open mind to new experience.  

The power of language helps someone have an open mind when reflecting on an experience. A bad experience can help learn certain skills and help us see how we deal with people. This can help us understand that constructive criticism is effective.

The power of mindfulness is being fully aware of what we are doing and doing it well. This is a hard concept to do in this world especially if one is not really good with time management but can be developed over time.

66.  The Developmental Stage Model of an Internship includes five developmental stages. Reflecting on your agency, cite the five stages and select two associated concerns and response strategies that you see as most relevant to your setting, and state your reasoning for selecting them.

The four stages of internship are anticipation, exploration, competence, and culmination. Two concerns that I had for the anticipation stage was my internship hours and what I could do with it. How I responded to this was by calling Tricia before the start of the internship and discussing it. She reassured me about I could do and I now know that the hours are not a concern anymore.

Two concerns I have with the exploration stage is staying on track with the learning goals, and seeking feedback. How I responded to staying on track is check my goals daily. How I can respond to seeking feedback is taking the extra effort to talk to Tricia and check in. She encourages me when she sees me and this is how I know if I meet her expectations.

I don’t have any concerns about the competence stage because I am well matured in all the areas. I continue to grow in all the areas. I trust myself, and supervisor, I see myself as a professional, I have a solid platform from what I expect from myself, I don’t really feel any pressure from meeting commitments, I seek quality,  and I feel empowered by working hard and completing objectives. I raise the bar by challenging myself in my internship.

Two concerns I have with the culmination stage is ending the internship and leaving Alfred. I love my internship, the experiences I have had at Alfred and the personal growth in myself I have achieved.  I will miss leaving the international students, friends, and connections I have made. I will respond to this my savoring every moment and saying farewell.  Leaving Alfred will be very hard for me because even though I see myself as a professional I still don’t think I am ready to leave yet. I think I could mature so much more than I have and I don’t feel ready. I am just starting to feel competent is my skills, connections, and social experiences. I don’t really know how I will responded to this but I will have to try to make the best of it and graduate.

77. Weinstein has developed a sentence completion technique to help us identify our own reaction patterns.  The sentence is:

Whenever I’m in a situation where I feel angry about a friend, I usually experience feelings of anxiety and self-doubt. The things I tell myself are take it easy. It’s not that bad. There is probably a good explanation and besides you don’t want to upset him. What I typically do is smile, joke, or protest very weakly. Afterwards, I feel as if I let us both down. What I wish I could do instead is find a clear, respectful way to tell my friend what is upsetting me.

           Complete the sentence and then identify what you believe to be the sources of your reaction patterns.

The source of my reaction patterns stem from maturity. When I was younger my reactions were very in mature and not really reflective on what really was happening. Now that I have matured way more than I was in high school my reactions are slower, more thoughtful, and I don’t jump to conclusions. I let people know how I feel that is appropriate.

88. Our personal cultural identity is constructed from many sources including family, peer group, community, religion, and nation. Describe at least two work settings when that cultural identity may be an asset and two where it may present challenges.

My cultural identity might be an asset is white privilege in getting a promotion, and I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

My cultural identity may cause challenges in being a women receiving less pay than a man for the same work. Another one is the stereotype of being a women only wanting to be in a women related field like nursing.

99. Our bachelor’s learning contract introduces an additional dimension to professional development to include civic development. What are civic development goals? Give examples of civic learning objectives to meet civic learning goals in academic learning, democratic citizenship learning, and diversity learning.

     

Civic development goals are goals that make someone a more responsible, and contributing member of a community regardless of where someone lives and what their profession is. Some examples for academic learning include understanding root cause of social problems, and developing active learning skills. Some examples for democratic citizenship learning becoming familiar with different aspects of citizenship, and developing competency in the community. Some examples of diversity learning is understanding individuals as “isms”, and developing cross cultural communication skills. Some examples of political learning is learning about citizen groups that have effected change, and developing advocacy skills. Some examples leadership learning is understanding the social change model, and developing the skills that facilitate sharing leadership skills.

110.   In Chapter 6, discussing situational leadership and supervision (may be applied both to interns and employees), Hersey Blanchard, and Johnson identify two dimensions of supervision that can be combined in four different ways. What are the dimensions and combinations? They go on to say that the key factor in selecting the appropriate combination is the maturity level of the supervisee. They define four different levels of maturity based on a combination of willingness and ability. What are the four maturity levels and the appropriate matching style of supervision?

The 2 dimensions of supervision that can be combined in 4 ways are direction and support. Direction is clear, specific, directions, close supervision, and frequent feedback. Support is a non-directive approach using listening, talking, and high levels of emotional support. The combinations of these two dimensions of supervision high support/low direction, high support/high direction, low support/high direction, and low support/low direction.

The first level of maturity is the intern is not willing or able to do it. This requires high direction and high support. The second level of maturity is the intern may be unable but willing to try a task. This requires high direction and support. The third level of maturity is the intern has the skills but feels uncertain. This requires low direction and high support. The fourth level of maturity is the intern has the skills and the willingness. This requires low direction and support.

111.  Identify three adjustments that you have made in coping with your agency setting? What are the behaviors and challenges presented by each adjustment you made? 

A hurtle in my internship is communication between my supervisor and me on projects. Sometimes it can be hard to understand what needs to be accomplished in certain project I am assigned because my supervisor has a hard time communicating to me well enough. But a way that I deal with that issue is meeting with me daily or every other day and discussing and asking question on what specific she needs accomplished. I communicate well but sometimes I don’t think that she fully remembers what I tell her. She is very busy and she has trouble with organizing and accomplishing all of her tasks because she can be pulled in a hundred directions. So I understand why she might become flustered in communicating to the best of her ability.

I have always had trouble with thinking on my feet and this has been one of my biggest challenges during my internship. If I get too much information at once I can get confused and it is difficult for my brain to be able to process information quickly. I have always felt that my thinking processes take longer and I am more efficient when I am given one or two directives at a time. It can be difficult for me to interrupt my train of thought, switch gears and do a different task that may be asked of me. I desire to finish my thoughts and then do what has been asked, however this is not always possible. I realize that this slower step process is not what the real work world expects. Multi-tasking has never been my strong suit, but a month into my internship I am finding that I am developing this skill. I realize that this is a skill I need to develop to be able to prepare for my future work career. I only have had 2 adjustments.