Date of Graduation

1998

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

For over 50 years, social work educators have been criticized for failing to teach recording skills, yet there is little research on recording in the social work curriculum. The goals of this exploratory study were to identify the issues associated with the inclusion or exclusion of recording in the social work curriculum and describe teaching strategies and materials used by instructors who include content on recording. The four research questions addressed: whether social work faculty perceive recording as legitimate curriculum content; the factors associated with deciding to include or exclude recording; the content of any instruction on recording; and teaching strategies and materials. The study employed structured interviews with open-ended questions to gather data from 20 social work educators currently teaching direct practice courses. Data analysis procedures included examining interview transcripts for discrete topics and emergent categories of phenomena, tabulating the quantifiable aspects of the data, and evaluating teaching materials submitted by participants. All respondents reported including some content on recording in their courses. Content areas most frequently cited were (1) the relationship between recording and social work practice and (2) the style and content of social work records. Individual respondents varied widely in their content, teaching methods, and teaching materials as well as in their opinions about what students should know about recording by the time they graduate. In the absence of any requirements, standards, or guidelines for teaching about recording, faculty appear to base their approaches to this subject on their individual perspectives, knowledge, and experiences both approaches to this subject on their individual perspectives, knowledge, and experiences both within and outside the classroom. The study results suggest several avenues for further research. Results also have implications for curriculum development. Although most respondents reported addressing only some aspects of recording, when examined as a whole, the content, teaching methods, and instructional materials respondents described suggest potential content and strategies for integrating recording into the social work curriculum. These data have been used to recommend some preliminary approaches and resources for integrating recording into undergraduate and introductory graduate level social work practice courses.

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