Social Work Student Perceptions of Group Work and the Presence of Value Themes That Correspond to Group Work Success Sandra R. Williamson-Ashe, Ed.D., MSW Norfolk State University [email protected] Kirsten S. Ericksen, Ph.D., MSW Norfolk State University [email protected] Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, Volume 14, Number 2 (2017) Copyright 2017, ASWB This text may be freely shared among individuals, but it may not be republished in any medium without express written consent from the authors and advance notification ofASWB. Abstract themes reflect the worthiness, success, or failure Often group work is used as a teaching tool in the active engagement process of teamwork. to enhance a students’ experience in group Overall, the small group process is productive, socialization and academic achievement (Kolb, rewarding, and enhances the student’s decision- 1984; Humphrey, 2014). During the 2001-2002 making and problem-solving abilities. Students and 2002-2003 academic years, Baylor College of self-reported that working in a group improved their Medicine administered the Value Teams Survey to a achievement and that working with their peers was cohort of students during their psychiatry clerkship. an important skill. Knowing that students recognize The psychiatric medical science study results the value and importance of group work proves to showed that team learning is perfect for problem- be an advantage for instruction in higher education. solving, communication, and class engagement, The student-acknowledged value themes can be as well as providing clinical information (Levine incorporated into course learning goals in order et al., 2004). This research study explores what to successfully meet the Council on Social Work students report or perceive is valuable from group Education (CSWE) guidelines. work participation. During the spring semester, April of 2015, an amended Value Team Survey Keywords: Group work, student values, peer (VTS) was administered to twenty graduate level collaboration, student success, and group decisions social work students. Evaluating the respondents’ results supports the emergence of two value Introduction themes, “peer value” and “group work value.” This Social work practice and ethical decision- new association of values creates the emerging making are guided by the National Association of values model (EV). “Peer value” themes reflect Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. The guid- relationships, behaviors that are directly affected ing core values for the code of ethics include: ser- by peers, and outcomes related to peer influences vice, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, and their level of importance. “Group work value” importance of human relationships, integrity, and Journal of Social Work Values & Ethics, Fall 2017, Vol. 14, No. 2 - page 43 Social Work Student Perceptions of Group Work and the Presence of Value Themes That Correspond to Group Work Success competence (Code of Ethics, 2015). The Council on student group work challenges (Frykedal & Chi- Social Work Education (CSWE) accreditation stan- riac, 2011) to equal participation from group mem- dards expect that social work students will obtain bers for assignment completion (Peterson & Miller, the appropriate practice skills during their educa- 2004). Often group work is used as a teaching tool tion. It is critical that educators provide an educa- to enhance students’ experience in group socializa- tion that matches the accreditation criteria for social tion and academic achievement (Kolb, 1984; Hum- work education (CSWE, 2008). phrey, 2014). Research has examined the reason Various course group assignments and ex- graduate social work students decide to take ad- periences contribute to the education of social work vanced group work classes and the findings reveal students. Valuable group work student learning ex- three prominent themes. According to Sweifach and periences include the use of case examples (Knight, Heft-LaPorte (2008) students reported the follow- 2014), virtual groups (Davis & Goodman, 2014), ing positive influences: 1-student self-efficacy in and experiential learning (Clements & Minnick, their ability related to group work, 2-help in achiev- 2012; Kolb, 1984). Additionally, developing group ing personal goals (employment opportunities) and guidelines and policies to govern online interac- 3-a previously positive experience with groups or tions and services to clients is a critical online ethi- group work faculty. cal consideration (Voshel & Wesala, 2015). According to Naslund (2013), participation Assignments requiring group work are often and demonstration of respectful behaviors towards given to students in social work. There are conflict- all group members are common themes related to ing results about the effectiveness of participation in group member satisfaction (as cited in Chiriac, groups. Goodman, Knight, & Khudododov (2014) 2014). Peterson and Miller (2004) found there is found students felt unprepared to practice the group a problem in groups where members (students) do work modality due to a lack of group work course not complete their fair share of the work. Learn- preparation. When group work content is delivered ing is a task that requires risk-taking because of the effectively some students have been able to make need to be open to new things (Pleasanton Unified a connection between group work course learning School District, n.d.). This risk-taking necessitates and application to field work (Knight, 2014). Group appropriate levels of stress that can be complicated work is also noted to enhance group socialization in instances where uneven contributions from group experiences and academic achievement (Kolb, members can create additional group tension (Uni- 1984; Humphrey, 2014). According to Peterson & versity of Waterloo, n.d.). For students, stress can Miller (2004), challenges encountered during the heighten senses, so some stress is helpful as it has group work process include a lack of exchange of been found to promote student success (Pleasanton respectful behaviors and a lack of equal contribu- Unified School District, n.d.). tions amongst all group members. Sweifach & Conner (2004) discusses the importance of Heft-LaPorte (2008) report that less than twenty the “teacher as group facilitator” when offering stu- percent of Schools of Social Work require a group dents the opportunity to practice problem-solving work course. In contrast, every social work profes- and decision-making skills while exploring scenar- sional will participate in and facilitate a group dur- ios that determine ethical dilemma value analysis. ing their career (Sweifach & Heft-LaPorte, 2008). With this teaching style students have the option to work in small groups and are encouraged to exam- The Value of Group Work ine their own areas of interest within the group. Not Challenges and benefits continue to emerge surprisingly, some students found the independent in research related to group work in the classroom. mode of learning desirable while others felt the The benefits from group work participation range teacher should be more directive (Conner, 2004, from reported research gains in middle school p. 74). Active group participation while exploring Journal of Social Work Values & Ethics, Fall 2017, Vol. 14, No. 2 - page 44 Social Work Student Perceptions of Group Work and the Presence of Value Themes That Correspond to Group Work Success ethical issues encouraged group members to exam- Group Dynamics ine and develop their own values (Conner, 2004). Baldwin (2000) found that different types of student-labeled groups (happy, difficult) impact the Ethical Decision-making type of self-assessment students gain as a learning Examining and developing values is noted tool in small groups. For example, students partici- to occur as group work participants explore ethi- pating in a “difficult” group reported and self-as- cal issues (Connor, 2004). Some researchers have sessed with de-skilling remarks (noting what they found college students working in groups scored did not know), whereas “happy” group participants higher on exams than working alone; however stu- acknowledged what they had learned (reading, dents also demonstrated an increase in confidence writing skills). The impact of the group dynam- for groups’ wrong answers on the exam (Puncochar ics was apparent from members’ self-assessment & Fox 2004). In the aforementioned study, individ- (Baldwin, 2000); interactions impact students’ self- ual and group accuracy and confidence in responses assessment skills. were examined using several quizzes throughout one semester. The results suggest that group work Baylor College of Medicine Value can “produce the undesirable by product of be- Teams Survey ing highly confident when wrong” (p. 590). Often During the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 aca- people become overly confident and groupthink can demic years, Baylor College of Medicine adminis- contribute to student’s feelings of accuracy since tered the Value Teams Survey to a cohort of stu- many other group members provide positive en- dents during their psychiatry clerkship, both before couragement (Janis, 1982). and after engaging in a team learning experience Edwards and Addae (2015) suggest using (Levine et al., 2004). The scores from each cohort ethical dilemmas from students’ field placements were compared to one another. The concept was to to practice ethical decision-making. Furthermore, examine students’ perceptions of the value of team they propose that