Browsing by Author "Khosa, Priscalia"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Autoethnographic view of South African social work educators during the Covid-19 pandemic : highlighting social (in)justice
    (Department of Social Work, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, 2021-10) Perumal, Nevashnee; Pillay, Roshini; Zimba, Zibonele France; Sithole, Mbongeni; Van der Westhuizen, Marichen; Khosa, Priscalia; Nomngcoyiya, Thanduxolo; Mokone, Malebo; September, Uwarren
    COVID-19 has exposed the inequalities and polarisation of South African communities and institutions of higher learning on the continuum of privilege. As nine social work educators, we share our reflections on how we traversed the higher education space during the beginning of the pandemic, using an autoethnography lens, with the pedagogy of discomfort and critical social work theory as the threads in the complex tapestry of our stories. We describe our orientations as social work educators, the successes, challenges, and recommendations on reimagining and reframing learning and teaching in relation to student-institutional relationships, boundaries and support.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Implementation of the supervision framework for the social work profession in South Africa by a designated child protection organisation
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Khosa, Priscalia; Engelbrecht, Lambert Karel; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Supervision plays a significant role in social work because social work practice depends largely upon the organisation’s administrative structure, which includes supervisors to continue training new social workers and provide ongoing professional guidance. Despite the predominance of supervision within the social work profession, and the weight placed upon its role and function by policymakers, practitioners, and organisation managers alike, it remains an under-researched area of enquiry when it comes to evidence-informed supervision policies. In South Africa, the Supervision Framework for the Social Work Profession seeks to conceptualise, contextualise, and provide norms and standards that guide the execution of supervision in the country. However, since its inception in 2012, no study has been conducted on how the Supervision Framework is implemented in various organisations. Hence, the aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the stories of social workers in a designated child protection organisation regarding the implementation of the Supervision Framework. Given the knowledge gap and limited voices of social workers, a constructionist theoretical approach guided this study to explore the perspectives and stories of social workers and their supervisors on how the Supervision Framework is implemented in their organisation. This study employed a qualitative research approach. A case study research design that was exploratory and descriptive in nature was adopted in this study. Semi-structured telephonic interviews were conducted with 28 participants employed in a designated child protection organisation in the Western Cape of South Africa. Twenty social workers and 8 supervisors within the organisation were selected through purposive non-probability sampling. Data were analysed through thematic content analysis using ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software for coding and management of data. The findings of the study indicate that the case study of the child protection organisation may be regarded as a best practice example of the implementation of the Supervision Framework based on the linear stories of supervisors and frontline social workers. However, what is novel about this study is that it brings together previous findings, theory, policy, and legislation about the implementation of the Supervision Framework in a child protection organisation by further analysing the subtext stories of participants in line with the constructionist approach. Thus, although the organisation under study has thrived in developing a supervision policy and implementing the policy in line with the stipulations of the Supervision Framework, there remains challenges related to the dominance of the administrative function of supervision within the organisation and, in some instances, lack of emotional support. The key recommendation based on the study’s findings is that clinical supervision can be salvaged by introducing innovative ways of conducting supervision, such as peer supervision, to develop a community of supervision practice; by adopting an external supervision model to place the primary focus of supervision on clinical dimensions instead of administrative tasks; and by investigating the potential of online supervision in promoting the accessibility of supervisors.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Inducting first-year social work students : reflections on a discipline-specific approach to academic development
    (Stellenbosch University, Department of Social Work, 2018) Khosa, Priscalia; Pillay, Roshini; Dube, Nkosiyazi
    First-year students at tertiary education institutions face multiple problems including under-preparedness, financial problems and adjustment to university. In response, some universities have introduced generic academic development programmes. In contrast, three educators from the Department of Social Work at the University of the Witwatersrand (UWits) engage in a reflective analysis of a discipline-specific academic development programme. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse transcripts of two focus group interviews with students and reflective reports written by two educators on strategies used to design the programme. Findings suggest that this programme meets the unique needs and professional identity development of Social Work students.