Continuing Social Work Education: Results of a Delphi Survey

Author(s): Vincent Faherty

Source: Journal of Education for Social Work, Vol. 15, No. 1 (WINTER 1979), pp. 12-19
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behlaf of Council on Social Work Education
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23038849
Accessed: 05-04-2017 16:39 UTC

REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23038849?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

Council on Social Work Education, Taylor & Francis, Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Education for Social Work

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Journal of Education for Social Work • 12 • Winter 1979, Vol. 15, No. 1

VINCENT FAHERTY is the director of undergraduate studies

at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Social Work. An earlie
paper based on this study was delivered at the
Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting, Philadelphia, February 19

Continuing Social Work Education:

Results of a Delphi Survey

by Vincent Faherty

This study addresses the need for socialof their graduate degrees as that point in time
when half the knowledge acquired in graduate
work professionals to remain current with the
changing bases of knowledge and skills that school becomes extinct, or obsolete. Relating
impact on their daily experience. Continuing this concept of half-life to social work, Lauf
social work education is assumed to be one fer of cautions that the half-life of a social work
the most effective means of avoiding profes degree might be less than the projected seven
sional obsolescence. The purposes of the study and-a-half years for an M.I.T. degree,
because social work "is more subject to fluc
were to achieve a level of consensus relative to
theories, methodologies, and content areas tuations
of in the social environment that
continuing social work education and then tochanges so rapidly as to make earlier percep
project a functional model of continuing tions and established skills increasingly irrele
social work education useful for intermediatevant in light of current consensus and concep
and long-range program planning. tions of social work."2
For the social work professional, continu
In an age that has been labeled by various ing education has been viewed as the most ef
authors and social critics as "post-industrial"fective means of adapting to this world of
and "future-shocked," one consistent theme rapid change and shifting responsibilities.
has emerged: knowledge is in a continuous Numerous continuing social work education
state of expansion and growth. A negative programs have been originated in order to ad
consequence of this modern phenomenon dress of this need to maintain a currency of pro
knowledge explosion is the danger of ob fessional practice, knowledge, and skills.
solescence, that decremental process compris There are, however, two disconcerting pro
ing the loss of acquired knowledge and the blems that impact on this continuing social
nonacquisition of new knowledge.' work education system: (1) a large number of
Several professions refer to the "half-life"existing continuing social work education pro

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 CONTINUING SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION •

utilizes a series of written communications

grams seem to be sporadic and uncoordinated
in planning, execution, and evaluation;3 whereby
and data received is redistributed to all
panelists
(2) there exists much activity and a resultant for their reconsideration and com
expenditure of time, money, and effort in ment. In this sense, then, a form of dialogue
defending the assumed differences between ensues.

staff development/in-service trainingThe and Delphi method, originally develope

continuing education." the Rand Corporation as a medium to fo
future events, quickly fell into disfa
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
because it failed to produce hard, scie
This paper reports on a needs assessment data necessary for prediction. It has bee
survey conducted among social work practi successfully, however, to gain consensus
tioners and educators. Views on specific participants who cannot be assembled
theories, methodologies, and content of con ically in one place. The Delphi method
tinuing social work education were acquired vey is, essentially, a systematic use of
from the participants. Two assumptions were tive judgment and informed opinion.6
inherent in this research endeavor. First, con In the present study, the panel was
tinuing social work education must be viewed municated with on three occasions (th
in the broad context of the entire continuum "rounds")- The information provided
of social work education, and would, in fact, quantified into median and quartile r
occupy a parallel place across the entire con scores and distributed to the entire pan
tinuum with direct relationships to each level. ing the second and third rounds. The
From this perspective, then, all continuing round consisted of 23 hypothetical cons
education ventures should be founded on the drawn from the literature on continuing
principles of continuity, sequence, and in work education. The panelists were as
tegration that are customarily reflected in the respond to these statements on a 10-
regular curricula of social work schools. Se Likert-type, agreement-disagreement sc
cond, it is assumed that professional adult well as to add to the original list other
learners must play a critical role in developing statements they deemed relevant. The suc
the objectives, content, strategies, and evalua ceeding two rounds offered the panel the op
tion procedures of any continuing education portunity to rethink and revise their original
program in which they are directly involved. answers and to add comments in support of
Knowles and others reiterate that the most their opinions. These comments and the quan
successful adult education programs are those titative scores of the entire panel were shared
that are planned cooperatively with the parwith each panelist. Thus a form of dialogue
ticipants, who help define the objectives, and was created through the medium of print.
decide what they need to know.5 The premise underlying the Delphi method
From a review of the major social work andof survey is that by the final round of the
adult education literature, a series of 23 study, the quartile ranges of the scores for
hypothetical constructs were synthesized each statement will have diminished to a
relative to theory, methodology, and content smaller interval. It is usually asserted that this
of continuing social work education. Then, statistical phenomenon indicates a more con
using these constructs as a discussion base, a cise agreement among the panelists.
panel of 121 social workers and others were
DESCRIPTION OF PANELISTS
asked to discuss the issues, add to the original
list of constructs, and judge their relevance for The setting of the present study was the
social work education. Veterans Administration Intermountain
Regional Medical Education Center, a consor
THE DELPHI METHOD
tium of 16 hospitals and centers located in
Dialogue was possible, even though thisColorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South
Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
panel was geographically separated, by utiliz
The panelists in this study included direct ser
ing the Delphi method of survey. This method

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 VINCENT FAHERTY

rather
vice social workers, chiefs of social work, and than the macro-level practitioner.
hospital administrators who had ad
FINDINGS
ministrative responsibility for social work
staff. Social work authors who had published In analysizing the data received from the
on the topics of continuing education or staff panelists during three rounds of the study in
development also were included. reference to the total of 51 hypothetical con
This unique four-level dimension of par structs, the following assumptions were made:
ticipants was assembled in order to survey all 1. A construct considered to be of high
possible constituencies in a continuing educa priority among the panelists would be
tion effort: the learners, their supervisors, the one that received a median score of 7.50
administrators who allocate resources, and or higher on a ten-point scale by the
authors who provide the theoretical basis and third round. This score was chosen as
educational foci. the terminal point of high priority
A significant level of panelist interest was because it would indicate a ranking by
sustained during the course of the study, as the panelists that fell in the upper 25 per
was reflected in the high response rate during cent quartile of the range.
successive rounds. Out of a possible 147, 117 2. A construct that received a quartile
(80%) of the panelists responded to the first deviation of less than 1.00 by the final
round. The second and third rounds produced round was considered to have achieved
a 75 percent response rate. high consensus. The rationale behind
The demographic characteristics of the this assumption was the fact that a
respondents reflected a higher number of deviation of less than one point on a ten
males (87) than females (34). Excluding the point scale would indicate a close
authors, who were not Veterans Administra clustering of scores, and thus represent a
tion personnel, the rest of the panel (103) was consensus.

71 percent male and 29 percent female. One 3. Since two criteria were being utili
could conclude, thus, that those surveyed were analysis, that is, priority and cons
not fully representative as regards the male several possible combinations cou
female ratio of the social work profession as a ist: (1) high priority-high consensu
whole, but, rather, representative of a seg high priority-low consensus, (3)
ment of the Veterans Administration as a priority-high consensus, or (4) low
specific agency. Ripple's study on graduate priority-low consensus.
social work education in the United States The following table represents the numeri
revealed that the 16,099 students enrolled in cal division of the constructs by the final
1973 were 35 percent male and 64 percent round of the study. "Original" indicates those
female.7 Loavenbruck, in his NASW man statements that were included in the first
power survey, stated that the membership of round and synthesized from the literature;
NASW in 1973 was 40 percent male and 60 "added" identifies those statements added by
percent female.8 the panelists.
The panel was heterogeneous from the TABLE 1
perspective of the area of the country in which Findings Relative to
each member received his or her training, and Priority and Consensus
thus the opinions of the panelists did not
High Low
represent only the geographic area being Consensus Consensus Total
studied. The study also revealed that a higher
percentage of the participants was trained in High Original: N = 7 Original: N= 4
direct service skills. Thus the specific content Priority Added: N = 12 Added: N = 2 25

areas of continuing social work education that Low Original: N= 1 Original: N = 11

were agreed upon reflect, perhaps, the per Priority Added: N= 0 Added: N = 14 26.
Total 20 31 51
spective of the direct service practitioner

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 CONTINUING SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION •

FIGURE 1
Theoretical Constructs
In Rank Order by Third Round of the Study

High Priority — High Consensus

1. Continuing social work education is, today, a generic term and

actually includes many forms of learning experiences. (0)
2. Social work education and social work practice need to open
up better lines of communication with each other to effect relevant
continuing education endeavors. (A)
3. No continuing education program should be offered without
provision for immediate as well as long-range evaluation of its effec
tiveness. (O)
4. Continuing social work education should be considered as an
aspect of professional practice. Updating one's knowledge and
skills is more than attending a conference—it is a frame of mind. (A)
5. A variety of methods should be used according to learner
needs, objectives, and specific content. No one method is better
than another. The best method is one which facilitates a particular
piece of learning. (A)
6. The entire agency or unit of an agency should be the focus of
continuing education efforts, not simply the individual worker. (O)
7. Skill in family group interviewing is essential for social
workers in modern society. (O)
8. Content must be related to the broad range of social work ser
vices. An adequate continuing education program should offer a
range of courses from individually oriented treatment to social
policy. (A)
9. The social and cultural norms of the learners themselves is an
important content area to be addressed in continuing social work
education. (0)
10. Continuing social work education should address the need for
skills in consultation and team membership. (O)
11. The concept that adults learn differently than children must be
incorporated in the planning and execution of any continuing educa
tion experience. (0)
12. A continuing education program should allow for differences
in learner style as well as differences in structure and format appro
priate to specific learning objectives. (A)
13. Employees of an agency need to be encouraged by administra
tion to discuss on an informal basis their needs for continuing
education. (A)
14. Continuing education should incorporate the goals of the
agency, the individual worker's goals, the worker's current and
future activities, and the needs of the community. (A)
15. Social workers need skill in dealing with substance abuse
(drugs and alcohol) as this is becoming an increasing society-wide
problem. (A)
16. Continuing education programs should reflect changing
developmental needs and interests, i.e., the life-span as well as the
life-space changes of people. (A)
17. A balance is necessary between reliance on peer-group stimuli
and expert leadership stimuli—both evoke initiative and openness in
the leader and supply knowledge and content. (A)
18. The most effective methodology for learning is actual face-to
face contact in working with clients. This experience adds signifi
cantly to knowledge about them through reading and discussion. (A)

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
16 • VINCENT FAHERTY

19. The Council on Social Work Education should commit itself to

bridging the gap between educational institutions and the com
munity. (A)

High Priority — Low Consensus

20. Every continuing social work education program should be
linked to several systems: the agency system, the university system,
the client system, the community system. (0)
21. Human sexuality is also a content area that should be incor
porated in a continuing social work education program. (O)
22. No continuing education program should be offered without
evidence that interest and need is present. (A)
23. Continuing social work education experiences should strive for
affective goals, not simply cognitive goals. (O)
24. Continuing education programs should take into account the
needs of the social work profession. These needs may vary at times
from the needs of the agency. (A)
25. Simulation and gaming techniques are effective methods of
learning and should be adapted for use in continuing social work
education. (0)
(0) = Original Theoretical Construct
(A) = Theoretical Construct added by a panelist

The significant conclusions of this study,
which follow, are based only on those con
structs that received high priority-high consen
sus or high priority-low consensus ratings.
Operational Definition of
Continuing Education
This study did not seek to define continuing
social work education per se, but rather fo
cused on a discussion of whether a narrow or
global approach to the issue was accepted by
the panelists. The participants accepted a
generic definition of continuing social work
education to include any planned, educa
tionally sound experience, specifically: post
degree university courses, staff develop
ment/in-service training, self-study, peer con
sultation, and supervision. This supports the
premise of many authors that there exists an
artificial dichotomy between continuing
education and staff development,9 and re
mains one of the most important findings of
this study. The acceptance of this generic
definition distinguishes continuing education
from formal graduate education, and thus can
assist in the development of intermediate and
long-range program planning. The continuing
education planner thereby possesses several
options, suited to individual needs, interests,
and capabilities, with which to structure a pro
gram that is planned and firmly based on se
quence, continuity, and integration of knowl
edge. What is commonly identified as "staff
development" is, therefore, but one option,
though certainly not the only one.
The Concept of Andragogy
The participants agreed that adults do learn
differently than children, thereby supporting
the concept of andragogy as defined by Mal
colm Knowles10 and operationalized by
others." Practically speaking, this concept of
andragogy requires the personal involvement
of the learner in planning, execution, and
evaluation of the experience. Offerings must
be relevant to immediate practice realities, the
learner must accept responsibility for knowl
edge, and finally, life experiences of the
learner must be integrated into the educational
content. In this study, the panelists thus
agreed substantially with the andragological
type of in-service program as reported by Gel
fand et al.12
Life-Long Professional Learning
The respondents indicated strong agree
ment with the proposition that, for the profes
sional social worker, learning is a life-long

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 CONTINUING SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION •

enumerated several content areas which, they

process. A high level of motivation to pursue
felt, were universally needed by all social
educational experiences that would mitigate
or avoid the obsolescence of knowledge and
workers in modern practice:
skills was apparent.
1. Skill in family group interviewing.
Focus of Continuing Education 2. Skill in consultation and team member
ship.
Continuing social work education, accord
3. Skill in impacting on the problem of
ing to the panelists, should not be directed on
substance abuse.
ly at individuals. The focus might be directed
4. Knowledge about the participants' own
appropriately toward the agency as a system
social and cultural norms and how these
or toward a unit of that agency system with
might negatively or positively affect ser
the goal-changing policies, objectives, or
vices to clients.
strategies. Thus the panelists endorsed a dual
5. Human sexuality information.
approach of both organizational and in
dividual change.13 Other Theoretical Issues

The panel responses reflected an awareness

Learning Methodologies of the distance that exists between practice and
The panel concluded that no one type of education, or agency and university, and the
learning strategy was universally effective for
panelists expressed a desire for these two seg
every continuing education experience. This ments of the profession to coordinate. Specif
supported the opinion of Magner and Briggs, ically related to this, the Council on Social
who indicated that the motivation and per Work Education received encouragement in
sonal involvement of the learner is more im providing leadership for cooperative efforts
portant than any particular method toward continuing education programming.
employed.'4 There was, however, some in Thus these respondents believed that the
terest shown by the panel in utilizing simula Council should aggressively promote continu
tion and gaming techniques, but not to any ing education, thereby serving as a mediating
persuasive degree of consensus. It could belink between the agency and the university.
concluded that gaming and simulation should A further conclusion from this study was
be included in any discussion of learning strat that no continuing education program should
be initiated without evidence of a community
egies, with the final decision left to the learner
as to their appropriateness for a particular need for it. This supports Miller's contention
that many continuing education offerings
learning experience. Other learning method
reflect the interests of social work faculty
ologies that received consistent support in this
study and that might be included in continuingrather than practitioners' needs.11 Another
education approaches were: daily experiential approach to the same issue, also sanctioned by
encounters with clients to aid the integrationthe panelists, is that no continuing education
of theory and practice, and a balance betweenprogram should be planned without the
peer-group stimuli and expert/leader stimuli mutual involvement of university, agency,
in small-group learning situations. community, and client. This multisystemic ap
proach, perplexing though it may be to opera
Content Areas
tionalize, has been discussed by Robbins and
The panel strongly urged that content offer others."
ings be extensive enough to include the entire The final theoretical issue relates to social
continuum, from direct service to administra work as a true profession. The panelists rank
tion and policy. Thus the program planner ed highly the concept that occasions will arise
should be receptive to this notion of broad when the needs of reeducation will be dictated
content, inclusive in its dimensions, and con by professional rather than agency interests.
tent-specific to the learning group. Beyond This is perhaps one of the most critical find
this conceptual approach, the panelists ings of the study, one which gives credence to

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 VINCENT FAHERTY

social work's claim to being a profession
rather than a semiprofession. This acceptance
by the panelists of responsibility as profes
sionals to keep their education continuing dif
fers from a finding by Brenner and Koch in
their survey of social workers in Wisconsin.
The Brenner and Koch study concluded that
their respondents were interested in subjects
that would enhance their knowledge and skills
for employment responsibilities."
Comparison of Panelist Subgroups
Since four strata of panelists were involved
in this study (i.e. social workers, supervisors,
administrators, and authors), statistical analy
sis was conducted to ascertain if similarity of
responses existed among them. Applying the
F-test for analysis of variance, the Bartlett test
for homogeneity of variances, and the Scheffe
test of multiple comparisons, it was concluded
that in a majority of the cases, no significant
differences at the .05 level appeared in the
scoring patterns. In the few cases where a dif
ference among the panelists was discovered, it
could be explained logically as a chance varia
tion due to the unique perspective one of the
subgroups was offering on the particular issue
being discussed.
A FINAL NOTE
If the continuing educator were to opera 5. M. Knowles, The Modern Practice of Adult Educa
tionalize solely the major hypothetical con tion: Andragogy versus Pedagogy (New York: Associa
structs that received high priority status in thistion Press, 1970); D. Miller, Guide to Continuing Educa
study, a new model of continuing educationtion in Schools of Social Work (New York: Council on
Social Work Education, 1974); and B. Gelfand et al., "An
would emerge, based conceptually on the fol
lowing:
1. A generic, inclusive, and holistic defini
tion of continuing education.
2. An andragological approach to teaching
and learning from the perspectives of
content, methodology, and evaluation.
3. A prior needs assessment that emerges
from and is linked to agency, university,
client, and community systems.
4. A bilevel intervention strategy that
focuses on both the individual and the
agency as "learners."
Calvin Taylor has cautioned professionals
against the danger of utilizing the "yesterday
mind," which rests content and secure in the
past, instead of the "tomorrow mind," which
remains restless and challenged by the
unknown future.18 Social work educators
have had this challenge thrust upon them—a
challenge to expand their educational hori
zons to include the vastly increasing numbers
of practitioners who are at this moment ob
solescing in their knowledge and skills of
social work practice. This model and this
study, hopefully, will offer some strategies to
react to this challenge and abate this problem.
NOTES
1. N. Chamberlain, "Retooling the Mind," The At
lantic Monthly, Vol. 214 (September 1964), pp. 49-54; and
D. Schon, Beyond the Stable State (New York: Random
House, 1971).
2. A Lauffer, "Continuing Education as a Problem
Focused Extension," Journal of Education for Social
Work, Vol. 8 (Spring 1972), pp. 40-49.
3. E. Taylor, "Staff Development Dilemma: Continu
ing Training for all Staff," Social Work Education Re
porter, Vol. 17 (September 1969), pp. 33-37; and D. Mil
ler, Continuing Education Programs in Schools of Social
Work: Report of a Survey (New York: Council on Social
Work Education, 1969).
4. L. Frey, "The Evaluation of Teacher Competence
in Continuing Education," Social Work Education
Reporter, Vol. 20 (September 1972), pp. 43-47; and K.
Reichert, "Current Trends and Developments in Social
Work Education in the United States," Journal of Educa
tion for Social Work, Vol. 6 (Fall 1970), pp. 39-50.
Andragological Application to the Training of Social
Workers," Journal of Education for Social Work, Vol. 11
(Fall 1975), pp. 55-61.
6. O. Helmer, Social Technology (New York: Basic
Books, 1966); and A. Van de Ven and A. Delbecq, "The
Effectiveness of the Nominal, Delphi, and Inter-Acting
Group Decision-Making Process," Academy of Manage
ment Journal, Vol. 17, No. 4 (1974), pp. 605-612.
7. L. Ripple, ed., Statistics on Graduate Social Work
Education in the United States: 1973 (New York: Council
on Social Work Education, 1974).
8. G. Loavenbruck, "NASW Manpower Study Finds
Increase in Pay for Most Members," NASW News, Vol.
18, No. 3 (1973), pp. 10-11.
9. M. Brenner and W. Koch, "Continuing Education
Among Social Workers," in Approaches to Innovation in
Social Work Education (New York: Council on Social
Work Education, 1974); Frey, op. cit.; and Reichert, op.
cit.
10. Knowles, op. cit.

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 CONTINUING SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION • 19

11. J. Bruner, Toward a Theory of Instruction Mental

(Cam Health Services (New York: National Associat
bridge, Mass.: Belknap, 1966); M. Somers, "Contribu
of Social Workers, 1966).
tions of Learning and Teaching Theories to the Explica
15. Miller, 1969, op. cit.
tion of the Role of the Teacher in Social Work 16. A. Robins, "Institutional Linkages of Continui
Education," Journal of Education for Social Work, Vol.
Education," in Approaches to Innovation in Social Wor
5 (Spring 1969), pp. 61-73; and J. Soffen, FacultyEducation,
Devel op. cit.; E. Harlacher, The Community
opment in Professional Education (New York: Council
mension on of the Community College (Englewood Clif
Social Work Education, 1967). N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969); M. Katahn, "A Survey of t
12. Gelfand et al., op. cit. Interest in Continuing Education Among Mental Heal
13. L. Frey, E. Shatz, and E. Katz, "ContinuingProfessionals
Edu in the Southeastern States," unpublish
cation: Teaching Staff To Teach," Social Casework,paper Vol.
(Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt University, 197
and
55, No. 6 (1974), pp. 360-68; P. Hesseling, "Factors inA.theDobelstein, "Strengthening Agency Structu
Organization Climate which Stimulate Innovation Through
in Pro Staff Development Programs," Social Wo
Education
fessional Knowledge," in Professional Obsolescence, ed. Reporter, Vol. 19 (September 1971), pp. 39-
S. Dubin (Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath, 1972); Miller,
17. Brenner and Koch, op. cit.
1974, op. cit.; Lauffer, op. cit.; and T. Webster,18. C. Taylor, "Changes Needed To Develop Creati
"Con
cepts Basic to Continuing Education," Social Work Edu
Thinking," in Productive Thinking in Education, ed. M
Aschner and C. Bish (Washington, D. C.: National Ed
cation Reporter, Vol. 19 (September 1971), pp. 66-70.
14. G. Magner and T. Briggs, Staff Development cationin Association, 1965).

This content downloaded from 168.176.5.118 on Wed, 05 Apr 2017 16:39:53 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms