Publications from ODSW Social Work Supervsion | Page 29

Dialogue Session: Dilemmas in Social Work Supervision and the Way Forward

qualified supervisor is for one’s name to be listed online as a qualified supervisor which
attracts many universities and organisations. He remarked that although this is not a
necessity, such qualifications often conferred a higher level of recognition for the workers
and are associated with a higher level of pay.
Although Singapore has not gone to the extent of accrediting supervisors, Dr Wong
mentioned that there is still a need to perceive supervision as a professional activity. She
opined that the quality of supervision could also be affected by organizations’ decision to
appoint supervisors solely based on their seniority and not based on whether they are
suitable for the job or not. She then asked for the speakers’ comments on this. A/P Kieran
opined that there needs to first be a consideration of how the title of “social worker” is
used. The legislation for the voluntary registration of social workers established in New
Zealand has been helpful in reinforcing supervision in social work practice and the
professional quality of it as there is an avenue to complain (the registration board) if one
does not receive supervision and quality supervision. A/P Kieran shared that New Zealand
began discussing the idea of accreditation for their supervisors in 1997, and developed
their supervision policy in 1998, which mainly addressed the expectations for supervisors.
In 2003, there was voluntary registration for social workers and Massey University (the
university he works for) also helped to train supervisors. This voluntary registration helped
to enforce quality, as it provides accountability to supervisors through the code of conduct.
He also argued that there is a need to see the development of supervision as part of
developing the entire profession and hence pay adequate attention to it.
Prof. Tsui added that from his experience and research, he found that social workers often
hope for supervision to be similar to the supervision that they had received during their
field work placements, which were warm, regular and planned with specific advice from the
supervisor. However, in reality, supervision is often task oriented and unscheduled and on a
need basis. A/P Kieran added that once social work is professionalized, maintaining ethical
social work practice will be important and it is no longer acceptable to avoid proper
supervision. Prof. Tsui opined that there is a need for an evolving process and the concept
of contextualisation should be applied. There is a need to be sensitive to the cultural
landscape and the political context of moving mandatory accreditation of supervisors.
M s Lee summarised the discussion by commenting that supervision sits within the context
of the person, agency and the profession. There may not be a need to implement the
mandatory accreditation of supervisors immediately if the profession is not ready for it,
however, smaller steps should be taken to improve the standards of supervision. Some
steps could be to have structured ongoing support and training for supervisors. As a
closing point, Dr Wong concluded that supervision is an area that is a personal,
professional and organisational responsibility. Supervision is not just as a personal or
professional issue but it also sits within the context of the organization. She exhorted
participants to tap on the wisdom of local agencies that currently have a culture of
supervision and to contextualise something that is relevant to their organization and
sector.
Questions from the Floor
Matching of Supervisor and Supervisee
One participant commented that as the Head of Department in her agency, when sourcing
for people to bring into her team, she also takes note of who would potentially be a
suitable supervisor for him/her. Hence she asked for the panellists’ comments on the
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