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SIGNIFICANCE OF TRAINING IN ENHANCING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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SIGNIFICANCE OF TRAINING IN ENHANCING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
“Learning to think and thinking to Learn”. Social work makes people to think about social issues and their own surroundings and through their own environment, it forces them to involve in Social Work activities.





According to Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals is:

Diagram 1.2.1
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
Diagram 1.1.1
a)     Knowledge
Knowledge is defined as remembering of previously learned materials. This may involve the recall of wide range of materials, from facts to complete theories, but all that is required is bringing to mind the appropriate information. Knowledge represents the lowest level of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain. The main objectives of knowledge are: know common terms, specific facts, methods, procedures, basic concepts, principles

Verbs for expressing learning outcomes will be: Define, describe, identify, label, list, match, name, recall and reproduce select, state.

One can see that the Parrot reading and exam based education are still in Nepal. Educational institutes always focus on pass percentage of students rather than to develop their skills. Most of the students do not have proper resources to gain knowledge. Notes get rotated from one batch to another and one institute to another.
b)     Comprehension
Comprehension is defined as the ability to grasp the meaning of the material. This may be shown by translating materials from one form to another (words to numbers), by interpreting materials (explaining or summarizing), and by estimating future trends (predicting consequences or effects). These learning outcomes go one step beyond the simple remembering of material which represents the lowest level of understanding.

Objectives: Understand facts and principles, Interpret verbal material, charts, graphs, translate verbal, material to mathematical formulas, estimate future consequences implied by data, justify methods and procedures.

Verbs for expressing learning outcomes will be: convert, defend, distinguish, estimate, explain, infer, paraphrase, predict, rewrite, summarize.

Education is undergoing a changing trend from time to time. It is encouraging that though some institutions are only focusing on knowledge based education a few have gone one step ahead. Social work professionals have started writing articles and focusing on comprehension of concepts.
c)     Application
Application refers to the ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations. This may include the application of such things as rules, methods, concepts, principles, laws, and theories. Learning outcomes in this area require a higher level of understanding than those under comprehension.
Objectives: Apply concepts and principles to new situations; apply laws and theories to practical situations, solve mathematical problems, construct charts and graphs.
Verbs for expressing learning outcomes will be: Change, compute, demonstrate, discover, manipulate, prepare, produce, relate, show, use.
Social work is a profession as well as a unique discipline. It provides opportunity to apply theory into practice during field work. Social work provides a way where trainees can implement the knowledge gained in classes, at field work.
d)     Analysis
Analysis refers to the ability to break down material into its component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. This may include the identification of the parts, analysis of relationships between parts, and recognition of principles involved. Learning outcomes here represent a higher intellectual level than comprehension and application because they require an understanding of both the content and the structural form of the material.
Objectives: Recognize unstated assumptions and logical fallacies in reasoning, distinguish between facts and inferences, evaluate the relevance of data and analyze the organizational structure.
Verbs for expressing learning outcomes will be: Break down, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, outline, point out, relate, select, separate, and subdivide.
Social work not only enables social work trainees to see and observe the problem, but also motivates them to analyze the problem, findout the root causes, effects and possible solutions and motivate community to solve their problems themselves. Social workers in Nepal are trained to analyze social issues.
e)     Synthesis
Synthesis refers to the ability to put parts together to form a new whole. This may involve the production of a unique communication (theme or speech), a plan of operations (research proposal), or a set of abstract relations (scheme for classifying information). Learning outcomes in this area stress creative behaviors, with major emphasis on the formulation of new patterns or structures.
Objectives: Write a well-organized theme or give a well-organized speech; propose a plan or create a new work or writing, music, art; integrate learning from different areas into a plan to solve new problems, formulate or develop new schemes for classifying.
Verbs for expressing learning outcomes will be: Compile, compose, create, devise, design, generate, modify, organize, plan, rearrange, reconstruct, relate, revise, rewrite, and write.
Social work is a profession which enables and motivates trainees to be part of programs, researches, and to develop communication skills, research skills, program planning skills; but social work institutes in Nepal do not provide ample opportunities to the learners to participate in seminars and conferences. Even programs are mostly planned, organized by the institute itself.
f)      Evaluation
Evaluation is concerned with the ability to judge the value of a material (statement, novel, poem, research report) for a given purpose. The judgments are to be based on definite criteria. These may be internal criteria (organization) or external criteria (relevance to the purpose), and the student may determine the criteria or be given to them. Learning outcomes in this area are highest in the cognitive hierarchy because they contain elements of all the other categories, plus conscious value judgments based on clearly defined criteria.
Objectives: Judge the logical consistency, the adequacy of conclusions, the value of a work by use of internal criteria, the value of a work by use of external standards.
Verbs for expressing learning outcomes will be: Appraise, compare, conclude, contrast, critique, justify, interpret, relate, support.

The evaluation method of social work trainee is not very satisfactory. The external evaluation takes place once in a six months for BSW, and once a year for BA social work. Students are evaluated based on their report and knowledge. There is a need to move forward in evaluation process which should encourage student’s initiative and original thinking rather than just report and knowledge based. 
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