The meaning of evaluation in the supervisory relationship for counselors-in-training
Date
2008
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Abstract
Evaluation is an important component in the training programs of counseling students. Evaluation in the context of supervision experience may be best defined as a process that includes factors such as the supervisory relationship, the scope of evaluation, and the style of communicating supervisory feedback to supervisees. Previous research in the area of counselor education and supervision has not adequately addressed the topic of students' experience of evaluation in supervision and how that may impact supervisees. There was a need for a more detailed inquiry about the supervisees' perceptions about the meaning of evaluation in the context of their training and supervision experience. The overarching research questions for this study were "What is the meaning of evaluation in the supervisory relationship for counselors-in-training?", and "What are the underlying contexts that account for a counselor-in-training to experience different meanings for evaluation in the supervisory relationship?" A phenomenological approach in qualitative research was adopted for this study in order to describe, understand, and discover the meaning of evaluation in the supervisory relationships for 20 students who had experienced evaluation in practicum or internship. Inquiring about the in-supervision cognitions of the students interviewed suggests that the supervisees' meaning of evaluation may be influenced by their understanding of the purpose of evaluation, methods of evaluation, and more importantly the supervisory relationship. Similarly, the majority of the interviewees indicated that they had experienced intense feelings of being evaluated during their supervision. In general, students seemed to recognize evaluation as part of their professional and personal development. The students also shared many insights which should be considered in order to improve the overall objective of supervision programs. The findings of this research suggest the interaction of several different factors seemed to influence the students' experience of evaluation. Most of these factors involved conditions that were more directly related to the supervision setting, including different supervisors, classmates, and the client. In addition to a stage-based model of supervision, the findings from this study suggest that supervisors be sensitive to the impact of evaluation on their supervisees and to adopt a relationship-based approach when conducting supervisory evaluation.
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Subject
counseling
counselor education and supervision
counselors-in-training
evaluation
evaluation and feedback
meaning
psychoevaluation
supervision
supervisory relationship
working alliance