The School Psychology Supervisor’s Toolkit

Meaghan C. Guiney

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138306080
• eBook ISBN: 9781351394413
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The School Psychology Supervisor's Toolkit provides accessible, adaptable strategies for supervising school psychologists at all points in the career span, from internship to advanced practice. The book covers a full range of key considerations for effective supervision, such as building strong working relationships, planning the supervision experience, providing constructive feedback, and addressing problems of professional competence. Features such as definitions of key terms, photocopiable handouts, tips for culturally responsive practice, and real-life case examples make this a rich and easily applied resource.

SECTION II

Navigating the Supervision Experience

4

Communicating Feedback

This chapter will address the importance of providing effective feedback to supervisees and presents some strategies for doing so. It should be helpful to both clinical and administrative supervisors, given that providing feedback to support supervisee skill development is an essential feature of both types of supervision.

What’s the Difference between Feedback and Evaluation?

The terms feedback and evaluation are sometimes used interchangeably, but they’re actually two different concepts. Evaluation involves the process of assessing long-term performance based on set external criteria, while feedback is about giving supervisees information that will help them improve their skills compared to their current level of performance (Wade & Jones, 2015). Hoffman, Hill, Holmes, and Freitas (2005) defined feedback as, “information that supervisors communicate to their supervisees about aspects of their skills, attitudes, behavior, and appearance that may influence their performance with clients or affect the supervisory relationship” (p. 3). So we’re talking about the kind of constructive criticism, corrections, and encouragement that effective supervisors give supervisees on a regular basis to support learning and the ongoing improvement of skills.

The Importance of Feedback

Feedback is essential to promoting learning and growth (Wade & Jones, 2015). It can also differentiate effective from ineffective supervisors: Magnuson, Wilcoxon, and Norem (2000) found that supervisees cited vague, global, and abstract feedback as characteristic of poor supervision, and trainees have repeatedly endorsed that effective supervisors provide frequent and balanced feedback (Chur-Hansen & McLean, 2006; Ladany, Mori, & Mehr, 2013). One study found that 83% of supervisees felt feedback from field supervisors had a positive effect on their learning (Abbott & Lyter, 1998). As Ende (1983) observed, “without feedback, mistakes go uncorrected, good performance is not reinforced, and clinical competence is achieved empirically or not at all” (p. 778).

Providing feedback is also an important part of maintaining a positive supervision relationship. For one thing, supervisees can interpret a lack of supervisor feedback as a lack of caring (Wade & Jones, 2015). As Bernard and Goodyear (2014) point out, “you cannot not communicate” (p. 234) so if you fail to give feedback supervisees will make meaning from your silence. They may think you’re not willing to take the time to share feedback, or assume that they’re doing fine. You might think supervisees would prefer not to hear negative feedback, but research has shown that, particularly for relatively novice supervisees, clear structure and direction are preferred (Lazar & Eisikovits, 1997). Similarly, Lehrman-Waterman and Ladany (2001) found that goal setting and feedback strengthen supervisory relationships. But providing feedback is about more than just preserving a strong working relationship; it is also an ethical imperative. The APA (2017) code of ethics specifically states, “psychologists establish a timely and specific process for providing feedback to students and supervisees” (p. 10). So like it or not, as a supervisor you need to be ready to provide frequent feedback.

How Do You Feel about Giving Feedback?

At first, I was extremely hesitant to give her constructive feedback. I was nervous it would ruin our relationship. Since then, I have grown and understand the importance of moving through the feedback process, as well as, how [the supervisee] takes my feedback and uses it to better her practices.

(S. G., practicum supervisor)

It’s clear that providing quality feedback is an important responsibility for supervisors. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for supervisors to avoid giving feedback: one study found that 98% of supervisors surveyed acknowledged withholding feedback from supervisees (Ladany & Melincoff, 1999). Why would supervisors refrain from sharing information that might help supervisees improve their skills? For one thing, unpleasant past personal experiences giving or receiving feedback might make a supervisor uncomfortable with this aspect of their role (Ende, 1983). Other reasons include feeling that it’s not the supervisor’s place to give the feedback, reluctance to appear critical of the supervisee, concern that the feedback might damage the supervision relationship, fear of potential litigation, and a simple lack of time to provide feedback (Chur-Hansen & McLean, 2006). Supervisors have also reported withholding feedback from supervisees due to concerns about a negative reaction (Ladany & Melincoff, 1999). But ironically, failing to provide criticism can actually breed anxiety in supervisees, as it can force them to try and derive their own feedback from available cues. As Ende (1983) put it, “a raised eyebrow then implies, ‘I’m not performing up to standards’” (p. 778).

There may be legitimate reasons to not share your every impression with a supervisee, such as respect for the boundary between supervision and therapy or an expectation that as training progresses, the supervisee will soon independently discover what you are observing (Ladany & Melincoff, 1999). For example, you may find that a supervisee is overly focused on small details in a counseling case, but realize that with time it will become easier to focus on the big picture. Pointing this out may not be essential. But when you find yourself biting your tongue, you need to honestly assess whether you’re holding back for a legitimate training reason or to avoid a potentially uncomfortable situation.

It’s important to consider your own feelings about feedback as you work to use it effectively to support your supervisees. Simon and Swerdlik (2017) offer a process activity to help build self-awareness; it encourages supervisors to reflect on their own experiences receiving both positive and negative feedback and the factors that affected how each type of feedback was received. The “Final Reflections” section of this chapter also presents some questions to consider regarding your approach to providing feedback.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback

Several factors come up time and again in the literature on feedback. For example, psychology supervisees have characterized quality feedback as balanced, accurate, immediate, frequent, clear, specific, based on direct observation, and accompanied by suggestions for improvement (Heckman-Stone, 2003). And medical students have expressed similar preferences, indicating that their “good” supervisors were those who provided frequent, balanced feedback (Chur-Hansen & McLean, 2006).

This means you should aim to provide feedback that is:

• Balanced: highlight positive behaviors and provide constructive criticism.
• Immediate: feedback should occur as soon as possible after observation.
• Goal-oriented: link feedback to goals and provide suggestions for improvement.
• Frequent: feedback should be a regular feature of supervision.
• Objective: stick to observed behaviors and avoid subjective judgments.
• Reciprocal: the supervisee should provide you with feedback too!

Box 4.1 provides an example of how real-world feedback could incorporate some of these features. Imagine that your supervisee, Fiona, just presented evaluation results to members of the multidisciplinary team at a special education eligibility meeting. This is only the second time Fiona has done this; the first time she was quite nervous, particularly about discussing cognitive and academic weaknesses with a group that included the child’s parents. This time she seemed more relaxed, but still stumbled over some of her words and used several psychological terms without explaining what they meant. How could you encourage Fiona, but also help her continue to improve?

Box 4.1 Sample of Effective Feedback

Supervision in the Real World

“Ok, Fiona, let’s talk about this morning’s meeting. First things first, I want to hear your impressions about how it went …”

“Overall, you definitely seemed more comfortable today than you did the last time you presented at a meeting, which is great! I noticed several things that you did really well: you made regular eye contact with both of the parents and you highlighted positive behaviors you observed while you were working with Charlie. This seemed to make his parents feel a little more relaxed. I know one of your goals this year is to become more comfortable presenting with parents, so you should definitely keep approaching future meetings this way. To continue working towards that goal, I have a few things for you to focus on. First, you were talking pretty quickly, and I noticed that you stumbled over your words at a few points. It’s important to speak slowly and clearly, so I recommend you practice presenting your results out loud and maybe even recording yourself to listen to the pace of your speech. The second thing to remember is the importance of presenting results in language that everyone at the meeting can understand. I heard you tell Charlie’s parents that he demonstrated a weakness in ‘perceptual-motor skills.’ This is accurate, based on the testing results, but it might be more helpful to say, ‘Charlie had difficulty copying designs,’ because that describes behavior that listeners can relate to. Do these observations sound accurate to you? What do you think you will do next based on hearing this feedback?”

Communicating Feedback

Even with a good relationship, giving constructive feedback in a way that accomplishes the task of teaching skills without making the supervisee feel bad is definitely a challenge.

(J. A., first time supervisor)

School psychologists must have strong communication skills for virtually all aspects of their work. As a supervisor you’re a powerful model, so seeing and hearing how you communicate feedback can be a learning experience in and of itself for your supervisee. How can you set a good example even when you have to deliver a difficult message? Here are some guidelines and specific techniques that can help.

General Guidelines

As you prepare to deliver feedback, keep the following ideas in mind (Ende, 1983):

• Link feedback to goals you and your supervisee develop together. Each supervision session should start with a revie...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• SECTION I: Building a Solid Foundation
• SECTION II: Navigating the Supervision Experience
• SECTION III: Professional Issues in Supervision
• SECTION IV: Developmentally Responsive Supervision
• Appendix A: Recommended Reading
• Appendix B. Sample Professional Disclosure Statement Professional Disclosure Statement
• Appendix C. Sample Contract for Supervision
• Appendix D: Self-Assessment Tool
• Appendix E. Sample Internship Training Plan
• Appendix F. Sample Professional Growth Plan for Credentialed School Psychologist
• Appendix G: Intern Evaluation Form
• Appendix H: Sample Remediation Plan
• Appendix I: Developing Cultural Responsiveness
• Appendix J: Letter of Recommendation for Strong Supervisee
• Appendix K: Letter of Recommendation for a Supervisee Who Struggled
• Index