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© British Association of Social Workers

Improving the Interpersonal Skills of Social Work Students: The Problem of Transfer of Training and What to do About it

DAVID DICKSON and AVID BAMFORD

David Dickson is Head of the SST Centre and David Bamford is Head of the Department of Applied Social Studies, both at the University of Ulster.

Correspondence to Dr David Dickson, Head, SST Centre, Dept of Communication, University of Ulster, Jordanstown, Co Antrim, N Ireland, BT37 0QB.

Summary

Interpersonal skills which enable the worker to engage meaningfully with the client, lie at the heart of effective social work practice (Cournoyer, 1991). The acceptance of this proposition has important and obvious implications for the preparation of would-be social workers. While the increasing popularity of structured approaches to training in this domain has been commented upon (Sowers-Hoag and Thyer, 1985), it is, perhaps, surprising that relatively little has been published by way of a systematic exploration of current social work education/training provision in promoting skilled professional interaction.

This paper critically reviews some of the research investigating the effects of structured training on interviewing performance. While reported outcomes have been largely positive, methodological weaknesses are identified and discussed. The issue of training effects persisting and being applied outwith the training environment is dwelt upon. Contrasting paradigmatic perspectives on the process, reflected in such labels as ‘transfer of training’ and ‘generalization of outcome’, are considered. These differing conceptualizations are synthesized in the illumination of factors that seem to be pivotal in the transfer process. Finally, recommendations are made for improving interpersonal skill training procedures for social work students.


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