There are many supervision models, such as the PASE[1], 7-eyed[2] and 4x4x4[3] models.
The 4x4x4 integrated model of supervision is used in many Victorian sectors, including child protection. It includes the three functions outlined in the AASW Supervision standards 2014.[4] The 4x4x4 model helps to promote reflective supervision and locate it within the context within which supervision occurs by including:
- the four functions of supervision (support, management, development and mediative)
- the Kolb learning cycle (experience, reflection, analysis, plan and act) that underpins reflective practice[5]
- the context in which supervision occurs or stakeholders.
The supervision functions provide the ‘what’ of supervision. The stakeholders are the ‘who’ or ‘why’ in supervision. The reflective learning cycle is the ‘how’, or the glue that holds the model together. It ensures supervision is a developmental process which improves supervisee practice and decisions, as well as their insight about themselves and their work.
References
[1] Amovita International, Amotiva [website], Amovita, n.d., accessed 13 February 2023.
[2] P Hawkins and R Shohet, Supervision in the helping professions, Open University Press, 2006.
[3] T Morrison, Staff supervision in social care, Pavilion, Brighton, 2005.
[4] Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), Supervision standards, AASW website, 2014, accessed 13 June 2023.
[5] DA Kolb, Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984.
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