Enlightening Professional Supervision in Social Work

Manohar Pawar, PhD is professor of Social Work, School of Social Work and Arts and the Gulbali Institute for Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Australia; the president of the International Consortium for Social Development and the founding Editor-in-Chief of a peer-reviewed journal, The International Journal of Community and Social Development, published by SAGE. He has nearly 40 years of experience in social work education, research and practice in Australia and India. He has received several honors and awards. His interests and recent publications include: COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on and Implications for Community and Social Development (ed., SAGE, 2021); Virtue Ethics in Social Work Practice (co-authored, Routledge, 2021); Empowering Social Workers: Virtuous Practitioners (co-authored Springer, 2017); Future Directions in Social Development (co-edited, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); Reflective Social Work Practice: Thinking, Doing and Being (co-authored, Cambridge University Press, 2015); Water and Social Policy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014); Social and Community Development Practice (SAGE, 2014); International Social Work: Issues, strategies and programs (co-authored, 2nd edition, SAGE, 2013); and SAGE Handbook of International Social Work (co-edited, SAGE, 2012). A. W. (Bill) Anscombe, PhD is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia and the Gulbali Institute for Agriculture, Water and the Environment at CSU. Prior to “retiring”, he had 21 years at CSU, including as Course Director for CSU Social Work and Social Welfare programs. Prior to academia, he had 20 years in corrections, where he held positions from trainee to senior management roles, including Regional Operations Manager and A/Regional Director for Southern NSW, Australia. In 2000, he was seconded from the University to be the Director for Child Protection (Western) as part of the (then) New South Wales Department of Community Services, with responsibility for a geographical area of about 600,000 square kilometres, 25 service outlets, 1000+ children in Out of Home Care, 168 professional staff and more than 14000 Child at Serious Risk of Harm reports. He also operated in a joint appointment between CSU and the Department of Community Services for four years. He is currently a voluntary director of five not-for-profit small/medium human service companies or associations. He has an active, committed Christian faith. His research interests and projects have been broad, including in the areas of First Nations housing and governance, health in multicultural Australia, rural social services, child welfare, corrections, faith in rural Australia and numerous service evaluations. His doctoral studies were on “Consilience in social work: Reflections on thinking, doing and being”. His most recent book publications are: Virtue Ethics in Social Work Practice (co-authored, Routledge, 2021); Empowering Social Workers: Virtuous Practitioners (co-authored, Springer, 2017); and Reflective Social Work Practice: Thinking, Doing and Being (co-authored, Cambridge University Press, 2015).

“The book is mostly descriptive rather than analytic … . This book will be useful not only to social workers who provide supervision but to educators and to social work practitioners more generally as they seek to make the most of the supervision experiences.” (Mark Henrickson, The International Journal of Community and Social Development, Vol. 5 (3), 2023)

• Chapter 1: Professional Supervision: An Introduction.- Chapter 2: Changes and Challenges in Social Work: Implications for Professional Supervision.- Chapter 3: Contexts of Supervision: Organizations and Practice Settings.- Chapter 4: Models of Professional Supervision in Social Work.- Chapter 5: Critical Dilemmas and Challenges in Professional Supervision.- Chapter 6: The Process, Essentials and Content of Professional Supervision.- Chapter 7: Supervisors' Expectations.- Chapter 8: Issues Posed in Professional Supervision.- Chapter 9: Concepts and Theories Employed in Supervision.- Chapter 10: The Use of Practice Wisdom in Supervision.- Chapter 11: The Use of Virtues or Qualities in Supervision.- Chapter 12: Developing Supervisees' Being.- Chapter 13: Action for Professional Supervision.