Volume 3, Number 2 - October 2007
In This Issue: Leadership
Leadership is a critical issue for social work education. And meeting the challenges of our aging society requires innovative leaders among both social work faculty and students.
Leadership in Geriatric Social Work
Sandra Edge-Boyd, University of Oklahoma
Professor Edge-Boyd describes the need for leaders in gerontological social work education.
Leadership Resources
This page includes a leadership self-assessment, a presentation on leadership in the policy arena, and more information on the CSWE Scholars Program.
Recognizing and Promoting Leadership in Gerontological Social Work Practice
Karen A. Zurlo, PhD Student, University of Pennsylvania
One student witnesses leadership in practice at her local senior services agency.
Faculty/Student Opportunities
The CSWE Gero-Ed Center is committed to building and supporting faculty and student leaders with programs such as the following:
Gero-Ed Track Just Days Away!
Don’t miss these and other special Gero-Ed Track events at the CSWE APM (October 27-30)!
CDI Program: Gero Curricular Change Funding Available
The RFP for the Cycle 2 CDI Program has just been released. Find out how your program can apply.
New CSWE Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum
A new way to stay connected to the CSWE Gero-Ed Center.
Leadership in Geriatric Social Work
By Sandra K. Edge-Boyd
Do you consider yourself a leader in social work practice or social work education? Do you find yourself in situations where leadership is needed but you don’t know what to do? Do you want to be more of a leader, but don’t know which leadership qualities are most effective? The CSWE Gero-Ed Center emphasizes building the gerontological leadership capacity of faculty and students.
Most of us are aware that by 2020, an estimated 54.6 million Americans will be age 65 and older, which will increase to 71.5 million by 2030 (AOA, 2005). The implications of this dramatic shift in longevity and the subsequent growth of the older population will have a dramatic impact on individuals, families, and institutions of all types, including social work and higher education (Scharlach, Damron-Rodriguez, Robinson, Feldman, 2000). Leaders are needed to unite and encourage social work faculty to prepare students for the reality of this demographic shift. Leaders are needed to envision and energize the way faculty include competencies and content on older adults and create innovative, engaging curricula for today’s students.
Leadership involves an influential relationship among leaders and followers that leads to authentic changes, reflecting shared goals ( Harrison, 1999). Some traditional interpersonal styles, such as authoritarian or passive, do not result in the trust and motivation of others that is needed for leadership in geriatric social work education and practice (Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1999). The 21 st century educational environment requires leaders with styles that are intellectually stimulating, inspirational, collaborative, and forward-looking (Avolio, Bass, and Jung, 1999; Harrison, 1999; Maccoby, 2001).
Five exemplary leadership practices are identified as follows: modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). These practices are congruent with social work education and practice. A style of leadership, identified as transformational, is shown to have a more significant and positive impact on innovative effectiveness than the traditional transactional or paternalistic management styles (Kou, 2004). If leadership is essential in social work education and practice, as I believe it is, then the preparation of social work leaders is imperative and our graduate programs must prepare transformational, ethical, and visionary leaders (Siegrist, 1999). Those of us who can and are willing must step up to the task of preparing ourselves and our students for leadership. Further social work leadership research is also needed to bring about the organizational changes needed to respond to our rapidly changing aging environments (Gellis, 2001).
Please join with the CSWE Gero-Ed Center in its focus on gerontological leadership capacity-building. Meet with Geriatric Social Work Leaders at the CSWE APM and watch for the RFP for the Cycle 2 Curriculum Development Institutes Program. Your active involvement is essential in social work education and practice to meet the demographic challenges of the 21 st century.
Professor Sandra Edge-Boyd, MSW, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Program Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Gerontology. She was a GeroRich Project Director and CDI Mentor and continues to serve as an adjunct faculty member of the OU School of Social Work to advocate for aging curricula and field education.
References
Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2005). Fact Sheet: A statistical profile of older Americans aged 65. Retrieved June 5, 2006, from http://www.aoa.gov/
Avolio, B.J., Bass, B.M., and Jung, D.I. (1999, December). Re-examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the multifactor leadership questionnaire. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72(4), 441-462. Retrieved May 26, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Gellis, Z.D. (2001) Social work perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership in health care. Social Work Research. 25(1), 17-26. Retrieved June 18, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Harrison, B. (1999). The nature of leadership: Historical perspectives and the future. Journal of California Law Enforcement, 33(1), 24-30. Retrieved June 18, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Kou, C.-C. (2004). Research on impacts of team leadership on team effectiveness. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge. Sept.:266-277.
Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2002). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Maccoby, M. (May, 2001). Successful leaders employ strategic intelligence. Research-Technology Management, 44(3)58. Retrieved May 2, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile.
Scharlach , A. Damron-Rodriguez. J., Robinson, B., and Feldman R. (Fall 2000). Educating social workers for an aging society: A vision for the 21st century.Journal of Social Work Education. 36(3) 521-539. Retrieved July 13, 2006, from ProQuest database.
Siegrist, G. (1999). Educational leadership must move beyond management training to visionary and moral transformational leaders. Education, 120(2), 297. Retrieved Tuesday, July 04, 2006 from the Academic Search Premier database.
Leadership Resources
Becoming a Leader in Geriatric Social Work (PDF)
Worksheet to assess your leadership skills, from the Becoming a Leader in Geriatric Social Work intensive workshop at the 2007 Gero-Ed Forum, February 3, 2007.
Presenters:
Linda Krogh Harootyan, Gerontological Society of America
Elizabeth Clark, National Association of Social Workers
Patricia Volland, New York Academy of Medicine
Robyn Golden, Rush University Medical Center
Developing Policy Leaders: Lessons to Share (PDF)
Presentation on lessons learned from the Policy Leadership Institute, part of the Hartford Faculty Scholars Program.
Presented by Linda Krogh Harootyan, Gerontological Society of America, at the 2006 Gero-Ed Forum, February 17, 2006.
CSWE Scholars Program (Web Site)
Some of the current and past participants in the CSWE Scholars Program have conducted research on leadership in social work education. While not focused on gerontology, this research is an excellent resource for understanding the current state of leadership in general.
Gerontology is one of the current funding priorities for the CSWE Scholars Program. We encourage our readers to learn more about this opportunity.
Recognizing and Promoting Leadership in Gerontological Social Work Practice
By Karen A. Zurlo
Leadership is a popular and contested topic in today’s world. Some define a leader as one who has vision, passion and the ability to articulate and communicate with a variety of individuals. Others define it as one who is consistent and in spite of adversity, never gives up. I argue that it is more accessible than we realize. By recognizing and promoting leadership opportunities among ourselves and with our older clients, leadership can be a common form of expression in gerontological social work and as a result, more successfully advance our goals as educators, practitioners and researchers.
Over the past year, I have been working with the Executive Director (ED) of a senior services agency, located in the suburbs of Philadelphia and dedicated to “neighbor helping neighbor.” It was founded 30 years ago to promote the well-being of its members through volunteer and social opportunities and assist members who “age in place.” Today this agency is a full-service non-profit that serves almost 3,500 individuals annually. The ED asked me to assist her with assessing the needs of a growing membership. Although she never had conducted a needs assessment, she knew that if her agency was to remain an influential member of the community, she must understand the actual needs of a growing and diverse membership.
We conducted a needs assessment through three focus groups. All participants were members of the agency, age 75 and older, and living independently in a suburban, single-family home. Initially, we met with single women, then with couples, and lastly with single men.
The consistent finding from members of all three groups was their appreciation for the time we took to meet with them and ask their opinions. They were grateful to be heard by someone who could potentially create change in their lives. Secondly, they wanted to give back. Many felt they had demanding work lives in their earlier years and had skills that could benefit others. How could we, as administrators of this agency, help them put those skills to good use? One widower offered to host group discussions on antiques, a hobby which he and his wife shared years earlier. And an older couple offered the opportunity for members of the agency to learn about meditation, a practice that helped them deal with a significant loss in their lives.
I would argue that the leadership skills of the ED and me were reflected in the questions asked and our careful listening to their answers. This simple act was a catalyst that recognized and promoted leadership opportunities for the older members of this agency. As gerontological social workers, I ask you to find leadership opportunities for yourselves and your clients in your everyday interactions. As simple as these opportunities may appear, they can enhance well-being and increase life satisfaction. What a great way to spend one’s later years!
Karen A. Zurlo, MSW, MBA, is a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice. She received a John A. Hartford Foundation Pre-Dissertation Award and is currently serving as a student representative on the AGE-SW Board.
Gero-Ed Track Just Days Away!
There are only 2 weeks until the CSWE Annual Program Meeting (APM) in San Francisco (October 27-30). Although online registration has closed, you can still register onsite at the San Francisco Hilton, starting October 26.
The Gero-Ed Center encourages all CSWE APM registrants to attend the Gero-Ed Track educational sessions and special events. Highlights include:
Gero-Ed Track Kick-Off
Sunday, October 28, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Keynote speaker: Marc Freedman, a leader in the field of civic engagement. Snacks will be served.
Gero-Ed Center/AGE-SW Joint Event & Reception
Sunday, October 28, 6-9 PM
- Hot Topic Panel – Civic Engagement: What It Means for Social Work
Panelists: Nancy Morrow-Howell, Carmen Morano, and Jim Hinterlong
- Anita Rosen Gerontology Awards for Outstanding Student Poster announcement
- AGE-SW business meeting
Second Annual Gero-Ed Film Festival
Sunday, October 28 - Monday, October 29
View films that address intergenerational/aging issues and are appropriate for classroom use.
Check the Gero-Ed Center Web site (www.Gero-EdCenter.org) for other special events!
Registrants and non-registrants are encouraged to check the online personal scheduler for more specific information about all Gero-Ed Track sessions as well as all other APM events.
CDI Program: Gero Curricular Change Funding Available
The CSWE Gero-Ed Center announces funding for a new, 3-year Cycle 2 Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) Program, July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2011. Applications are welcome from all CSWE-accredited BSW, MSW, and combined BSW/MSW programs that have not already participated in the Cycle 1 CDI Program (2004-2007) or the Geriatric Enrichment Program (GeroRich, 2001-2004). The application deadline is April 15, 2008.
If you are attending the 2007 CSWE Annual Program Meeting, please visit with us at the Cycle 2 CDI Program information session on Sunday, October 28, from 8 - 9 am, in room Union Square 10.
Cycle 2 CDI Program highlights:
- Gain strategies to prepare social work graduates with the competencies to meet the workforce needs of our aging society
- Learn to implement, evaluate, and sustain gerontological competencies within foundation curriculum and program structure
- Receive support from a CDI Mentor, a social work faculty member with expertise in gerontology and planned curricular change
- Network with and learn from faculty participants nationwide at three, annual pre-APM CDI Workshops
Funded programs will receive $2,500 each of the first two years for programmatic implementation support, and up to $700 CDI Workshop travel reimbursement per participating faculty member all 3 years. For additional program and application details, review the Request for Proposals (RFP) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), available on the CDI Program Web page.
We hope that you will apply and become part of the growing national movement to increase gerontological foundation competencies to ensure that all graduates are prepared to work with older adults and their families.
New CSWE Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum
The CSWE Gero-Ed Center is pleased to announce the newly launched Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum, part of the new CSWE Discussion Forums. This Web-based forum functions as a combined listserv and message board. Participants can read, post, and reply to messages regarding gero social work education using e-mail.
If you were on our “SAGE Listserv,” you are already a member of the Gero-Ed Center Discussion Forum list and should have received an email inviting you to participate. If you were not on this list or did not receive an email to participate and would like to, please contact us at Gero-EdCenter@cswe.org.
We hope you will find this new feature valuable for connecting you to news from the Gero-Ed Center and as a forum for discussion on gero related topics. If you are a member of CSWE, you will be able to access many other members-only discussion groups later this fall. If you are not a member of CSWE, we encourage you to join today for this and many other membership benefits.
Should you have any general questions about the new Discussion Forums, please direct them to DiscussionForums@cswe.org.