Cree & Macaulay (2000) set down the following different kinds of communication in practice learning:
Agency records: these will need to be written and structured according to agency conventions and styles of writing. These may be typed straight onto a computer database.
Agency reports: again, these are likely to follow a specific format set in advance.
Academic assignments / practice studies / practice reports / portfolios: the format for these will be set by the university at which the student is studying, and will be broadly derived from the standards for social work education. All universities place a high value on the integration of theory and practice, and will expect students to demonstrate that their practice is informed by best, up-to-date research evidence.
Parker (2004: 117) offers the following simple advice on preparing and writing the self-evaluation report:
Working agreements/learning agreements: again, the format for these will vary from university to university, but they will all cover roughly the same kind of material, and this will include:
Supervision notes: these may be recorded jointly, with the practice teacher and student taking turns to write, or they may be kept solely by the student. They are likely to include a record of decisions taken in relation to service user contact, and an identification of learning needs and evidence for self-assessment. Parker (2004: 84) offers a useful example of written supervision notes.
Process recordings: these invite students to write a verbatim report of an interview, and at the same time, write down their observations and feelings alongside this account. The process recording is sometimes presented in the form of three columns: the first is what happened (the interaction); the second is thoughts and the third feelings.
Critical incident analysis: here a student describes one specific incident or scenario in depth, giving a highly detailed account of what took place. Any incident can be chosen, because any event or interaction is potentially significant for students as learners.
One framework for a critical incident is as follows (in Cree & Macaulay 2000:141):
Identify an incident for reflection and make brief notes on the following: