Assignment: Engagement Role-Play
Practicing your social work skills through a role-play scenario is an essential part of a social work education. This is an opportunity to learn before interacting with vulnerable clients and unintentionally causing harm. Role-play assists you in identifying the areas where you are strong, as well as the areas where you might need improvement.
In this Assignment, you demonstrate skills related to engagement. You are encouraged to practice your engagement skills before recording yourself because practice encourages improvement. However, the video is not expected to be a perfect recording. Real life is not as polished as it may appear in film or television. Stumbling over a word or having to clarify a sentence is a place to demonstrate genuineness and warmth. The goal of recording yourself is to demonstrate current practice skills. You share your video with colleagues in order to have opportunities to learn from one another over the next few weeks. It is now time to record your role-play scenario!
To Prepare
• Choose a scenario from the list below. Use this scenario to establish the client system for the role-play. That is, the client in the role-play takes on the role identified in the scenario.
o Client Sara, age 26, is a working mother of three who relies on child support payments. Child support payments have not been paid, and she is at risk of losing her job. She is in a tough spot, and she is coming to you for support.
o Client Judy, age 76, is being admitted to an inpatient hospice care center. Her son and grandson are her only family. As a social worker for this family, you must help the patient and family address end-of-life issues.
o Client David, a 12-year-old student in the seventh grade, has come to you as the school social worker to report a bullying incidence. David has ADHD and struggles to connect with other students.
By Day 7
Submit an Engagement Role-Play Video, and submit the Engagement Role-Play Report. The directions for these two parts to this Assignment are described below.
PART 1: Engagement Role-Play Video (4–6 minutes)
Record a role-play video that demonstrates engagement skills. You take on the role of the social worker, while a friend, family member, or colleague takes on the role of the client. Although this is a role-play scenario, you should demonstrate your professionalism in demeanor, appearance, and behavior. Please dress professionally and ensure you have a quiet place to record without interruptions. Your video role-play should include:
• A demonstration of the interaction between you, as the social work intern, and the client based on the scenario you selected that reflects the Engagement step in the Generalist Intervention Model. The scene should include the following:
o A demonstration of effective attending skills
o A discussion of agency services and client expectations
o A decision of whether or not the agency and worker can help
o An offer of agency and worker services to the client
o An orientation for the client to the helping process, including:
A discussion of confidentiality
A discussion of a social work intern’s role
To ensure accessibility for your peers, please use the closed caption function available in the Kaltura Media player. Your video will be captioned automatically about an hour after it is been uploaded. Be sure to edit the closed caption function to ensure accuracy.
PART 2: Engagement Role-Play Report
In 1–2 pages, provide:
• A description of the fictional agency setting and types of services provided at this agency
• A description of the client system (depending on the client scenario you selected—micro, mezzo, or macro)
• An explanation of the presenting concern
• A description of the client session scene in which you implement the GIM step and practice skills you have selected for working with this client system
• A description of the techniques you used to implement the GIM step and the practice skills you selected for the client interaction that occurs between you, as the social work intern, and the client(s)
• A description of the visual cues or non-verbal communication that both the social worker and the client exhibited during the interaction that support the GIM step and practice skills you selected
• An identification of specific practice techniques/skills demonstrated
Submission and Grading Information
For Part 1:
• Click the Week 8 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 8 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, click on the Write Submission button.
• Follow the directions for the Kaltura Media Uploader in the Blackboard classroom to create and upload your assignment.
• Then, select Browse My Computer to attach a copy of the transcript.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
For Part 2:
• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK8Assgn+last name+firstinitial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 8 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 8 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK8Assgn+last name+firstinitial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
• Due to the nature of this assignment, your instructor may require more than 5 days to provide you with quality feedback.
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Empowerment series: Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). CENGAGE Learning.
• Chapter 5, “Engagement and Assessment in Generalist Practice” (pp. 175–223)
Document: Kaltura Personal Capture—Guide (PDF)
Follow these instructions to record/upload your video.
Kaltura – Posting your video to the classroom (PDF)
Follow these instructions to place your video in the desired location in the classroom.
Document: Kaltura Automatic Captioning (PDF)
Required Media
John Wiley& Sons, Inc. (2014). Clinical interviewing: Intake, assessment & therapeutic alliance: With John Sommers-Flanagan, PhD and Rita Sommers-Flanagan, PhD (Playlist “active listening”). [Video].
Walden University. (2018, 2021). Child welfare [Video]. https://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 5–7 minutes.
Child Welfare Transcript [PDF]
