Field Class- Macro Social Worker 2
1. As critical thinking is not just thinking, but thinking which entails self-improvement, discuss how your judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making has improved since your understanding of the application of critical thinking to your learning and practice of social work.
With the knowledge of critical thinking, I have since developed the tendency to analyze every piece of information before conceiving them to make proper decisions and judgments. I have to think creatively, logically, and deeply to understand issues better and make sound conclusions while solving any problem (Mathias, 2015). As a critical thinker, I usually ask many questions whenever faced with any problem or decision before making any form of judgment (Brown & Rutter, 2008). For instance, I mostly begin by asking myself such questions: How do I know what is happening? What do I know currently? To get a better knowledge and perspective of what I am working on (Mathias, 2015).
In a nutshell, whenever presented with any issue of judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making, to arrive at an actionable conclusion, I engage myself in: identification of the problem and defining it accurately, find a possible potential solution to the challenge, explore possible action plan that leads to in the evaluation of the possible solution, act upon the critical steps to finalize the action plan if found doable and logical, finally, I review the actions I took to determine if the identified problem is solved (Mathias, 2015). However, whenever making such critical decisions, I have to adopt certain key concepts to guide me. The ideas include one; I draw logic onto the causes and effects of the issue to make accurate predictions on the impact of the proposed solution on the people. Another...
Thirdly, creating a list of possible effects the final decision may result in based on prior experience and finally finding a solution not currently in force. As a critical thinker, I mainly adopt new ways of solving challenges (Mathias, 2015).
2. Explain your understanding of the critical thinking process and its relevance to inform and communicate professional judgment as a social work student both in the classroom and at your field placement.
The critical thinking process enables students to reflect and ask questions on their knowledge and information. It is the ability to synthesize, evaluate, and analyze new data. In the social work practice, the critical thinking process involves looking at a situation or a person from an objective and neutral view without assumptions and premature conclusions. Critical thinking skills are vital to social work students conducting research, studying in class, working on assignments, performing analysis, or working in field placement. This is because social work students utilize their time experiencing, observing, and analyzing all the happenings around them. Subsequently, critical thinkers are considered valuable assets in the classroom and workplaces because they would assess different situations correctly and develop a logical resolution. Such students do not need close supervision while executing their roles but can make critical resolutions within reasonable time limits, thus, saving time (Mathias, 2015).
In addition, through the critical thinking process, students would gather and interpret information both at field placement and classroom but simultaneously evaluate data skeptically. Furthermore, through analytical…
