SW 8802: Fall 2007 K. Heltzer Page 1Assignment SheetModified Personal Practice Model PaperObjectives:(1) To provide an introspective experience that helps students clarify “natural helping skills”and “personal values” they bring to social work practice.(2) To exercise written communication (self expression) and expository skills.(3) To provide exposure to the Personal Practice Model as a Master’s Project option, and tocreate an actual Portfolio learning product for those completing the Portfolio Masters ProjectAssignment:Read the PPM Manual available on the social work website:http://www.d.umn.edu/sw/MANUALS/MSWDepartmentHandbooks.htmYour paper will be focused upon the following portions of the PPM Manual:Natural Helping Skills (NHS)….Your natural helping skills (NHS) are those which: 1) you may have acquired fromthe influence of any relevant genetic tendencies toward helping behaviors, 2) youacquired from your “growing up” experiences i.e. from being socialized. These areskills that were usually acquired with little or no conscious awareness on your part atthe time that you were indeed acquiring them. They are the helping skills you usespontaneously, not requiring forethought or planning. In many instances of yourprofessional activities these skills will remain in continuing spontaneous use alongwith whatever additional helping skills you have or will acquire through formaltraining. (PPM, page 5)In this paper you should comment on the following five NHS categories: Empathy;Role-Modeling; Provider of Concrete Assistance; Self-sharing; Offering PositiveRegard; Advocate. Under each of these headings, you will describe how this skillhas been a part of your life and work. Give concrete examples, tell stories, talk aboutimportant influences, role models or formative experiences in developing the skill.Each section should be a “rich description” from your experience. This is meant to beyour unique expression of each skill, not an ideal definition of the skill.After you have described each skill, you will provide an informal evaluation of therelative importance of each skill as follows:On a scale of 1-4 indicate how effective you have been at using this skill. 1 2 3 4 Social Work ValuesThe term “value” refers to a quality that one holds to be worthwhile. One maypersonally value certain physical activities such as jogging or swimming. Nonphysicalqualities can also be values such as patriotism, personal freedom, and helpfulness.Sometimes these kinds of value examples are called attitudes but are nonethelessSlight/noEffectivenessModeratelyEffectiveStronglyEffectiveVery StronglyEffectiveEffectivenessExtent of UseRarely UsedOften UsedFairly FrequentlyUsedFrequently UsedSW 8802: Fall 2007 K. Heltzer Page 2values because for those who possess these attitudes, they are held to be worthwhilei.e. of value.Value orientations in social work refer to the material and non-material qualities socialworkers prefer for their clients because they believe them to be worthwhile for clientwellbeing. Sometimes values held by the profession for their clients are referred to as“rights” although rights and values are not necessarily synonymous. Some of thedominate values held by the profession for clients pertain to respect for humandiversity, client self-determination and the right to experience the benefits of socialjustice.You could begin your work on the component of social work values by thinking aboutyour own personal values and write a paragraph describing some of the values that youfeel are most important for your personal life. Describe only those that you feelcomfortable discussing. Next, describe some of your social work values. Some ofthese may overlap or be nearly the same as some of your personal values which youshould point out if this is the case. Do you hold whatmight be called traditional social work values such as the three mentioned above orperhaps you hold other values for social work that you may think are being neglectedby the profession? Describe what you believe to be the primary source(s) of the socialwork values you hold in your PPM. For example, you may believe that some comeprimarily from your parents and how your were raised. You may believe that somewere derived from rational thought, religious beliefs, or your professional education.Lastly, discuss your personal values related to your professional values. Do youbelieve that they are compatible or do you perhaps see a degree of conflict betweenone or more of your personal and professional values? If so, briefly describe anddiscuss what you believe are some of the implications of this conflict for your PPM.(PPM page 7)Paper format:• Two main sections as described above, with clearly delineated subsections covering theassigned material.• Typed in Word, 12 point Times New Roman font. (I’ll send it back if it’s not in thisformat.)• APA format See Social Work website for APA resources• Length 8-10 pages approximately. Take the space you need to do a quality paper.• This paper will be a portfolio work product, for those selecting Portfolio as a