Research project: Assessment on the efficacy of CPE Distance Education

Research project:  The assessment of a sample group of NSWCPE Teachers on the efficacy of CCPE by Distance Education during the 2020 Pandemic

Dr Alan Galt
Senior Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, Sydney College of Divinity &
Clinical Pastoral Education Consultant, NSW College of CPE

Introduction

Clinical Pastoral Education is a method of teaching and supervision based on the “action/reflection” concept that students learn from their own supervised encounters with “the living human documents”, the patients, residents, inmates or parishioners, with whom the students are engaged in pastoral ministry.

In the absence of research evidence, it has always been assumed that this learning will take place in the context of face to face visiting of the patients or parishioners, and individual or group supervision between the students, their supervisors and peers, usually in a face to face interaction.

During the Covid 19 “lockdown” of 2020, when hospital wards and aged care facilities were closed to “non-essential” personnel, pastoral students, usually identified as “volunteers”, were excluded from their traditional opportunities to meet with the people in the aged care, mental health, gaol, or hospital facilities, and student were discouraged from gathering within the facility premises.

So of necessity, the NSW CPE College authorised programs of supervised pastoral education to be conducted by distance education, mainly Zoom.

This study looks at the assessments by a sample group of CPE teachers and students of how effective this activity was in achieving its goal of developing students’ ability to offer professional pastoral ministry to the residents and other involved.

Method

A survey questionnaire (Appendix 1) was sent to all 35 Teachers registered with the NSW CPE College, and to a sample selection of the students known to have participated in a CPE program by distance learning in the past 12 months.

Responses were received from 15 of theTeachers who had participated in on-line CPE programs, and 10 of the 16 students. Several more responses (4) were received from CPE supervisors who had not run on-line learning, and while their comments were informative – they almost all indicated that they did not perceive on-line CPE as up to the standard of face to face Units – their observations were not included in the analysis of estimates from CPE teachers who had experienced an on-line CPE program, always by Zoom.

Results

The responses of the 15 teachers (Appendix 2a) were consistently in the area of estimating their Zoom experience of CPE as “unsatisfactory“ (2 responses) “Left a lot to be desired compared to face to face CPE” (4 responses); or “as good as face to face” (7 responses). Only 2 teachers described their experience of on-line CPE as “better than face to face”.

The responses were similar for the 10 students (Appendix 2b), with a slight trend toward more acceptance of Zoom learning for the CPE Unit: “Left a lot to be desired compared to face to face CPE” (1); “as good as face to face” (7) and “better than face to face CPE” (2).

Analysis

The areas in which both Teachers and Students found on-line learning to be inadequate or less valuable than face to face (Appendix 3), was mainly in the quality of the interpersonal interactions occurring alongside the academic learning: relationship building between members of the group, including the opportunity for informal interactions outside the classroom during the teaching day. Several respondents were disappointed in the capacity of the internet technology to provide an uninterrupted interaction; others spoke of the element of eye-strain in reducing the enjoyment of the interaction.

On the “acceptance” of digital CPE side (Appendix 3), most participants, appreciated the saving in time and energy of being able to interact on-line from home or office, with savings of hours a day in travel. A cohort of 6 students and 3 teachers from interstate and outside the Sydney area indicated that they would not have been able to have participated had the program not been available by Zoom. Most of them (7 of the 9), still rated the Zoom experience as only “as good as” (5), or even “less satisfactory than” (2), their experience of face to face CPE units.

Significantly, the survey did not address the question of whether on-line pastoral interactions would have been an adequate replacement for face to face pastoral visiting, as it has not proved feasible to arrange for Zoom interviews with patients, residents, inmates or parishioners, though this would be worth looking at if the pandemic lockdown were to continue to preclude the traditional face to face pastoral visits. We were able to use Zoom interviews with simulated patients from within or outside the classes, where informed consent was no problem, and these were informally assessed (in student and teacher evaluations of the program) as a very valuable preparation for the “real” pastoral visits when they eventuated.

The results cannot be seen as definitive: the sample of respondents was small; it could be said that by excluding the assessments of respondents who said they had not tried on line leaning for CPE programs, the results were skewed toward the observations of people who were genuinely interested in the exercise (though it is hard to see how the opposite, including the comments of people who did not have personal experience of on-line CPE, would have accurately reflected the situation). Another inevitable distortion of the results could be attributed to the fact that students who had been involved in CPE Units led by teachers who were committed to the project were the only ones invited to respond.

With these provisos, it can still be claimed that the observations of both students and teachers were that on-line (Zoom) CPE Units had enough positive aspects to suggest they be continued.

Conclusion

It would seem that the students’ and teachers’ responses give a (hesitant) acceptance of on-line clinical pastoral education, more so when face to face is not possible, but with a consistent emphasis on the superiority of face to face interactions for a pastoral learning program that is truly effective, for teachers, students and patients or parishioners.

Areas for future investigation could be: development of adequate technology, perhaps shared by the diverse programs, for distant learning; focus on improvements for Zoom CPE to encourage the undoubted benefit for people to link from distant locations; an examination of (ethically appropriate) involvement of “clients” as well as teachers and students in on-line pastoral interviews; and perhaps the most important future possibility, an invitation to teachers and students who have not personally experienced the possibilities of Zoom CPE to have that experience, so as to be able to make an informed decision on whether it is for them.

Appendix 1.   Survey questionnaire sent and returned by email

Appendix 2.   Responses to the survey:  Teachers;  Students

Appendix 3.   Evaluations of effectiveness of on-line CPE:  Positive; Negative

 

Appendix 1.   Survey questionnaire sent and returned by email

Survey of NSW CPE Supervisors on your Experience with Distance Learning in Clinical Pastoral Education

  1. What CPE related Distance Learning activity have you participated in during the past 12 months? (Please put an X in as many boxes as are relevant for you.)
    1. Formational (Basic or Advanced) CPE Unit
    2. Introductory (40 hour) CPE program
    3. CPE Sponsored Education in Supervision Session
    4. CPE related business meeting
    5. Other CPE activity, (please specify)
  1. What type of Distance Education in CPE did you engage in?
    1. Email or postal correspondence
    2. Phone or Teleconference
    3. Individual Video link (eg by Zoom)
    4. Group video link (eg by Zoom)
  1. How would you rate your experience in those programs?  (Please put an X in one box.)
    1. Unsatisfactory
    2. Left a lot to be desired compared to face to face CPE
    3. As good as face to face CPE
    4. Better than face to face CPE
    5. To be preferred to face to face CPE
  1. Please state what you found helpful about the Distance Learning of CPE you experienced (as many aspects as you want to report)
  1. What did you find unhelpful or inadequate about the Distance Learning of CPE you experienced? (as many aspects as you want to report)

 

Appendix 2.   Responses to the survey: Teachers;  Students

How would you rate your experience in those programs?  (Please put an X in one box.)

  1. Teachers
    1. Unsatisfactory ( 2 )
    2. Left a lot to be desired compared to face to face CPE ( 4 )
    3. As good as face to face CPE ( 7 )
    4. Better than face to face CPE ( 2 )
    5. To be preferred to face to face CPE ( – )
  2.  Students
    1. Unsatisfactory ( – )
    2. Left a lot to be desired compared to face to face CPE ( 1 )
    3. As good as face to face CPE ( 7 )
    4. Better than face to face CPE ( 2 )
    5. To be preferred to face to face CPE ( – )

 

Appendix 3.   Evaluations of effectiveness of on-line CPE: Positive; Negative 

  1. Teachers
    1. Please state what you found helpful about the Distance Learning of CPE you experienced (as many aspects as you want to report) 
      • saving time and travel x8
      • enabled opportunity for distance participation  x5
      • and during lockdown  x4
      • convenience of being at home x3
      • recording facility  x3
      • interstate and international possibility  x3
      • could be at home for family needs  x2
      • more relaxed, less physically tiring  x2
      • encourages new learning, adaptation  x2
      • digital medium economic
      • teachers on line all the time
      • encourages courteous waiting to talk
      • everyone could contribute
      • immediate on screen presentation
      • chat, breakout rooms and screen share
    1. What did you find unhelpful or inadequate about the Distance Learning of CPE you experienced? (as many aspects as you want to report) 
      • login difficulty, technical disruption (7)
      • lack of informal discussion and meeting  x4
      • hard to discern body language  x4
      • requires new technical competence  x3
      • missed closeness of face to face, social activities, relationships  x3
      • sound volume problems  x2
      • fatigue, eye strain  x2
      • more difficult to bond, network  x2
      • distractions of arriving emails, doorbell  x2
      • difficult to see everyone clearly on screen
      • hard to be fully there
  1. Students
    1. Please state what you found helpful about the Distance Learning of CPE you experienced (as many aspects as you want to report)
      • saving time and travel  x4
      • convenience of being at home  x2
      • enabled opportunity for distance participation  x2
      • and during lockdown  x2
      • allowed caring for sick family  x2
      • eco friendly
      • teachers on line all the time
      • encourages courteous waiting to talk
      • recording interviews and replaying
      • economy of digital material
      • people on Zoom are on time
    1. What did you find unhelpful or inadequate about the Distance Learning of CPE you experienced? (as many aspects as you want to report)
      • login difficulty, technical disruption  x5
      • sound volume problems  x2
      • fatigue, eye strain  x2
      • lack of informal discussion x2
      • missed direct contact
      • lacked personal touch
      • only 1 conversation at a time
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