Undergraduate Course: Social Work: Making A Difference (SCWR08003)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will introduce students to notions, definitions and insights about social work practice from within the profession, discussing how they compare with public understanding (and prejudices) of the social workers' role and task. A theme will be to explore how social workers can and do make a difference. Outside contributors will discuss what they do and how they interface with other professions, providing students with an awareness of the distinct place of social work in the range of welfare services. |
| Course description |
The course is divided into three sections with an introductory lecture and closing lecture that begin with and return to the theme of 'making a difference'.
The first section is about social work's past, present and future. It offers historical perspective on the development of both social work practice and the social work profession. It also provides a picture of 21st century social work and the major challenges facing social workers. The second section is entitled "The Professional Role and Challenges for Today's Practitioners". Here, the overall aim is to provide students with an opportunity to understand and discuss the unique contribution that social workers make to people's welfare and well-being. The section consists of three sets of lectures and contributions from guest speakers. Each set will look at the key strands of social work today - Criminal Justice, Work with Vulnerable Adults, and Children and Families - and introduce students to the concept of the social worker as a professional, with a body of values, ethics and a distinct social work identity. An overview of contemporary practice will also be provided; practitioners who contribute will present a snapshot of what they do with an emphasis upon the distinct role they play as social workers, e.g. how they are different to and interface with other professions. The third section, Our Professional Values and Good Practice, consists of a lecture that restates an essential element of social work practice that of confronting disadvantage and promoting empowerment.
The overall themes will be the nature and diversity of contemporary social work and the people who need the services of social workers; the uniqueness of the social work profession and its relationship to other professions; and finally, the difference that social workers can make in helping people maximise their well-being.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
164 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment by one two hour exam (60%), one 2000 word essay (40%), overall mark will be an average of the weighted results of the exam and essay. |
| Feedback |
One short - formative - exercise is requested to be submitted early in the course. Written (annotated script) feedback is individually provided as part of the process of readying students for submission of the course essay.
General exam feedback will be provided for all courses with an examination. General feedback will be uploaded to the course Learn page within 24 hours of the overall marks for the course being returned to Students. Students will also receive individual feedback on their exam.
The course also has two built-in sessions on essay preparation and exam preparation these run in addition to assessment preparation in tutorial group. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Social Work: Making A Difference | 2:00 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | Social Work: Making a Difference | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- By the end of the course students should have acquired a broad overview of how social services and the social work profession have developed
- By the end of the course students should have acquired a broad overview of the role, challenges and diversity of contemporary social work practice in the UK
- By the end of the course students should have acquired a broad overview of the values required for good social work practice.
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Reading List
Adams, R. et al. (2009) Social Work: Themes, Issues and Critical Debates, 3rd edition Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Cree, V. (2013) Becoming A Social Worker, London: Routledge.
Cree, V. and Davis, A. (2007) Social Work: Voices from the Inside, London: Routledge.
Davies, M. (2013) The Blackwell Companion to Social Work, Oxford: Blackwell.
Davies, M. (2000) The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Social Work, Oxford: Blackwell.
Hothersall, S. (2014) Social Work with Children, Young People and their Families in Scotland, Exeter: Learning Matters.
Thompson, N. (2009) Understanding Social Work: Preparing for Practice, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gary Clapton
Tel: (0131 6)50 3903
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Joanne Blair
Tel: (0131 6)50 4457
Email: |
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