Unit rationale, description and aim
The purpose of social work is to improve the wellbeing of individuals, families, and society, especially those who are most vulnerable. Social workers work with individuals to enable them to achieve the best possible personal and social wellbeing outcomes. In this unit, students will be provided with the knowledge and skills necessary to work with individuals in diverse practice contexts through the critical examination of theoretical models for social work practice. Students will develop foundational communication skills including skills in engagement, assessment, intervention and evaluation of social work practice with individuals. The models of practice examined will include working with voluntary and involuntary clients in different practice contexts and population groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The experiential component will include practice in foundational social work communication skills as well as the use of reflective processes through simulation activities and reflective writing. The aim of this unit is to prepare students for social work practice with individuals, informed by social work values, ethics, knowledge and skills.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify various models and frameworks for practic...
Learning Outcome 01
Demonstrate advanced social work practice skills i...
Learning Outcome 02
Demonstrate high level interpersonal communication...
Learning Outcome 03
Apply ethical principles and values underpinning s...
Learning Outcome 04
Critically reflect on the influence of personal va...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Social Work Processes in Working with Individuals
- Anti-oppressive practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and people of diverse ages, abilities, racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, socio-economic-educational circumstances, sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions
- The influence of personal values
- Cultural and diversity issues including working with interpreters
- Reflective practice
- Self-care
Social Work Practice Skills
- Interpersonal communication skills
- Understanding communication
- Communication processes
- Communication for survival, for healing, as power
- Influences on our listening
Client Engagement Skills
- Engaging with clients
- Worker qualities that enhance engagement
- Tasks of engagement
- Rapport building
- Empathy
- Reflective listening
- Deep listening
- Working with involuntary clients
Social Work Assessment
- Assessment tools
- Genograms
- Ecomaps
- Culturagrams
- Road maps
- Stay strong plans
- Multi-dimensional assessment
- Biopsychosocial assessment
- Risk assessment
Intervention Planning Skills
- Understanding the change process
- Planning for endings
- Evaluation and termination
Practice Approaches
- Strengths perspective
- Solution focused therapy
- Crisis intervention
- Task centred approaches
- Solution focused approach
- Empowerment and advocacy approach
- Cultural responsiveness
Values and Ethics
- Respect
- Social justice and human rights
- Practice competency
- Social work service and propriety
- Professional boundaries and dual relationships
- Conflicts of interest
- Ethical issues and ethical dilemmas in social work practice
- Professionalism
- Information recording and sharing
- Professional development and supervision
Assessment strategy and rationale
ON CAMPUS:
This unit takes an authentic assessment approach that will allow students to demonstrate their social work knowledge and skills for practice with individuals from diverse backgrounds and in various practice contexts.
Assessment 1 is a critical reflection exercise in which students are encouraged to identify a critical incident they have experienced in their own lives. Reflecting on personal experiences encourages insight and generates new learning for students. They learn to engage with the new learning obtained through reflection and apply it effectively in other more complex situations.
Assessment 2 is a case study assignment which will assess students’ knowledge and skills in conducting a social work assessment. In doing this assignment students are required to explain the process they have used drawing from social work knowledge/theory, skills values and ethics. Awareness of self, personal values and beliefs that may impact on the assessment also need to be demonstrated.
Assessment 3 (Hurdle Task) which is a role-play exam, is an assessment testing the overall knowledge and skills which the students have developed in their practice with individuals. This is a compulsory assessment which the students must pass in order to undertake their field placement.
Should a student fail the role-play exam, they will be offered a second chance to take the role-play exam in order to achieve a pass (PA) grade for the unit by demonstrating satisfactory attainment of specific learning outcomes.
In order to pass this unit students must demonstrate achievement of every unit learning outcome, pass hurdle tasks, and obtain a minimum mark of 50%.
ACU ONLINE:
This unit takes an authentic assessment approach that will allow students to demonstrate their social work knowledge and skills for practice with individuals from diverse backgrounds and in various practice contexts.
Assessment 1 is a case analysis exercise that encourages students to identify a framework of social work assessment and think critically in how they will approach a social work assessment with individuals drawing on social work knowledge, skills, values and ethics.
Assessment 2 Graded Hurdle Assessment: (This assessment must be passed to pass the unit), is a recorded skills-based simulation, an assessment which tests the overall knowledge and skills students have developed in the unit. This is a compulsory assessment which the students must pass in order to undertake their field placement. Should a student fail the role-play exam, they will be offered a second chance to take the role-play exam they will be offered a second chance to take the role-play exam in order to achieve a pass (PA) grade for the unit by demonstrating satisfactory attainment of specific learning outcomes.
Assessment 3 asks students to use a model of critical reflection to deconstruct the performance of their emerging social work skills in Assessment Two. Here students are asked to identify the strengths and the areas for development of their social work practice skills.
In order to pass this unit students must demonstrate achievement of every unit learning outcome, pass hurdle tasks, and obtain a minimum mark of 50%.
Overview of assessments
ON CAMPUS
Assessment One: Critical Reflection : the purpose...
Assessment One: Critical Reflection: the purpose of this assessment is to encourage students to think critically and reflectively about a critical incident they have encountered with the purpose of identifying new learning that will help them in enhancing their practice.
30%
Assessment Two: Case Analysis : the purpose of th...
Assessment Two: Case Analysis: the purpose of this assessment is for students to identify a framework of social work assessment and think critically on how they will approach a social work assessment with individuals, drawing on social work knowledge, skills, values and ethics.
30%
Assessment Three: Graded Hurdle Assessment: This...
Assessment Three: Graded Hurdle Assessment: This assessment must be passed to pass the unit.
Skills Assessment: This assessment enables students to demonstrate through a role-play the knowledge, skills, values and ethics they have acquired in the unit in preparation for their field placement. 20 minutes duration, plus a short answer reflection sheet.
40%
ACU ONLINE
Assessment 1 is a case analysis exercise that en...
Assessment 1 is a case analysis exercise that encourages students to identify a framework of social work assessment and think critically about how they will approach a social work assessment with individuals drawing on social work knowledge, skills, values and ethics.
30%
Assessment 2 Graded Hurdle is a skills-based sim...
Assessment 2 Graded Hurdle is a skills-based simulation and reflection, an assessment which tests the overall knowledge and skills students have developed in the unit. This is a compulsory assessment, and students must pass in order to undertake field placement. Should a student fail this assessment they will be offered a second chance to complete the simulation.
40%
Assessment 3 asks students to assess their emerg...
Assessment 3 asks students to assess their emerging social work skills in Assessment Three. Here students are asked to identify the strengths and the areas for development of their social work practice skills.
30%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
ON CAMPUS:
This unit involves 150 hours of learning with a combination of face-to-face lectures and interactive face-to-face tutorials. The unit promotes experiential learning methods to enable students to develop interpersonal communication and counselling skills. Teaching and learning strategies include workshops (delivery/discussion of content and practice skills in smaller tutorial groups) and reflective/critical thinking activities that respect the student as an independent learner. The teaching and learning strategies are designed to scaffold students’ learning through observation, demonstration and live methods (role play and feedback) into self-reflection on the following dimensions of practice:
- The use of self in the practitioner role
- The stages of the social work process from engagement to completion
- The micro-skills of counselling with individuals
- The use of theory and ethics in practice with individuals
Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively in class activities. This unit has a compulsory minimum 80% attendance requirement in workshops which is deemed necessary to achieve the intended learning outcomes. Attendance record will be maintained for this purpose. With approved special consideration, students will be required to complete an additional learning activity if the 80% attendance requirement is not met. Failure to submit learning activity/ies for missed classes by the specified due date may result in a Fail grade for this unit. Attendance demonstrates professional behaviour and it is therefore not discretionary. In tutorials, students will be interacting with other students and developing skills which will be used in professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing these essential skills which are required to be safe and competent social workers.
ACU ONLINE:
This unit involves 150 hours of learning, involving a five day intensive alongside online content, activities and readings. The unit promotes experiential learning methods to enable students to develop interpersonal communication and counselling skills. Teaching and learning strategies include simulation of direct/micro social work practice, and reflective/critical thinking activities.
The teaching and learning strategies are designed to scaffold students’ learning through a simulation pedagogy - observation, briefing demonstration, simulation, debriefing, feedback and critical reflection. The following dimensions of practice will be covered:
- The use of self in the practitioner role
- The stages of the social work process from engagement to completion
- The micro-skills counselling with individuals
- The use of theory and ethics in practice with individuals
Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively in all online and on-campus intensive experiences.
This unit has a compulsory attendance requirement for a five day intensive which is deemed necessary to achieve the intended learning outcomes and meets the requirements of the AASW. Attendance record will be maintained for this purpose. Attendance demonstrates professional behaviour and it is therefore not discretionary. With approved special consideration, students will be required to complete an additional learning activity if the 80% attendance requirement is not met. During the intensive, students will be interacting with other students and developing skills which will be used during placements and in future professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing these core skills which are required to be safe and competent social workers.
AASW Practice Standards
This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565