UNCC100 - Self and Community: Exploring the Anatomy of Modern Society

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Incompatible

PHCC102 Being Human ,PHCC104 Ethics and the Good Life

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Is polluting our environment done for the common good?

Does perpetuating discrimination respect the dignity of the individual?

These are just two examples of the many real challenges we face as individuals functioning as members of our community. They highlight the fact that as humans, we are all individuals, and yet none of us lives in isolation. The African concept of 'ubuntu' is helpful here: "I am what I am, because of who we are" - this concept is consistent with the principles of Catholic social thought. Understanding these principles helps us to determine how issues relating to the dignity of the human person and the realisation of the common good may be addressed in our personal and professional lives now and in the future.

This knowledge and understanding is a foundation for the development of the skills needed to be able to propose ways to address challenges where shared responsibility for the common good is not being realized. Given the pervasiveness of such problems in our community, addressing this need is important to our success as a community in realizing a more just world - and your role as an individual who can, and must, be part of that.

In this unit students will first learn what the principles of Catholic Social thought are, then they will build on this knowledge by developing their understanding of how these principles relate to their own life and their own community. Lastly, they will apply this understanding in a reflection on how these principles are relevant to their professional context at a local level.

This unit aims to equip students with knowledge and understanding of the ideas of "self" and "community" as interrelated concepts in the context of nine principles of Catholic Social Thought and develop basic skills to enable them to contribute to a more just society.

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.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Describe coherently the principles of Catholic Social Thought (CST), and drawing on these produce a personal commentary that explains how the concepts of 'self' and 'community' are interrelated.

LO2 - 1.    Analyse and evaluate the principles of Catholic Social Thought (CST) in order to show how issues relating to the dignity of the human person and the common good may be relevant to the skills and knowledge that they are acquiring in the degree program that they are studying. 

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include:

• The Good Life and the Golden Rule
• I am because we are; the individual and society
• The history and principles of Catholic Social Thought
• Human flourishing and the common good
• The common good
• Challenges to the common good – freedoms and the common good
• Advocacy: personal and professional challenges of Catholic Social Thought

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

In order to support students’ learning experience in ways that are the most engaging, efficient and effective, the overall teaching strategy used in this unit is a progressive developmental one. This applies to all the modes of delivery in which this unit is offered. In all modes, the use of the Learning Management System (LMS) is integral to the delivery of the learning and teaching strategy. The approach to learning and teaching is via active learning where students are supported through the provision of learning resources and class activities (ether in physical or virtual classrooms) to take responsibility for their individual learning. Students are expected to participate in the activities provided either in class or online and to be able to extend their learning through working alongside other students and undertaking individual research. Students are supported in their learning through the provision of:

• Learning modules
• Discussion forums and chat rooms
• Guided readings and links to electronic readings
• Self-assessments and other self-directed learning activities

The progressive and developmental strategy for teaching this unit means that the unit starts simply by helping students to acquire the content knowledge that they will need to progress. It then builds on this knowledge by engaging them in activities that will support the development of their understanding of this content and what it means to them personally. Lastly, it supports students in reflecting on that meaning in ways that help them to apply their understanding to situations beyond their immediate and personal context, as they relate to their individual disciplines of study and the profession(s) they may enter.

The unit is delivered in different modes. Students will only study in one of these modes. The modes are:

• Face-to-face mode over a 10-week period in a normal university semester;
• Intensive mode over a 2 week period in Winter and Summer Terms; and,
• Online mode over a 10-week period in a normal university semester.

The rationale for offering this unit in different modes is that each mode appeals to different people in different circumstances. The rationale for the face-to-face mode is that this is often preferred by students because of the personal engagement they experience studying alongside other students. The rationale for intensive mode is that this is often preferred by students who are working (and cannot attend weekly classes), but who still value a face-to-face component. This mode offers learning activities in ways that allow such people to take blocks of time in which they study intensively, and which can therefore be fitted around their work commitments. The rationale for the on-line mode in addition allows participation in learning by those who are unable to participate in any face-to-face activities, or who simply prefer to work from a remote location.

Face-to-face and intensive modes adopt a ‘flipped classroom’ approach with no lectures. Instead of lectures, small group classes of one hour’s duration involving ‘active learning’ methods are used. This means that students’ learning will involve engaging with others, as a participant, not simply listening or reading. Active learning methods may include but are not limited to the use of facilitated group discussions; ice-breakers; buzz groups; role play and advocacy. Face-to-face and intensive modes are both supported by resources that will be available through the university’s Learning Management System (LMS) known as “LEO” – the Learning Environment Online. Accessing and using these on-line resources and activities is integral to the student’s study.

Face-to-face and intensive modes adopt a ‘flipped classroom’ approach with no lectures. Instead of lectures, small group classes of one hour’s duration involving ‘active learning’ methods are used. This means that students’ learning will involve engaging with others, as a participant, not simply listening or reading. Active learning methods may include but are not limited to the use of facilitated group discussions; ice-breakers; buzz groups; role play and advocacy. Face-to-face and intensive modes are both supported by resources that will be available through the university’s Learning Management System (LMS) known as “LEO” – the Learning Environment Online. Accessing and using these on-line resources and activities is integral to the student’s study.

Online mode seeks to offer students a learning experience comparable to the face-to-face or intensive modes, except that all activities and resources are electronically based, and only available through the LMS. Students’ active engagement in the use of those resources and participation in on-line activities is therefore necessary to support their learning.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The design of the assessment in this unit is aligned with, and supportive of, the progressive and developmental learning and teaching strategy. In this way, the assessment tasks scaffold and support students’ learning in a sequence that is designed to make their learning as simple as possible by supporting them as much as possible. The assignments relate progressively to their achievement of the learning outcomes of this unit and the graduate attributes. A variety of assessment methods is used. Where possible, students will be encouraged to present their work using multi-media in preparation for presentation styles they may encounter in their professional life.

Some flexibility may be exercised in the options available to students, consistent with achieving the learning outcomes and meeting the graduate attributes.

In practical terms this means that the assessments start with an “early and low stakes” assessment which helps students to progress to more complex and more challenging assessments. In this unit, this sequential support is provided through three assessment tasks so that they get feedback that supports their learning as they progress throughout the unit.

The same assessment strategy is used regardless of the mode of study.

The first task relates to the foundations of Learning Outcome 1. It is scheduled early in the unit to encourage students’ early participation in the simple first stages of learning they will need to progress. It is low stakes to ensure that there is minimal risk to them, but is simultaneously of maximum learning benefit. Thus, the first assessment is designed as a helpful stepping stone to the later tasks. Its focus is on assessing students’ knowledge of the first basic content they will need. The marks for the first assignment are therefore low, but the value to students’ learning, and their ability to do the later tasks is high. This is designed to encourage students to participate in the task in a meaningful and engaged way – it helps them to progress.

The second task is designed to build on the first. Thus, engaging in the first task helps students with the second. The second task is designed to assess students’ understanding of key concepts and principles, but in a relatively simple way. It is given more marks than the first task as a reflection of its value. In this unit, it

assesses how the principles they will learn relate to them. This deliberately helps to make the assessment personally relevant and valuable. This encourages students to participate in it in a meaningful way – the unit is designed to help students to learn something that is relevant to themselves and their chosen discipline.

The final assessment task is designed to build on the first two. Thus, engaging in the first two tasks helps students with the last. The final task is designed to assess their ability to apply their understanding of key concepts and principles. It is given more marks than the first and second tasks as a reflection of its value. This task assesses students’ ability to apply their understanding of the key principles to the themes of the unit. As with the second task, this helps to make the assessment personally relevant and valuable to them and helps them to learn something useful.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

1. "An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought", Hornsby-Smith, Michael P., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006, especially pages 104-112.
2. "Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action", Massaro, SJ, Thomas, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, London, 2015, pp.81-102.
3. “Human Rights Catholic Social Thought and the Liberal Rights tradition”, Pagnucco, Ron and Ensalaco, Mark, in "A Vision of Justice", Edited by Susan Crawford Sullivan and Ron Pagnucco, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2014, pp. 139-160
4. https://theconversation.com/a-refugee-like-me-why-the-golden-rule-matters-in-an-era-of-mass-migration-50957 (“A Refugee Like Me: Why the Golden Rule Matters in an Era of Mass Migration”, Rivka T. Witenberg ,The Conversation, 26 Nov 2015) (4 pages online)
5. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html (United Nations, The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights) (4 pages online)
6. http://www.humanrights.com/what-are-human-rights/brief-history/declaration-of-independence.html (A Brief History of Human Rights, United for Human Rights) (5 pages online)