Unit rationale, description and aim
Social workers engage and facilitate change with individuals who are experiencing complex issues in their lives, requiring effective and sensitive communication skills. In this unit, students are introduced to the social work process that includes engagement, assessment, planning, intervention and review and to practice theory and frameworks for practice with individuals. Students are also encouraged to develop interpersonal communication skills through experiential learning. Ethical principles and values that underpin social work practice with individuals are explored through examples of ethical issues that confront practitioners. The aim of this unit is to prepare students for social work practice with individuals in a way that is 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.
Explain social work processes, models and framewor...
Learning Outcome 01
Demonstrate effective written, verbal and non-verb...
Learning Outcome 02
Demonstrate social work practice skills in engagem...
Learning Outcome 03
Critically reflect on the influence of personal va...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
Social Work Processes in Working with Individuals
- Anti-oppressive practice
- Cultural and diversity issues
- Critical reflection and reflective practice
- The influence of personal values on practice
- Self-care
Social Work Practice Skills
- Interpersonal communication skills
- Understanding communication processes
- Communication skills with individuals from diverse and historically marginalized communities
Client engagement skills with service users
- Engaging with service users
- Worker qualities that enhance engagement
- Tasks of engagement
- Rapport building
- Empathy and reflection of feeling
- Reflection of content skills
- Active and reflective listening
- Working with involuntary service users
- Working with clients from culturally diverse communities
Social work assessment
- Assessment skills - questioning, summarizing, paraphrasing, gathering and interpreting information.
- Assessment tools
- Genograms
- Ecomaps
- culturagrams
- road maps
- Multi-dimensional assessment
- Biopsychosocial assessment
- Strengths based assessment
- Risk assessment
Intervention planning skills
- Understanding the change process
- Collaborative goal setting
- Planning for endings
- Evaluation and termination
Practice Models
- Task centered approaches
- Crisis intervention
- Strengths perspective
- Solution focused approach
- Critical approaches, empowerment and advocacy
- Cultural responsiveness
Ethical Practice
- Professional values - respect and social justice principles in professional practice with individuals
- Practice competency and professionalism
- Professional boundaries and dual relationships
- Conflicts of interest
- Ethical issues and ethical dilemmas in social work practice
- Information recording and sharing
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. These include: Assessment 1 - a Short Answer Quiz, Assessment 2 - an Interview Plan and Assessment 3 - a Roleplay Skills Assessment and Reflection. The Roleplay Skills Assessment and Reflection comprises of 1) Part A - a prepared video recording of a roleplay social worker – client interview using set case scenarios, and 2) Part B - a written reflection by the student of their performance in the professional interview. Submission of both Parts A and B are required. The assessment tasks are designed as authentic social work tasks in which students demonstrate the reflective, analytic and practice skills that will be required of them when undertaking field placements.
To pass the unit, students must meet the attendance hurdle requirement (as classes are only offered once, students must attend to pass there is no additional attempts for this), demonstrate that they have achieved each learning outcome, pass the hurdle Roleplay Skills Assessment and obtain a total mark of 50% in the unit as the minimum standard.
Should a student fail the role-play assessment they will be offered one further opportunity to take the role-play assessment.
Overview of assessments
Assessment 1. Short Answer Quiz Enables students...
Assessment 1. Short Answer Quiz
Enables students to demonstrate their knowledge of key concepts in the social work process
15%
Assessment 2. Interview Plan Enables students to...
Assessment 2. Interview Plan
Enables students to prepare an initial service user interview informed by social work knowledge, ethics, and values.
40%
Assessment 3. Graded Hurdle Roleplay Skills Ass...
Assessment 3. Graded Hurdle Roleplay Skills Assessment and Reflection
Enables students to demonstrate social work practice skills in undertaking an interview with a client and to reflect critically about their own interview performance.
Students must pass the Roleplay Skills Assessment to pass the unit. Should a student fail the role-play assessment they will be offered a second chance to take the role-play.
45%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit prepares student for direct and face to face communication, relationship building, assessment and report writing with clients in the social work practice setting. The unit encourages student development in self-awareness, written and verbal reflection on practice social work assessment and synthesis and analysis of information. Therefore, teaching and learning strategies for this unit include prerecorded lectures, and skill development workshops, including small group discussions, roleplay and reflection on practice activities. This unit is a pre-requisite to SWTP333 Social Work Field Education 1.
This unit encourages the development of students’ professional identity, and use of self in the professional context, using written and oral reflection exercises.
This unit is delivered via a multimode attendance. This unit is structured in three modules with different learning and teaching activities that are designed specifically in each module to support student learning. Each module builds on the next and is designed to reflect the actual process of working with an individual client or service user in a social work practice context.
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS OF UNIT
This Unit incorporates professional social work skills based teaching and learning, and therefore has an attendance requirement of a minimum of 80% attendance at weekly skill development practice workshops.
An attendance record for weekly workshops will be kept.
Reasons why attendance is required
In workshops, you will be interacting with other students and developing skills which you will use in your professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing the required knowledge and essential skills needed to demonstrate unit learning outcomes.
AASW Practice Standards
This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the AASW Practice Standards. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the AASW Practice Standards provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565
Relating to
Values and ethics
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1
Relating to
Practise in accordance with the AASW Code of Ethics
- Follow ethical guidelines and principles outlined in the Code of Ethics in their interactions with clients, colleagues and other stakeholders
- Recognise the moral and legal rights of individuals, groups and communities to the protection from abuse, exploitation and violence
- Uphold the rights, dignity and autonomy of all those with whom they work and advocate for and engage in practices to further human rights and social justice
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO2
Relating to
Manage ethical dilemmas and issues arising in practice
- Recognise and manage personal values and bias
- Work within the boundaries of their professional role and mandate
- Identify and respond to situation-specific ethical dilemmas, for example, the potential conflicts between principles of duty of care and dignity of risk, and between individual rights and social responsibility
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Relating to
Professionalism
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO4
Accredited Exercise Physiologist Professional Standards
In connection to the learning outcomes, the Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) Professional Standards for Accreditation set the minimum standards for entry to and ongoing professional practice as an ESSA Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP).
Relating to
Professorial Practice
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1
Relating to
Guiding principle
An AEP is able to apply their AEP knowledge and skills to practice effectively in a professional, ethical, inclusive, and collaborative manner across the broad health care system, including in clinical and non-clinical settings.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO2
Relating to
Elements of Professional Practice
An AEP has demonstrated an ability to:
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Relating to
Practise with integrity within the scope of practice for an AEP, the ESSA Code of Professional Conduct and Ethical Practice, and jurisdictional Codes of Conduct.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO4
Accredited Exercise Scientist Professional Standards
In connection to the learning outcomes, the Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) Accredited Exercise Scientist (AES) Professional Standards for Accreditation set the minimum standards for a professional to be accredited, and to maintain accreditation, as an Exercise Scientist.
Relating to
Professional Practice
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1
Relating to
Guiding principle
An AES can apply their exercise science knowledge and skills to practice effectively in an ethical, professional and responsible manner.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO2
Relating to
Elements of Professional Practice
An AES has demonstrated an ability to:
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Relating to
Apply knowledge and skills in a variety of professional exercise science work settings.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO4