Syllabus

Master of Social Work

SSWO 510 – Social Work Practice I – Summer A 2019

Credits - 3

Description

Social Work Practice I introduces students to generalist social work practice defined as planned change, at every system level, implemented through collaborative relationships with clients, colleagues, and community partners. The theoretical framework of this course is based on empowering and relational theories for practice and concentrates on the integration and application of health promoting knowledge, values and skills that support and sustain client resiliency informed by the core social work values of self-determination, diversity, human dignity and social justice. Students are encouraged to critically examine knowledge and to develop skills for culturally attuned practice. Students are exposed to tenets of evidence-guided practice. Students learn and apply skills for health-promoting practice with individuals, families, and groups including assessment, engagement, interpersonal relationship building and intervention planning.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

School of Social Work Program Outcomes:

Graduates of the UNE SSWO will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and leadership in the following:

1. Practice social inclusion to enable people, populations, and communities to fully participate in society, enhance human bonds in the context of cultural diversity and ensure improved quality of life and equitable resource distribution. EPAS Competencies 2 & 3
2. Engage in culturally-informed relationship building, being respectful of the complexity and diversity of contexts and circumstances. EPAS Competencies 3 & 6
3. Utilize theories of human behavior, social systems and social inclusion when offering interventions with people and their environments. EPAS Competency 8
4. Promote ethical reflection, critical consciousness and shared decision-making based in social work values and with consideration of the broader contexts of the world in which we live. EPAS Competency 1
5. Balance the roles of helpers, activists, and advocates through collaboration with communities to build healthy and sustainable resources. EPAS Competencies 2, 5, & 6
6. Engage as critical consumers and producers of research as it relates to assessment, intervention and evaluation of clinical and community practices. EPAS Competencies 4, 7, 8 & 9
7. Practice person-centered and collaborative community partnerships across diverse settings. EPAS Competency 6

Course Objectives: 

Upon completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Engage in ethical reflection and critical consciousness within the context of the values of the social work profession. Program Outcome 4 (Assessed in Assignment 1)
2. Demonstrate self-reflective practice that includes awareness and integration of personal, professional, social, economic, political, and cultural forces that promote and/or impede social inclusion and compassionate client-centered practice. Program Outcome 1 (Assessed in Assignment 1 and 2)
3. Facilitate change with individuals, families, and communities at all systems levels, using empowering and reflexive theories of practice to:

1. 1. foster health-promoting client-worker alliances,
   2. conduct client-centered and resiliency based assessments,
   3. integrate trauma-informed principles of care
   4. create collaborative community partnerships for client-driven service delivery, and
   5. apply principles of evidence-guided and client-centered practice evaluation. 
      Program Outcomes 3 and 7 (Assessed in Assignment 3)

Accreditation Standards Addressed:

Council on Social Work Education Educational and Practice Standards (EPAS) (Also See Program and Course Objectives Above)

• Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior (EPAS 1)
• Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice (EPAS 2)
• Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities (EPAS 6)
• Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities ( EPAS 7)

Assignments

Learning Activities

A variety of learning activities support the course objectives, facilitate different learning styles, and build a community of learners. Learning activities for each module include the following:

Readings and Multimedia

This course will use an array of readings, podcasts, and videos to present the important concepts in the various modules. The readings and media sources provide the foundation and background for student discussion threads, the portfolio assignment, and written assignments.

Discussions

An important learning method in this course is student participation and interaction in the discussion threads within each module. Students are expected to participate actively and in a respectful manner. Please refer to Course Policies about participation for a full discussion of expectations.

Writing Assignments, Projects, and Assessments

You will have three major assignments in this course:

In Week 2, you will submit your Critical Consciousness Paper (Assignment 1). This assignment requires a critical reflection upon how personal, professional, and cultural assumptions and knowledge influence social work practice. The majority of the paper must consist of your critical thinking, analysis, and self-reflection with relevant cited connections to the scholarly and course literature.

In Week 4, you will submit a Group Observation Checklist as a discussion post attachment and include your reflection to share with your group. (Assignment 2)

Your final paper is Part I: Engagement and Building Empowered Relationships for Change of the Multilevel Social Work Assessment and Change Paper and will be turned in during Week 7. This is the first part of a two-part assignment related to Assessment and Change. In this part, you describe how to build empowering relationships that are critical to any successful change process and in Practice II, you will complete the second-part of this Assessment and Change process by creating a comprehensive and collaborative “client-in-environment” assessment and detailed goals and plan for change. (Assignment 3)

In addition, you will have weekly discussion questions to answer and discuss with your peers.

Due Dates: Due dates for all learning activities are provided in the Course Schedule.

Grading Policy

The School of Social Work uses the following grading system for all courses with the exception of field education courses. Students are expected to maintain a “B” (3.0) average over the course of their study. Students with less than a GPA of 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 in order to receive their Master’s Degree.

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignments	Point Value	Percentage of the Final Grade
Discussion Contributions	350 points (25 points x 14 discussion forums)	35%
Group Observation Checklist and Discussion	200 points	20%
Critical Consciousness Paper	200 points	20%
Part I: Engagement and Building Empowered Relationships for Change of the Multilevel Social Work Assessment and Change Paper	250 points	25%
Total	1,000 points	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00