(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)
In Year 3, students consolidate their learning from the previous two years and focus on meeting the final placement level competencies required for professional social work practice. The final year prepares students for the challenges of social work, appraising risk, critical thinking and reflective practice skills. This year also prepares students for their transition to the assessed year in employment (ASYE), equipping them with the skills and confidence required for professional social work roles.
Subject-Specific Learning Outcomes (Knowledge and Understanding required for Social Work):
1. Implement Assessment processes, advocate and recommend in professional contexts:
Creatively assess and appraise to recommend courses of action, while challenging discrimination and oppression through an evidence-based approach in diverse social work contexts.
2. Critically Evaluate Identity, Legislation, and Policy in Decision-Making:
Apply a critical understanding of how intersecting identity factors (e.g., culture, gender, socioeconomic status) shape social work practice, using this insight alongside relevant legislation and policy to autonomously protect and advance service users' rights.
3. Apply Research, Theory, and Evidence in Complex Practice:
Critically evaluate and integrate research evidence, social work theories, and interdisciplinary knowledge to inform innovative and effective interventions within legal and policy frameworks.
Skills Learning Outcomes (Skills, Values, and Behaviours for Academic and Non-Academic Contexts):
Academic Domain
1. Apply Innovation, Critical Thinking, and Reflective Practice:
Demonstrate innovation and critical thinking by applying creativity, curiosity, and reflective skills to address practice challenges and evaluate professional experiences.
2. Synthesise and Critically Appraise Information for Evidence-Based Decision-Making:
Gather and synthesise information from diverse sources to lead strategic, evidence-informed practice decisions, critically appraising the reliability and validity of information in complex and uncertain contexts.
3. Guide Interventions through Hypothesis Development and Strategic Judgement:
Develop and review hypotheses to inform complex interventions, making explicit, evidence-based judgments in situations that guide practice improvement and enhance outcomes.
Digital Domain
4. Refine Digital Communication and Record-Keeping Skills:
Demonstrate advanced digital communication by composing detailed reports, managing case files, and ensuring secure, ethical handling of sensitive information across professional settings, in compliance with legal standards.
5. Coordinate Digital Collaboration and Secure Information Sharing:
Appraise social care management systems proficiently to facilitate secure and ethical digital communication, effectively coordinating information sharing among service users, agencies, and multidisciplinary teams.
Work-Ready Domain
6. Evaluate Complex Relationships in Multi-Disciplinary Contexts:
Demonstrate advanced relational skills by managing complex relationships with service users and multidisciplinary teams.
7. Evaluate and Manage Risk
Assess complexity and uncertainty in service users' lives to prioritise interventions addressing safeguarding and long-term well-being.
Technical Domain
8. Apply a Holistic Approach to Assessment and Intervention Planning:
Appraise needs, circumstances, rights, strengths, and risks through a holistic approach, select and analyse frameworks for assessment, planning, implementation, and review of interventions based on social work models.
9. Integrate Community Resources to Enhance Practice Outcomes:
Implement interventions that facilitate community groups and networks to enhance outcomes for service users as part of a comprehensive support strategy.
Sustainability Domain
10. Evaluate your own Safety, Health, and Emotional Resilience:
Implement and manage your own personal safety, health, well-being, and emotional resilience to sustain effective and ethical practice.
Enterprise Domain
11. Create Professional Leadership and Support Peer Development:
Demonstrate professional leadership, supporting the learning and development of others, while managing the impact of power within the social work role.
Approach to Assessment
Final Year Project for Broad Application:
1. Students will engage in a final year project that requires a holistic application of social work principles and academic research skills. These projects will be grounded in social work, drawing on partnerships with diverse community organisations and our Teaching Partnership with Leeds and Wakefield councils.
Policy Analysis and Reflective Practice:
2. Policy analysis will foster critical thinking and reflective practice, aligning students' understanding with the professional standards of Social Work England and BASW. These assessments will challenge students to incorporate a strengths-based approach and consider the implications of policies on all community members, especially those from marginalised groups.
Professional Practice Scenarios:
3. Students will navigate complex practice scenarios, promoting the integration of knowledge and critical decision-making skills. Reflection on these scenarios will be documented in professional development portfolios, highlighting each student's growth in professionalism and ethical practice.
Organisational Context Simulations:
4. To assess students' ability to operate within social work organisations, placement, simulations, and role-playing exercises will be incorporated. These will enable students to demonstrate their capacity to work effectively within and influence organisational structures.
Leadership in Group Projects:
5. Group projects will be utilised to assess students' leadership capabilities. Students will lead projects or initiatives, showcasing their ability to inspire and coordinate team efforts towards common goals. This approach encourages leadership development in a collaborative environment.
Independent Inquiry and Critical Evaluation:
6. Students will be expected to conduct independent inquiries, critically evaluating different perspectives and theories. Emphasis will be placed on the analysis of underrepresented voices and the integration of personal values with professional ethics.
Additional Academic Assessments:
In addition to the applied and reflective assessments outlined above, students will also complete a variety of traditional academic assessments, which help to develop key skills required for professional social work:
1. Essays:
Students will be required to write essays that develop their ability to critically engage with social work theories, policies, and research. Essays will assess students' ability to construct well-reasoned arguments and demonstrate a deep understanding of key issues in social work.
2. Simulations
Students will be involved in simulations both group and individual to develop their practice skills in a variety of social work contexts.
3. Examinations:
Written examinations will test students’ knowledge of important legal, theoretical, and policy frameworks. Examinations will not only assess knowledge recall but also challenge students to apply their learning to real-world social work scenarios.
4. Presentations:
Students will deliver presentations, which assess their ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and confidently. These presentations will focus on professional communication, as students explain their findings and ideas to peers, lecturers, and professionals, preparing them for the demands of practice.
5. Reflective Journals:
Reflective practice is a core element of the programme. Students will maintain reflective journals to document and critically assess their personal and professional growth during placements and practice-based learning. These journals will be essential tools in fostering lifelong reflective practice, which is central to the social work profession.
6. Reports
Reports help students to present information in a structured and logical format. Social work requires a variety of different reports and students are supported to develop these skills.
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