Module SOCI30320: Contextualizing Community and Youth Work

Department: Applied Social Sciences

SOCI30320: Contextualizing Community and Youth Work

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To enable students with non-traditional qualifications to gain access onto the MA Community and Youth Work and related programmes by gaining:
• An understanding of the intellectual context within which Community and Youth Work theory and practice is located.
• A critical awareness of the role of policy in shaping practice.
• The ability to delineate significant aspects of professional practice.
• The ability to use previous practice and learning experience and achievement for MA level learning.
• The ability to think critically and produce assessed work that shows an ability to study at postgraduate level.

Content

• Foundational theory: informal education; social science; psychology.
• Social policy drivers and consequences.
• Experiential learning: relating theory and practice; developing and using practice skills.
• Professional values: equality and difference; ethics; participation; developing professional discipline.
• Study skills suitable for those returning to learning which will provide a foundation for studying at postgraduate level.

Learning Outcomes

• A contextual understanding of the intellectual knowledge base of community and youth work;
• An awareness of the policy dimensions in which practice is situated;
• A critical understanding of the nature of professionalism.

• An ability to apply learning from other disciplines to community and youth work;
• An ability to use previous experience to critically interrogate the practice dimensions of community and youth work;
• An ability to use value-based understanding to develop insights into the professional processes of community and youth work.

• Structured reflexivity;
• An ability to critically analyse different sources and use these appropriately within academic work;
• An ability to write essays and produce other forms of assessed assignments appropriate to the level at which the module is studied;
• An ability to use library and IT resources to support continued learning and professional development.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will use a combination of lectures, tutorials (including structured dialogue and supported group work) and self study (based on directed reading and structured formative work) to further knowledge, understanding and skill.
• The lectures, tutorials and self-study will be designed to increase student knowledge and critical understanding of the theoretical and policy context of youth and community work.
• The dialogue will reflect practice methods in the field and the same time enhance reflexivity and the ability to relate theory and practice, building on the student's own experience.
• Formative work will enable students to develop in confidence and skill producing competent written work to an appropriate academic and professional standard, including enabling students to apply their learning concerning study/writing skills to particular assignments relevant to community and youth work practice.
• The module will be summatively assessed using a presentation and an essay. The presentation will invite students to reflect upon their own practice experience to inform a critical discussion about a feature of contemporary policy. This will help students to learn how to use their substantive experience creatively and critically within academic study, and learn from reflecting on others' experience in light of broader theory. The essay will be designed to increase student competence and confidence for writing for academic purposes and at a level required for MA study. The essay will enable students to demonstrate theoretical knowledge and skill in relating theory to a specific dimension of practice or a practice value.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Students will have the opportunity to submit up to 2 short pieces of written work (500-1000 words) and receive individual feedback through tutorials on this work.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University