Module SOCI40220: MULTI-AGENCY WORKING

Department: Applied Social Sciences

SOCI40220: MULTI-AGENCY WORKING

Prerequisites

• Consolidation Module.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To enable students to develop effective and competent post-qualification (specialist level) practice, in depth, in inter-agency and inter-professional practice in children’s services. It is the third module in the first year of the programme, following the Direct Work module, and is set at level 4.

Content

• Lectures & Small group work/plenary sessions:
• 1. The development of policy and legislation in relation to children’s services in the UK;
• 2. The roles and relationships between the different organisations and staff involved in delivering children’s services;
• 3. Effective networking across agencies/professions for the provision and/or co-ordination of integrated, person-centred children’s services capable of meeting complex needs;
• 4. Presenting professional views in formal settings;
• 5. Self-management and the effective use of supervision;
• 6. The rights of service users and carers and how to embed service user-focused values in multi-agency work;
• 7. The relevance of professional codes of conduct for multi-agency working.
• Work-based practice:
• 1. Discussion and analysis (with the line manager/practice mentor) of case examples focusing on the student’s multi-agency/inter-disciplinary working;
• 2. The development of critical understanding in relation to the application of knowledge, skills and values in multi-agency working, and how to extend and integrate these to deliver best outcomes for children and young people; and
• 3. Observation of the student’s inter-agency/inter-professional working.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this module students will be expected to be able to demonstrate:
• 1. In-depth knowledge and critical understanding of the development of the legal and policy context of children’s services, including the roles and relationships between the different organisations and staff involved in delivering best outcomes for children and young people (SSK4);
• 2. The ability to provide and /or co-ordinate children’s services in a multi-agency context, to meet complex needs, where appropriate undertaking lead professional roles, and effective ways of working in networks (across organisational, sectoral and professional boundaries) which promote inter-professional working and the delivery of integrated and person-centred services (SSS3 & SSS12);
• 3. Work that promotes the rights of service users and carers, and embeds service user-focused values in policy and practice (SSS14); 4. The ability to present professional views (both orally and in writing) in formal settings, including situations where outcomes are disputed, and where effective responses to challenges and counter argument are needed (KS2);
• 5. Effective management of their own work and use of supervision to identify and explore issues, develop and implement plans, and improve own practice (KS3);
• 6. Acceptance of personal responsibility in relation to professional codes of conduct, including the ability to address any ethical issues arising in relation to professional practice and research (KS5).

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

• Lectures & Small group work/plenary sessions:
• Extended lectures, including small group work and plenary sessions, which run throughout the module, provide students with key information and opportunities for discussion/skills enhancement in relation to the knowledge, skills and values involved in competent post-qualifying, multi-agency working within children’s services.
• Directed reading & Independent study tasks:
• Directed reading (as well as time to undertake wider, self-directed reading) provides students with opportunities to extend and deepen their knowledge in relation to specific aspects of multi-agency working in children’s services. Independent study tasks support this learning by requiring students to research particular questions and issues, or apply their knowledge to practice examples.
• Work-based practice:
• All students on the programme will be engaged in multi-agency working within their employment settings during this module. Through the supervision and support provided by their line manager and practice mentor, respectively, this will enable them to extend and deepen their critical understanding of the application of knowledge, skills and values in post-qualifying (specialist level) inter-agency and inter-professional practice within children’s services.
• Reflexive Commentary:
• This form of assessment, which incorporates a report on one piece of the student’s multi-agency working by their practice mentor, requires students to write critically and reflectively about the way that they have used knowledge, skills and values in their multi-agency work, with a particular focus on the perspective of other professionals, thereby assessing the student’s achievement of all of the module’s learning outcomes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Feedback on independent study tasks and other exercises in small group work within extended lectures, and from practice mentors following direct observation of practice.

■ 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