Key words
Political and social history.
Objectives
The main aim of this training module is to expand the student’s historical awareness.
Trying to understand human behaviour (in the past, now… and in the future too, perhaps) is possible from a multitude of perspectives.
The training module (lying on standard educational route 1) sharpens the student’s sense of professionalism by characterizing the basic tenets of modern social and political history and by demonstrating how ‘history’ can afford a deeper insight; all this to help enhance the professional competence of a social assistant.
The history of the profession in relation to the general historical evolution of Belgium yields valuable insights into the ‘how and why’ of several elements of this professionalism.
Man is a ‘being’ insofar he has a recorded past, insofar as he can ‘remember’ past events: he is, in essence, a historical being. Indeed, if the past was immaterial to what’s happening in the present then, by the same token, topical matters would be of no significance to the future of mankind.
People constantly dictate (or try to dictate) how their future will pan out. They make history, within the bounds of what’s possible.
Past generations have already changed the face of the world and established social welfare structures, which means that we can never start with a ‘clean slate’. So we’re confronted with the past, time and time again, whether we like it or not. In other words: history cannot be ignored.
Anyone who only knows the present, is incapable of explaining topical events and will also be inclined to accept the present situation as the only conceivable scenario. A long-term view affords an insight into the parameters of the ‘theoretically possible’.
The history of yesterday (and of the day before yesterday) is, in that respect, no more relevant than that of centuries ago. Every significant social problem confronts us with important questions which can’t be solved in a short historical run-up. Many of the present-day social relationships, aspirations, standards and values are, for that matter, rooted in the distant past. In short, social and cultural illiteracy is imminent whereas a historical dialogue with the past is yet to start!
Which begs the questions ”what are societal problems?”. Social history teaches us that a societal problem is that which a society, at a certain moment, considers to be a societal problem.
You don’t need us to tell you that a sound, working knowledge of social and political history is indispensable to aspiring social assistants. At the ‘coal face’ of their profession, they are regularly confronted with problem situations (i.e. awkward situations), ‘societal problems’, which – unless the social worker possesses a historical knowledge within a broader social framework – can’t be put in the right context. Think, for example, of the problem of the big cities, the break-up of social and family relationships, the gradual abolition of our social security system, the problem of asylum seekers, political refugees and migrants, the poverty problem,…
The purpose of this training module is to shape these objectives by fostering and developing the following core skills from the training profile:
Job-specific core skills
-1. Social workers’ vision in all they undertake is based on a broad-based insight into societal reality.
Supporting subset skill:
- To integrate different evidence-based perspectives into your viewpoint on social situations and human behaviour.
-2. Social workers help develop, focus and promote their professional identity.
Supporting subset skill:
- To participate in the societal debate on social problems and their solutions. The singularity of their profession and the set of values of social work bring fresh insights to the debate.
General core skills
General (generic) core skills
-3. Capacity for logical thought and reasoning power.
Supporting subset skill:
- To make adequate use of relevant conceptual frameworks.
They can draw upon their historical insight in order to analyze present-day problems.
-4. The acquisition and assimilation of information
Supporting subset skill:
- To select information according to its relevance;
- To valorise the information.
They employ sufficient historical criticism, e.g. as a frame of reference, when searching for, and assimilating, information.
-5. The ability to reflect critically on oneself and to work thematically (by making projects).
Supporting subset skill:
- To develop a well-reasoned standpoint of your own;
- To analyze a problem in all its sub-aspects;
- To are able to assess the relative merits of views and opinions.
This training module is also perfectly complementary to other modules (lying on standard educational route 1), such as Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Introduction to Social Work,… and it gives a historical base to training modules on later-stage educational routes.
Topics
Social history:
The social order that began to appear in the second half of the 18th century
The basic principles of modern social-economic structures and of present-day social relationships:
- The transition, in the 18th-19th centuries, from an agricultural, precapitalist society to today’s industrial capitalism;
- The processes of change, both in their autonomous expressions and in their coherence:
- the generalization of market relationships within the social structure;
- the development of capital - labour ratios;
- the development of social policy by the government;
- a progressive shift from the precapitalist sub-proletariat to the Fourth World in the
consumer society.
These progressive shifts are made concrete by citing examples, taken chiefly from Belgian
social history.
- The present situation and current developments: a historical approach to social policy:
- factors and vested interests;
- recurrent elements in different debates and opposing standpoints.
- Insight into social policy: the continuity from houses of correction to welfare institutions, from the care of the poor to the social security system.
Contemporary political history
Contemporary political history viewed in a global perspective;
Opposing views between nations and problems of the modern era - East-West relations (and the impact thereof) and North-South relations (with repercussions in the areas of poverty, interdependence and the environment) have their origins in 19th-century imperialism:
- the study of 19th-century relations;
- the process of a gradual shift in these relations as a result of the two World Wars.
The chronicling of these changes, with a view to obtaining a better:
- insight into the growth of modern society and into the present global situation;
- insight into contemporary problems at the domestic, European and global levels.
Prerequisites
Entry-level skills
Exit qualifications in secondary education.
Final Objectives
Exit-level skills
The core skills from the training profile listed in the ‘objectives’ section are fully underpinned by the following exit-level skills of the training module:
At the level of knowledge and comprehension
The students:
- Adeptly employ the specialist (scientific) terminology, basic notions and concepts in the perception of their own past and that of others;
- Summarize lucidly the basic tenets of contemporary social and political history;
- Explain clearly, with the requisite insight, the cohesion and interaction between the different social domains, the main trends in present-day society and the role therein of groups and individuals.
At the application level - skills
The students:
- Analyse objectively historical sources of information.
At the level of integration
The students:
- Take, bolstered by their insight into modern history, on board responsibility in present-day society and in the future, to uphold the principles of man’s civil, social, economic and cultural rights.
Materials used
::Click here for additional information::
Learning pack (obtainable from the coursewear department).
Study costs
The estimated cost price is ca. 6 euros.
Study guidance
Questions about the subject matter can be asked at any time during the lectures.
Individual task-based questions for assimilating the subject matter: the answers are then discussed in class.
A mock exam is organized. It’s not compulsory, but you’re well advised to take it. The answers are discussed in class and corrected.
Individual consultation (tutoring/monitoring) is available by appointment.
Contact details: item Lecturer(s).
Teaching Methods
Lectures: theory;
Interactive tutorials: an audiovisual lecture, a seminar debate,...;
Assignment-based education: task-based questions;
Project-based work in an interdisciplinary context (in cooperation with the training modules: ‘Sociology’ and ‘Cultural Anthropology’);
Guest speakers;
Field excursions: museums, galleries, exhibitions, films.
Assessment
An examination for this training module is scheduled in the exam period at the end of the semester in which you took this course.
A written examination (80% of the total mark) consisting of:
- Restricted questions, including ‘define’ questions, true/false and correct/incorrect questions
- Open-ended questions: short-answer questions, standpoint/arguments/opinion-probing questions
The examination is on any part of the entire course content.
The total number of questions is limited to what can be got through comfortably within the allotted time for the exam.
Continuous assessment (20% of the total mark), group work in combination with an individual reflection assignment on the project work.
In exceptional case studies (e.g. if the student was legitimately absent), provision can be made in the continuous assessment for a (catch-up) remedial assignment.
Resits
Includes: an analogous written exam but, this time around, the continuous assessment part is replaced by an extra question on the written exam paper (linked to the project work) about the subject matter of this module.
Lecturer(s)
|
|
