Key words
Social Assistant in Practice: Theoretical and practical building blocks 1.
Objectives
Social assistants practise their profession in various sectors of society.
Job differentiation is one of the consequences thereof.
To prove how the vocational profile of the social assistant is based, firstly, on core values and a common root but, secondly, how it takes on a specific cachet depending on the sphere of action concerned, this training module is aimed at all job groups and the corresponding core skills of a social assistant in general.
After which the focus, in this module, is on the social assistant in his (or her) role as a Social Worker (SW).
In the ‘Social Assistant in Practice: Theoretical and practical building blocks 2’ training module, the focus is on the social assistant as a HR Worker, as a Social Adviser and as a Socio-Cultural Worker.
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 skills:
- To base the actions on relevant judgments;
- To be driven by a personal vision in which the emancipation of the client is the prime concerns.
- 2. Social workers help develop, focus and promote their professional identity.
Supporting subset skills:
- To reflect systematically on professional competence and how to display it;
- To demonstrate a clear grasp of the professional identity and of the professional
boundaries.
- 3. Social workers operate at a crossroads of people and their human environment, working from a fundamental ethical attitude.
- 4. Social workers communicate purposefully in a context of great diversity.
Supporting subset skills:
- Good interpersonal skills with people and groups from different backgrounds;
- To communicate purposefully in informal and formal groups.
General core skills
General job score skills
- 5. The ability to work in a team.
Supporting subset skills:
- To function as a team player within a department;
- To adapt your attitude and to cater role(s) to different settings and types of social assistance;
- To take initiatives to foster cooperation.
-6. A sense of social responsibility, which is closely connected with occupational practice.
Supporting subset skills:
- To orient the behaviour based on a broad social commitment;
- To develop your own view on social values in relation to the specialist field and
profession.
General ( generic) core skills
-7. The ability to reflect critically on oneself and to work thematically.
Supporting subset skills:
- To question the own actions and feelings;
- To be able to assess the relative merits of views and opinions;
- To develop a well-reasoned standpoint of your own.
- 8. Creativity
Supporting subset skills:
- To look at problems and challenging situations from several different perspectives;
- To think up widely different solutions.
It goes without saying that this training module incorporates the social sciences frameworks from the other modules (lying on standard educational route 1) in order to contextualize professional competence and, vice versa, in order to clearly communicate theoretical concepts.
Furthermore, this module lays the foundations for modules lying on standard educational routes 2 and 3, especially for modules such as ‘Fields of Social Work’, ‘Communication and interaction’, ‘Work placement 1’, optional subject ‘Methodologies in Social Work’ (standard educational route 2) and various systematic modules: ‘Work placement 2’ and final year thesis, notably within the specialization: Social Work (on standard educational route 3).
Topics
The aim of this training module is twofold:
- firstly, to acquire knowledge;
- secondly, to acquire the core skills and attitudes necessary for those starting a work placement and supervision 1 (as described in standard educational route 2).
The class group functions as a learning environment resembling authentic professional situations: it’s an experimental area to develop the necessary basic competences.
This training module focuses on different course components of this total package, which the student has to master:
1. Occupational practice:
The ‘occupational practice’ part consists of three main pillars:
- A theoretical (and practical) presentation of:
- the singularity of the profession;
- the Social Worker profile, a profile of the profession and enhancing its public image;
- an emancipatory vision as a guiding principle;
- the specialization ‘Social Work’: history, definition of the terms, structure, target groups
and organizations, methodologies, task and role of the social worker...;
- Topic taught via case studies linked to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudinal
aspects of the social assistant.
- Development of a capacity to systematically reflect on your performance and why you chose this profession;
- Interest in social problems and social developments:
- to develop a personal vocational thought about people and society;
- to develop a critical point of view on the value and the limitations of Social Work.
2. Speaking (and listening) skills (communication)
- Definition of the terms, introduction to the different concepts and stages of the communication process and learn these by practice;
- Theoretical reference frameworks of communication and interaction;
- Tasks and exercises for self-reflection; the student is open to theoretical contextualization of his (or her) own functional performance within the communication process;
- Analysis by observing the way you communicate with others;
- Learning to concisely express their objective views (and those of classmates) on the communication process. This relates, in particular, to encrypting, decoding, all facets of active listening, asking questions, giving and receiving feedback,…
3. Creative (social) work in practice
- Definition of the terms, theoretical contextualization and information about thinking creatively, creativity as a skill (to be acquired), and creativity as a desirable attitude;
- Exploring and experimenting with the student’s non-verbal (body language) communication via specific tasks and exercises;
- Observing and listing the effects of non-verbal behaviour;
- Optimizing and adapting non-verbal (body language) communication to suit the specific needs of the profession;
- To reflect on the own creative competence as a professional competence (tasks and exercises);
- Creative techniques: observing techniques, analysing techniques, exploring techniques and problem solving techniques;
- Learning masters in creativity;
- Application of creativity in Social Work (cases).
4. Data acquisition and processing:
- Basic notions of information technology (IT);
- Importance and structure of written reporting in the Social Assistant (S.A.)’s day-to-day dealings.
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:
- Cite the singularity of the profession (see under ‘Topics’);
- Can clearly state the self-knowledge, skills and attitude needed in the context of Social Work;
- Define correctly the course components (see under ‘Topics’) of the specialization Social Work;
- Know (and recognize) their own nascent views on man and society;
- Add a current knowledge of societal reality to the discussion (have an eye for national and international news);
- Indicate the difference between personal speak and professional communication;
- Describe correctly the theoretical reference framework of feedback;
- Characterize with a penchant for essence different models of communication and interaction;
- Discuss open-minded their own ( unintentional) non-verbal effects;
- Describe analytical different creative mental techniques;
- Make concrete, based on a clear definition, creativity as a professional competence in Social Work.
At the application level - skills
The students:
- Apply correctly their nascent (professional) communicative skills, such as: excellent powers of observation; empathy; the capacity to reflection, skills to learn, skills to impart to others and to foster feedback; verbal and non-verbal (body language) communication; written communication; participation and involvement; presenting and speaking to the group;
- Employ effective organizational and administrative skills, e.g. making adequate use of information sources (including a person’s social map), preparing and adhering to a work schedule, dealing flexibly with unforeseen events, orderly recording and well-structured, straight-to-the-point reports, good use of language and applies the prevailing performance standards correctly;
- Work in a team: the collaboration groups which are part and parcel of this training module help the student to become a better team player. Besides the specificity of the product, the student also gets usefully involved in the process through correct application of the theoretical frameworks of communication;
- Use correctly creative mental techniques in exercises (cases);
- Adjust appropriately their own communicational behaviour based on the knowledge of the difference between personal speak and professional communication;
- Exercise actively their own creative skills in whole-class exercises.
At the level of integration
The students:
- Show a committed attitude: show an attitude of commitment made concrete in the following aspects: regular attendance and punctuality, motivation, social attitude, eagerness for learning, taking initiatives and responsibility, developing perseverance and venturing an opinion;
- Show a critical attitude: this is a position made concrete in the following aspects: a balanced view, a view on one’s own frame of reference, a view on one’s own capabilities and limitations, putting oneself and the course materials into question.
- Show a respectful attitude: this is an attitude made concrete in the following aspects: correctness in agreements, being present, openness, sincerity, equality, empathy, discretion and a non-judging attitude.
Materials used
::Click here for additional information::
Syllabus (available from the courseware department);
Additional texts (available in the classroom or accessible via Dokeos);
Topical subject-matter.
Study costs
The estimated cost price is ca. € 30:
- 20€ for the syllabus;
- 10€ for photocopies.
Maybe: extra costs (travelling expenses) for exploration of the specialist field.
Study guidance
During the lessons, frequent attention is paid to feedback, corrections (pointing out mistakes,...), regarding assignments, exercises, conversations, ... and also with regard to the course materials.
Contact details can be obtained from the training staff members involved in this training module.
Teaching Methods
The introduction to, and the assimilation of, the course content is supported and stimulated
by :
At the level of knowledge and comprehension
Lectures;
Demonstration;
Learning group;
Supervised self-instruction.
At the application level – skills
Tutorials;
Assignment-based work.
At the application level and level of integration
Lectures ( with an opportunity for dialogue);
Demonstration;
Tutorials;
Problem-oriented methods of working.
Assessment
Presence in the lessons is obliged for the assessment in this training module.
The overall evaluation of the student’s performance on the course is done in close consultation with all the staff members involved in that training module for that student.
In that regard, the continuous assessment, the product evaluation and a written examination occur simultaneously.
Continuous assessment (40% of the marks) depending on their knowledge, attitude and skills. A prerequisite for the process evaluation, is that all course components of this training module are attended by the student. The (growing) process of the students and their active participation during classes are key considerations here.
Regarding the process evaluation an active participation in ALL components of the course is obliged.
Product evaluation (40% of the marks): the students make several different products:
- a practice work book (with, among other things, student experiential reports, observation reports, in-course reflection reports,…)
- a folder on topical issues
- intermediate assessment tasks ( self-evaluation, study [growing] plan, …)
- an out-of-school assignment
- an integration assignment
Regarding the product evaluation, the products of ALL components of the course content count towards the final mark.
A written examination (20% of the marks) is scheduled in the exam period at the semester in which you took this course.
The examination is on any part of the entire course content.
Resits
Regarding the product evaluation part, provision is made, in the resits, for an analogous assignment (40% of the marks).
Provision is made for an analogous written examination (20%) – with possible verbal explanation.
The marks gained in the continuous assessment part (40% of the marks) during the first examination period are carried over.
Lecturer(s)
Lecturers
Nicole Vanhoucke (nicole.vanhoucke@hogent.be)
And other staff members involved in this training module.
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