SWM5100 · Orientation to practice

Overview

This foundational unit will facilitate the development of your knowledge and understanding of the breadth of social work practice, including working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and the constituent elements of social work service delivery. You will explore the values, ethical, and legal principles informing the social work profession and how human rights and social justice frameworks and broader socio-political discourses shape these. You will develop your critical thinking skills by examining core fields of practice, the intersections of law and social work, and how power and authority operate in human service organisations, including the development of contemporary social policy. You will obtain the necessary knowledge about social work placements to help you prepare for them by examining the components of the pre-placement interview, compliance obligations, and concepts of professionalism and supervision within a social work context. The preparation for placement will include developing your skills in resume writing, differentiating between various roles in the supervisory team, and critical thinking about the delivery of collaborative care within the context of the Australian welfare system.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment in this unit includes hurdle assessment tasks. Failure of any hurdle assessment task may result in failure of the unit

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Describe differences and similarities in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and both the past and present impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing, with focus on intergenerational trauma.
2. Explain the contemporary role of social work across various fields of practice and settings including health and mental health, child protection, family violence, and working with specific client groups.
3. Distinguish between the law, legislation and legal processes which shape the delivery of contemporary social work practice, and the challenges this creates when working across cultures.
4. Differentiate between key legal obligations and social work ethics as articulated within the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, and the possible impacts on clients from different cultural groups.
5. Identify appropriate government and non-government-based support for service users.
6. Show evidence of professional behaviours and life skills and the transferability of those behaviours skills to contemporary social work practice.

Workload

16 weeks of 6 hours of teacher directed study per week, including a 2-hour seminar/lecture and 2-hour tutorial; remaining hours involve directed readings and class preparation, along with guided reflection and consolidation activities. 6 hours per week of self-directed study. Off campus attendance requirements: 1 day of on-campus workshops.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.