SW6001 - Rights Based Social Work Practice

Your learning will be informed by a rights based learning and teaching strategy and you will be expected to draw upon your previous placement and other work experience to enhance your learning.
Lead lectures and interactive e-learning resources will provide you with the knowledge base and this will be linked to seminars which will focus on identified themes, including the role of power and authority in social work assessment and intervention, promoting social justice through participatory approaches and empowerment in practice. Seminar discussions will be facilitated by the use of case studies which require reflection and analysis of professional values social justice, rights and diversity to social work practice with people who use care and support services.

You will have direct access to the academic team through group-based learning and tutorial support in seminar groups. In addition, tutors will respond to queries and comments through the Blackboard Ultra e-Learning (eLP) site. You will also have a Personal Tutor to monitor professional development and provide systematic academic support during your practice placement.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

At the end of the module you will be able to:
Knowledge & Understanding:
1.Critically appraise contemporary social work practice in the context of changing policy and organisational structures and explore the impact of these on the social worker and service user relationship in statutory contexts.

2.Recognise the impact of socio- economic disadvantage and social exclusion on individual wellbeing, and the importance of promoting enhanced economic status through access to education, work, housing, health and welfare benefits.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Analyse the effectiveness of strategies used to engage and involve service users and carers in planning their own care and being involved in wider service planning and policy development.
4.Critically analyse the relevance and appropriateness of policy and service delivery designed to support diversity, social justice, and the professional value base.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA)
5. Recognise potentially conflicting values and be able to reflect upon ethical dilemmas.

Formative assessment:
This is a group presentation where you will explore how a practitioner might apply a rights-based approach in a chosen area of practice context. Verbal feedback will be provided by tutors, peers, and Educators by Experience.
(MLO 1,2,3,4)

Summative assessment:
This is a 2,000-word written assignment which will focus on professional judgment and decision making in the context of upholding values, rights, and social justice when exercising statutory responsibilities. The submission is electronic through Turnitin, and the assignment constitutes 100% of the module mark. You will be provided with written feedback through Turnitin.
(MLO 1,2,3,4)

SW4000 SW4001, SW4002, SW4003, SW4004, SW4005, SW5000, SW5001, SW5002, SW5003, SW5004

SW6000, SW6002, SW6003, SW6004

This module will support you to move from an understanding of rights, diversity, and the law to professional capability in relation to working with more complex issues and conflicting values at a level at which you will be eligible to register with Social Work England as a qualified social worker. The learning opportunities provided in the academic and practice components of the module will equip you to demonstrate evidence of the social work role in organisational contexts, person centred practices, effective direct work with individuals and families, mental capacity and professional ethics. You will analyse and apply appropriate rights, values and social justice to contemporary social work practice. This will be achieved by developing your ability to recognise and promote the individual’s right to self-determination and identify and manage the impact on people of the power of your role. You will also develop the ability to recognise and manage the impact of your own values on practice and develop a deeper understanding of the construction of individual identity by culture, economic factors, life experiences and characteristics.