This free course, Introducing social work: a starter kit, provides a glimpse into some of the things that social workers do and looks at why and how social work is done. The course is designed for people who might be interested in and curious about social work practice. It will also be a useful initial resource for those who may be thinking about entering the social work profession at some point in the future.The materials in this course reflect a small illustrative sample drawn from The Open University's much larger course, K832 Developing social work practice. K832 is the first of two courses leading to the Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work, a professional qualifying award.In this free short course you will find four main sections:What is social work? What makes a good social worker? The impact of social divisions and diversity The influence of knowledge about human development The course is very much introductory in nature and is designed for learners with a wide variety of previous experiences of study. However, on occasions, the study materials reflect closely the style and academic level of the original materials, which are postgraduate level.At the end of the course, you will notice that there is a section called 'Where next?'. This is where you will find some information and online links to further study. It includes ideas about professional qualifying social work courses for those who may be considering taking their initial curiosity further, possibly into a social work career.
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction and overview
- Introduction
- 1 Moving around the course
- Acknowledgements
- Session1Session 1: What is social work?
- Introduction
- 1 Defining social work
- 2 The problem of defining social work
- 3 Social work values and ethics
- 4 Discrimination and anti-oppressive practice
- 5 What do social workers ‘do’?
- 6 Social work roles
- 7 Summary of Session 1
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Session2Session 2: What makes a good social worker?
- Introduction
- 1 What would you prefer?
- 2 Communication skills
- 3 Creating rapport
- 4 Empathy
- 5 The social work relationship
- 6 Service user involvement
- 7 Resistance to social work involvement
- 8 Communicating with children
- 9 Language and power
- 10 Working with interpreters
- 11 Social work communication with a family group
- 12 Summary of Session 2
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Session3Session 3: Understanding social divisions and diversity
- Introduction
- 1 Poverty
- 1.1 What is poverty?
- 1.2 Explanations for poverty
- 1.3 The extent and forms of social disadvantage in society
- 1.4 The gap between rich and poor
- 1.5 The impact of poverty on people’s lives
- 2 Social exclusion
- 2.1 Approaches for social work practice
- 2.2 The impact of social attitudes on exclusion: disability
- 2.3 Social exclusion: systemic and ecological perspectives
- 2.4 Social exclusion: the impact of social support
- 2.5 Social exclusion: the nature of network support
- 3 Social work with communities
- 3.1 Community development and the role of social work
- 3.2 The policy context
- 3.3 Asset-based approaches to community development
- 3.4 Community profiling
- 4 Social work and groups
- 4.1 Group processes
- 4.2 Planning is important
- 4.3 Group leaders need group ‘skills’
- 4.4 Some group behaviours can be problematic
- 4.5 Examples of groups
- 5 Social work and the law
- 6 Summary of Session 3
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Session4Session 4: Understanding human development
- Introduction
- 1 Developmental frameworks
- 1.1 Perspectives on human growth and development
- 1.2 Nature versus nurture
- 2 Development and children
- 2.1 Developmental needs of children
- 2.2 Observing children’s development
- 2.3 Attachment theory
- 3 Development over a lifetime
- 3.1 Life span theory
- 3.2 The life course perspective
- 3.3 Stage theories and the life course
- 3.4 Risk, safety and young people
- 3.5 Adult growth and development
- 3.6 Adjusting to change
- 4 Development in a social context
- 4.1 Social ecology
- 4.2 The social ecological perspective: advantages and limitations
- 5 Summary of Session 4
- 6 Thinking like a social worker
- 7 End-of-course summary
- 8 Where next?
- References
- Acknowledgements
