The Reflective Child Care Worker 070-073

Course Objectives

The objectives of major course unit III are drawn from the stated objectives of the national curriculum.

Major course unit III will help the students to:

• Justify their actions towards users, other professional workers, and employers from a scientific theoretical and research methodological viewpoint.
• Have knowledge of the background to health and social policy priorities and be aware of the relevance of these.
• Have knowledge of health and social policies in both national and international contexts.
• Have knowledge of how it is possible to influence health and social policies.
• Know how to be a team player and also how to cooperate with users and other professional groups.
• Be able to map and analyse the relationship between social conditions and the life-situations of people with disabilities.
• Be able to demonstrate knowledge of conflict management.
• Be able to read research reports and use research results in practising their profession.

Course Description

COURSE UNIT 9: CRITICAL REFLECTION

30 ECTS

The aim of course-unit 9 is that the students will:

• Display understanding of current discourses in their own field, and discourses regarding the health and social sector professions’ contribution to the development of society and their legitimacy in the population.
• Be able to reflect critically regarding professional methods.
• Have sufficient knowledge of scientific theory and methodology to serve as a basis for specialisation.
• Have an understanding of the subject’s core areas, core concepts and their own professional role.
• Demonstrate the ability to cooperate across professional, organisational and cultural dividing lines.
• Display the ability to manage conflicts.
• Have extensive knowledge and understanding of the structures, culture and policy guidelines of organisations with regard to the development of services in a multicultural society.
• Develop critical reflection upon how the childcare worker’s professional role is influenced by policy and organisational guidelines.

The content of the course unit embraces the ability to understand and reflect upon the subject’s core concepts, and covers amongst other things the subject areas of organisation theory and public administration practices, scientific theory, methodology and cultural understanding.

The topic “cooperation across boundaries” takes as its starting point knowledge of political, formal and legal pre-conditions for cooperation. The course unit will contribute to students being able to identify what promotes and hinders cooperation with regard to users, user groups, public services across the various levels of public administration and cooperation with voluntary organisations. In addition, the course unit is underpinned by a common intention of maintaining a comprehensive view of the human being, which is a focus of all the health and social worker study programmes, with a special focus on the common challenges for health and social workers with regard to responsibility for coordination.

Teaching and Learning Methods: Self study, lectures, reflection and discussion assignments, group work, and written and oral presentations.

Assessment methods: The course unit includes two assessment assignments.

Course unit code: 070-073 9-1

Assessment assignment 9-1: Organisation, system and welfare policies.

The assignment focuses on the relationship between organisational framework conditions and carrying out the professional role. Individual response (2000 words). A graded mark which counts for 20% of the course grade (15 ECTS):

Course unit code: 070-073 9-2

Assessment assignment 9-2: Critical reflection

The assignment focuses on critical reflection upon important areas of the course unit. Individual response. Graded mark which counts for 20% of the course grade (15 ECTS).

COURSE UNIT 10: PROFESSIONAL SPECIALISATION

30 ECTS

The aim of course-unit 10 is that the students will:

• Have a critical perspective regarding the practice of their own profession.
• Be able to assess ideology and measures in health and social policies.
• Be able to exhibit the ability to reflect and discuss matters with regard to the practice of health and social professional work in a multicultural society.
• Exhibit the ability to examine professional problems in a systematic and reflective manner.
• Be able to exhibit an independent ability to document, quality control and assess their own work.
• Have become acquainted with current discourses in their own field of practice and discourses regarding the health and social professions’ contribution to social development and the legitimacy of their position in society.

The content of course unit 10 is related to the relevant topic for specialisation-practice and the Bachelor’s degree assignment. The period of practical training will be arranged so that it will be possible to relate it to the Bachelor’s degree assignment, and it will also be possible to apply to spend the period of practical training abroad.

The student’s area of specialisation and practical training placement should be professionally challenging and relevant in relation to the core areas of the respective professional groups.

Teaching and learning methods: Practical training, supervision, lectures, self-study, group work and written and oral presentations.

Assessment methods: Course unit 10 includes one documentation assignment and one assessment assignment:

Course unit code 070-073 DO1

Documentation assignment: The student should complete a written assignment in connection with methodological specialisation/the period of practical training. The assignment should be based on the student’s own experiences and document his/her knowledge and ability to professionally reflect (2000 words).

Course unit code 070-073 101

Assessment assignment 10-1: Bachelor’s degree assignment and oral examination

The Bachelor’s degree assignment comprises 12 ECTS. As a rule the Bachelor’s degree assignment is a written group assignment. The groups may either be composed of students from similar or different programmes.

Written Bachelor’s degree assignment (10,000 words). Letter grade which counts for 60% of the grade for major course unit III (30 ECTS). The title and grade of the Bachelor’s degree assignment will be entered on the diploma.

The individual oral examination will be based on the Bachelor’s degree assignment. In addition, the student may be asked questions from the obligatory or self-chosen syllabus for major course unit III. The Bachelor’s degree assignment must receive a passing grade prior to taking the oral examination. The grade for the Bachelor’s degree assignment is given before the oral examination. The oral examination may influence the grade for the assessment assignment 10.1. If the grade is F, the student will be permitted to re-sit by taking a weeklong individual written home-examination, followed by an oral examination along the lines described above.

Course code 070-07P2: Professional Specialisation, Practical Experience Studies

The objective for the practical studies is for students to gain experience with childcare, be challenged to professional, personal and ethical reflection and to reassess their own understanding, attitudes and skills. The practical studies will contribute to the development of the students’ skills in various areas, and serve as preparation for their future employment, responsibilities and tasks. The practical studies constitute 16 ECTS in terms of workload for course unit 10.

Students are offered the possibility of completing 12 weeks of practice abroad.

Pensum