You must attend the compulsory residential school to complete this unit. Please note that attendance and successful completion of the residential is a unit requirement. Any previous attempts at Field Education 1 and Integrating Theory and Practice 1 that resulted in a fail grade and any previous residential attendance for this unit are not rolled over or counted towards a subsequent attempt at the course.

Instructions

You must ensure that you have 'signed in and out' of every residential session. The residential staff will be reviewing the attendance sheet and zoom attendee report after each session to ensure that students are present for the residential entirety. Staff will not be expected to follow up on any absentees; it will be the student's sole responsibility to ensure that the 'record of attendance' is completed. To meet the requirements of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), a student cannot miss any more than two hours of the residential and must provide a reason and sufficient supporting documentation to do so (i.e. unavoidable event, illness).

You will be joining your small teams online while at the residential school. Therefore, please ensure you peruse the zoom meeting etiquette checklist in the Attending Residential School Online document before residential school. 

You must pass this assessment to pass the unit. Failure to pass this unit will result in the final grade of 'Fail' for the entire unit.

Instructions

Using a reflective practice model adapted from the Integrative Reflective Practice model (Kiser 2014), you are required to critically reflect on an experience of significance/importance that occurred in your small group learning experience at the residential school. The experience should be one you hope to understand or learn more about. Writing in the first person, use the Kiser (2014) model and questions from Kiser (2014) and Fook and Gardner (2007) as a guide to provide a brief narrative about what happened, your reactions, its meaning, examine dissonance and articulate the learning and insights you gained for future practice.

• Experience - Describe the experience. What happened?

• Reactions – How did you react? How did you feel? What were you thinking? What did you do?

• Reflecting on Meaning - Why was the experience important/significant to you? What did it mean to you? What does your account and the language used tell you about your underlying values, beliefs, theories, and assumptions? Where do you think these ideas originated, and how was your experience influenced by your historical, cultural and social context?

• Theory & Knowledge - What other perspectives have you considered? Identify relevant theory or literature that could make sense of the situation or provide another view.

• Examining dissonance - Did this situation highlight any gap between how you say you will practice (espoused values, theories and skills) and the group's and or your actions and decisions? What role did you play in this? Is this ok? If so, why? If not, why not? What does this tell you about the values, theories, and practices important to your developing practice framework?

• Articulating learning - What are the specific learnings you can take from this experience? What did you learn about yourself, others, and the society in which you live? What knowledge or insights did you gain? What skills did you learn?

• Developing a plan – Based on these learnings, what would you do next time in a similar situation? What would you continue to do, and what would you change? Explain why, including the anticipated consequences and hopes of this new response. What values, knowledge, theory, and skills will you need to develop to proceed with this new approach?

Word limit

1000 words

Literature and references

In this assessment, use at least six contemporary references to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the five elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature sourced from the internet must be from reputable websites such as government, university, or professional or peak national bodies: for example, the AASW.

Requirements

• Use a conventional and legible size 12 font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, with 1.5 line spacing and 2.54cm page margins (standard pre-set margin in Microsoft Word).
• Include page numbers on each page in a footer.
• Write in the first-person perspective.
• The written assessment should identify which scenario your group worked on; however, it should not repeat the case study's details.
• Use formal academic language.
• Use the Harvard referencing style. The CQUniversity Academic Learning Centre has an online Harvard Referencing Style Guide.
• The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. The word count excludes the reference list but includes in-text references and direct quotations.

Resources

• You can use unit provided materials and other credible sources (e.g. journal articles, books, grey literature) to reference your argument. The quality and credibility of your sources are important.
• We recommend that you access your discipline-specific library guide: the Social Work and Community Services Guide.
• For information on academic communication, please go to the Academic Learning Centre Moodle site. The Academic Communication section has many helpful resources, including information for students with English as a second language.
• Submit a draft before the due date to review your Turnitin Similarity Score before making a final submission. Instructions are available here.

References

Fook, J & Gardner F 2007, Practising critical reflection: a resource handbook, McGraw-Hill Education, UK.

Kiser, M 2014, 'The integrative processing model', adapted from Kiser, M 2014, The human service internship: getting the most from your experience, 4th edition, Cengage, Boston, viewed at https://www.elon.edu/u/academics/arts-and-sciences/wp-content/uploads/sites/150/2017/07/Integrative-Processing-Model.pdf

Context is central to social work practice. Therefore, social work theories and practice need to be examined to understand the influence of the political, cultural, social, organisational, and client contexts on practice. Healy (2005, p.4) contends that 'through understanding our context, we can recognise how our practice is shaped by context and how we might act as agents of change both within, and in relation to our context'. Drawing on unit readings, the knowledge gained from your previous study in the social work program and field placement experiences and resources, you will critically analyse the interrelationship of context and social work practice including the relevance of theory and its application in your field placement organisation.

Instructions

In essay format, provide your analysis of the field placement or human service context and how it influences social work practice. The essay should include the following areas:

• A brief introduction of the key elements of the organisation, including its mission, auspice, structure, goals and values.
• Identify and discuss the impact of social, legal, political and cultural contexts on the organisation and the implications for service delivery, social work practice and service users.
• An analysis of the dominant ideas, beliefs, and assumptions about service user groups and the problems/issues experienced, and how these impact service users, and influence the use of power and organisational responses. How are other perspectives considered, such as the lived experience and diverse cultural needs of service users?
• An analysis of the social work practice purpose in the field placement or human service context that considers the aims, values, theories, methods and skills utilised and how it aligns with professional aims, values and standards. Where is the focus of social work change processes and how is change measured in this context? What power is inherent to the social work role in this context?
• Based on your analysis, what strategies might you employ in your future practice to initiate change processes that address any discrepancies between espoused organisational and professional aims, values and theory and practice in this context? How do these respond to power relations and the diverse needs and lived experiences of service users in this context?

Word Limit

1500 words - Students are welcome to use headings in the essay and include appendices such as diagrams or a brochure for the provision of additional organisational information. Headings will not be included in the word count.

Literature and references

In this assessment, use at least eight contemporary references to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the five elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature sourced from the internet must be from reputable websites such as from government, university, or peak national bodies: for example, the AASW.

Requirements

• Use a conventional and legible size 12 font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, with 1.5 line spacing and 2.54cm page margins (standard pre-set margin in Microsoft Word).
• Include page numbers on each page in a footer.
• Write in the third-person perspective.
• Use formal academic language.
• Use the Harvard referencing style. The CQUniversity Academic Learning Centre has an online Harvard Referencing Style Guide.
• The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. The word count excludes the reference list but includes in-text references and direct quotations.

Resources

• You can use unit provided materials and other credible sources (e.g. journal articles, books, grey literature ) to reference your argument. The quality and credibility of your sources are important.
• We recommend that you access your discipline-specific library guide: the Social Work and Community Services Guide.
• For information on academic communication, please go to the Academic Learning Centre Moodle site. The Academic Communication section has many helpful resources, including information for students with English as a second language.
• Submit a draft before the due date to review your Turnitin Similarity Score before making a final submission. Instructions are available here.

References

Healy, K 2005, Social Work Theories in Context: Creating Frameworks for Practice, Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Criteria	Grade
	HD (85-100%)	D (75-84%)	C (65-74%)	P (50-64%)	F (Below 50%)
Identifies key organisational elements of the field placement or human service organisation. ( /5 marks)	Advanced knowledge of key organisational elements.	Very good knowledge of key organisational elements.	Good knowledge of key organisational elements.	Adequate or basic knowledge of key organisational elements.	Inadequate or inappropriate knowledge of key organisational elements.
Analyses the influence of the social, legal, political and cultural context on the field placement organisation, service users and social work practice   (  /5 marks)	Advanced discussion of the practice context and the impacts on the organisation, service users and workers.	Very good level of discussion of the practice context and the impact on the organisation, service users and workers.	Good level of discussion of the practice context and the impact on the organisation, service users and workers.	Adequate discussion of the practice context and the impact on the organisation, service users and workers.	Inadequate or inappropriate discussion of the practice context and the impact on the organisation, service users and workers.
Identifies dominant constructs about client group/s and the problems/issues experienced, and analyses how these impact service users and influence the use of power and organisational responses in this context.          (  /5 marks)	Advanced understanding of the impact of dominant constructs on service users, organisational responses and the use of power in this context.	Very good understanding of the impact of dominant constructs on service users, organisational responses and the use of power in this context	Good understanding of the impact of dominant constructs on service users, organisational responses and the use of power in this context	Adequate or basic understanding of the impact of dominant constructs on service users, organisational responses and the use of power in this context	Inadequate or inappropriate understanding of the impact of dominant constructs on service users, organisational responses and the use of power in this context
Analyses the social work practice purpose in the field placement context and considers the theory, values, methods and skills utilised        (  /5 marks)	Advanced understanding of social work practice in the field placement agency.	Very good understanding of social work practice in the field placement agency.	Good understanding of social work practice in the field placement agency.	Adequate or Basic understanding of social work practice in the field placement agency.	Inadequate or inappropriate understanding of social work practice in the field placement agency.
Identifies gaps between espoused values, theory and practice, and strategies to initiate social work change processes in this context          (5 marks)	Advanced analysis of gaps between espoused values, theory and practice and initiate change processes.	Very good analysis of gaps between espoused values, theory and practice and initiate change processes.	Good analysis of gaps between espoused values, theory and practice and change processes.	Basic analysis of gaps between espoused values, theory and practice and change processes.	Inadequate or inappropriate analysis of gaps between espoused values, theory and practice and change processes.
Demonstrates ability to produce a well-written analysis with synthesis and integration of literature, theory, knowledge and skills showing appropriate grammar, spelling and referencing (Harvard) within the word limit. ( /5 marks)	Outstanding level of written expression with evidence of superior critical analysis skills and widely researched concepts sourced from credible literature. No grammatical, spelling or referencing errors. Within the word limit.	Very good level of written expression with evidence of substantial critical analysis skills and widely researched concepts sourced from credible literature. Grammatical, spelling and referencing accuracy. Within the word limit.	Sound written expression with evidence of good critical analysis skills and a broad range of literature utilised. Minor grammatical, spelling and referencing errors. Within the word limit.	Basic level of written expression with acceptable grammar and spelling, and basic level of referencing. Within the word limit. Evidence of adequate or basic analysis and key literature utilised.	Poorly written with inaccuracies in grammar and spelling and poor referencing. Has not remained within the word limit. Inadequate or inappropriate analysis demonstrated with only minimal or insufficient research.

Reflection and evaluation of our responses to various practice situations on field placement can become critical learning junctures incorporated into our practice framework. This assessment provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate your critical reflective and reflexive practice by identifying new understandings and knowledge from your involvement in a direct practice experience and how it will inform your future practice and developing practice framework.

Instructions

Using a two-stage model adapted from the Fook & Gardner (2007) and Brookfield (2017) frameworks, you are required to critically reflect on an experience of significance/importance that occurred in direct practice on your field placement or in your work in human services. The experience should be one you hope to understand or learn more about. When choosing an experience, you need to; consider whether it will facilitate your learning, anticipate the potential level of vulnerability you may encounter, and protect the confidentiality and privacy of all those involved (Fook & Gardner 2007, p. 78). You are advised to revise the critically reflective study module and resources and contact the unit coordinator if you have any questions about choosing an experience. You are required to de-identify and protect the privacy of any persons referred to in your reflective practice.

Stage 1 – Deconstruction

Deconstruction involves exploring the role of society, culture and beliefs have played in shaping our practice experience (Fook & Gardner 2007). It also necessitates reflexivity to identify and understand the influence of our assumptions, beliefs and values and use of self on practice (Fook & Gardner 2007).

    a) Exploring your experience

Writing in the first person, use the framework and questions adapted from Fook & Gardner (2007) and Gardner (2014) to write a brief description about what happened, your reactions, its meaning and the context of the experience.

• Experience - What was the experience? What happened?
• Reactions - How did you react? How did you feel? What were you thinking? What did you do? How did you influence the situation?
• Meaning - Why was the experience important/significant to you? What did it mean to you? What does your account and the language used tell you about your underlying values, theories, assumptions? Does the experience highlight any gaps or contradictions in how you planned to practice (espoused theory and values) and your practice (theories in action)?
• Context - What is the background of this experience? How did your history and social context influence your experience? How did the organisational culture influence it? How did the society in which you live influence it? How was power experienced by those involved? (Fook & Gardner 2007; Gardner 2014)

    b) Exploring other perspectives

This step, adapted from Brookfield's (2017) four lenses of critical reflection, aims to facilitate the exploration of other perspectives to help you identify and examine assumptions influencing your experience and practice. While optional, you are encouraged to explore your experience in supervision or with a ‘critical friend’ (Fook & Gardner 2007), such as a student peer in this unit familiar with the critical reflection model. Identifying influences and assumptions and other perspectives can be ‘unsettling’; therefore, a private space where you feel comfortable to engage in this process is recommended. Your supervisor or critical friend's role is not to problem solve or offer advice, but to support you in gaining greater understanding and learning from the experience (Fook & Gardner 2007).

• Client or x’s eyes - How do you think the client or x (person/s involved) saw or understood what happened? How do you think they saw your reaction and responses? What may have influenced their responses?

• Supervisor’s eyes - What feedback did you receive from your supervisor about the situation? If you did not share the experience in supervision, how do you imagine your supervisor would see the situation? What do you think has influenced their view?

• Personal - What personal experiences of learning influenced your views and response to the situation?

• Theory - What theory and literature have you considered? Identify relevant theory or literature that could make sense of the situation or provide another view. (Brookfield 2017; Bassot 2020)

Stage 2 – Reconstruction

This stage of Fook & Gardner's model (2007) is focused on change, requiring you to consider how your new understandings about your experience will inform your future practice and developing practice framework.

• What does your experience tell you about your espoused values and theories and those in action?
• Is this ok or not ok with you? If not, why not? If so, why?
• What other theories and perspectives might be useful? How do these perspectives and theories shape how you now see the experience? How do these theories and perspectives understand power relations in practice?
• How do your new understandings of the experience inform a different way of responding? What are the anticipated consequences and hopes for this new way of working?
• What values, theoretical approaches, skills and strategies will you utilise or seek to develop to proceed with this new approach?
• Are there any opportunities for 'broader-level collective' change? If so, what action could you take? To initiate change, who would you try to influence or involve? (Fook & Gardner 2007; Gardner 2014)

Weighting

50%

Word Limit

2000 words

Literature and references

In this assessment, use at least eight contemporary references to support your discussion. You may also use seminal scholarly literature where relevant. Suitable references include peer-reviewed journal articles as well as textbooks and credible websites. When sourcing information, consider the five elements of a quality reference: currency, authority, relevance, objectivity, and coverage. Grey literature sourced from the internet must be from reputable websites such as government, university, or peak professional and national bodies, e.g. the AASW.

Requirements

• Use a conventional and legible size 12 font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, with 1.5 line spacing and 2.54cm page margins (standard pre-set margin in Microsoft Word). · Include page numbers on each page in a footer.
• A combination of the first-person and third-person perspectives. The first-person is to be used when describing your experience; however, the third-person perspective is required when analysing the relevance of theory and literature for understanding the situation.
• Use formal academic language.
• Use the Harvard Referencing Guide. The Academic Learning Centre has an online Harvard Guide.
• The word count is considered from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the conclusion. The word count excludes the reference list but includes in-text references and direct quotations.

Resources

• You can use unit provided materials and other credible sources (e.g. journal articles, books, grey literature ) to reference your argument. The quality and credibility of your sources are important.
• We recommend that you access your discipline-specific library guide: the Social Work and Community Services Guide. ·
• For information on academic communication, please go to the Academic Learning Centre Moodle site. The Academic Communication section has many helpful resources, including information for students with English as a second language.
• Submit a draft before the due date to review your Turnitin Similarity Score before making a final submission. Instructions are available here.

References

Bassot, B 2020, The Reflective Journal, Macmillan Education Limited, London.

Brookfield, S 2017, Becoming a critically reflective teacher, John Wiley & Sons Inc, US.

Fook, J & Gardner F 2007, Practising critical reflection: a resource handbook, McGraw-Hill Education, UK.

Gardner, F 2014, Being critically reflective, Springer Nature Limited, UK.