Course Title: Youth Work Field Education 2nd Year
Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Youth Work Field Education 2nd Year
Credit Points: 24.00
Terms
Course Code |
Campus |
Career |
School |
Learning Mode |
Teaching Period(s) |
HWSS2168 |
City Campus |
Undergraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 2 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 2 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 2 2011, Sem 2 2015, Sem 2 2016, Sem 2 2017, Sem 2 2018 |
HWSS2168 |
City Campus |
Undergraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Workplace |
Sem 1 2012, Sem 2 2012, Sem 1 2013, Sem 2 2013, Sem 1 2014, Sem 2 2014 |
Course Coordinator: A/Prof Debra Bateman
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 8267
Course Coordinator Email: debra.bateman@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: 37.02
Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
As a second year core course, students need to have satisfactorily completed the ‘Youth Work Ethics and Professionalism’ – or an equivalent -as this course relies on students having considered key ethical issues pertaining to youth work practice.
Course Description
This core second year Work Integrated Learning (WIL) course provides students with experiences designed to complement and reinforce other elements of the curriculum. Students can choose the focus they want for their WIL project from the following courses; ‘Youth Work, Ethics and Professionalism’ and ‘What is Youth Work?’ Details on the explicit learning objectives will be articulated in learning contracts developed between stakeholders including students, RMIT staff and youth sector agencies.
Students will complete a WIL project that provides opportunities to focus on ethics and professionalism (ie. to develop capacities for reflexive practice, for ethical analysis of youth work, for developing knowledge of ethical argument and clarity on their own values, to apply ideas from ethical traditions to youth related problems, to further develop understandings of theories and arguments around professionalism).
Students can also choose a WIL project builds on the learning objectives articulated in the course ‘What is Youth Work?’ In this case, learning contracts will specify learning experiences designed to develop their conceptual and practical understandings of contemporary youth work, while considering new value frameworks for contemporary youth work practice (ie. the credibility of arguments used to legitimate professional status; knowledge of contemporary neo-liberal discourses that inform practice; and how more recent theories might relate to new forms of youth work, and new understandings of young people).
Students will undertake a field based project or activity that provides learning experiences that develops their knowledge and skills relevant to which ever of the above options they elect. Students will have opportunities to apply their knowledge to practice, to use their time to further develop their understanding and insights into youth work ethics and professionalism and what the future of youth work is. More generally students will have opportunities to develop skills in working in teams and organisational settings. The project-based learning will also be designed generally to enhance student’s capacity for reflective and ethical practice.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
The course will produce outcomes identified in the generic graduate capabilities 1, 2, 3 and 4. It also provides learning activities designed to realize youth work specific graduate capabilities 1, 2, 3 and 4.
By the end of this course students will:
- Develop and reinforce the learning experiences and outcomes experienced in complimentary program courses
- Be able to conceptualise, develop and implement a youth-focused project
- Develop and practice key skills in working with young people
- Engage in contemporary debates about professionalism and ethics in respect to youth work
- Demonstrate an introductory knowledge of how ethical conduct is practiced is the workplace
Students will apply their knowledge to practice, develop insights into youth work ethics and professionalism and youth work identity.
Overview of Learning Activities
There are two key learning environments to this course which involve activities designed to support this process:
Fieldwork:
Students will engage in project work with a youth sector industry partner that involves the undertaking of contracted responsibilities and activities as negotiated between the student, the agency and the university.
Face to Face workshops:
Students will attend weekly workshops during the semester. These workshops are designed to assist students with their project work. Students will work on designing and then implementing a project. In addition, these workshops include a skills-based component, intended to assist students to develop the skills that they will be utilising while on placement. The two components of these workshops go hand-in-hand. The project provides a mechanism for students to practice their skills, and the skills are required for the projects to succeed.
To support the students’ progress through their placements, these workshops will also include small-group facilitation, conducted by the students, which are focused on student’s observations and experiences of good (and not so good) applications of key youth work skills and knowledge.
Overview of Learning Resources
Students will need to access to prescribed and recommended texts and information technology (computers, data bases).
Overview of Assessment
Assessments may include project development, analysis of project implementation and reflection on group facilitation. You will be assessed on how well you apply learning from the course, in developing each assessment piece. You will receive qualitative feedback on each assessment submission.
If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services for more information. Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions which are available for review online: http://www.rmit.edu.au/policies/academic#assessment