Learning objectives
The class aims to provide students with:
a) Training methods suitable for:
Connecting direct experience in the social service field with the elements that characterize social service in the different operational contexts.
Knowing and understanding the organizational contexts of social service and how the professional social worker operates in them.
Conducing a critical analysis on the learned theory.
b) Knowledge and understanding applied to develop:
Reflective self-observation skills.
Professional observation skills.
c) Autonomy of judgment to:
Test the application of specific operational tools.
Recognize the methodological aspects in the professional practice.
d) Communication skills:
In the relationship with the user: acquire and consolidate skills and techniques to independently conduct a social service interview and to the taking charge of a case in relation to the context and the territory.
In the relationship with a multi-professional equipe: acquire the ability to relate with the various professional figures, role identity and multi-professional integration.
e) Ability to learn and reflect on experience:
Develop the ability to self-analyze one's actions in the context of practical experience in the field.
Ability to join together theories and practical action.
Prerequisites
Course unit content
The course is configured as a real learning laboratory through the experimentation of the social worker’s work tools.
The first part of the course includes the discussion of elements of professional methodology applied to basic social work, a theoretical presentation of the contents planned to provide students with a useful reference framework both in the internship and in the professional activity. Then, each content will be tested in practice either in the classroom and during the internship.
Full programme
Extended program
The areas of social work: People, context, territory, institution.
Welcoming and listening: The skills of the social worker
Interviewing, taking charge and case management in the social work :
the strategies for conducting an interview
the methodological process
interviewes in various contexts and with different types of users
questions, tools and techniques in relation to multiple professional situations
handle difficulties in communications with users
From the person to the territory, the network work:
definition of the concept of network
strategies for the activation of formal and informal networks
supporting, guiding, easing and orientating network working
The expert in the institution:
Knowing the service
Group working
The integration of professional figures
The collection and drafting of documents
Evaluation and self-evaluation as an opportunity of mastering professional knowledge
Work on projects with weak subjects
Bibliography
M. T. Zini, S. Miodini Il colloquio di aiuto Carrocii Faber, Milano, luglio 2020
E. Allegri, P. Palmieri, F. Zucca Il colloquio nel servizio sociale Carrocci Faber, Roma ottobre 2019
F. Mantovani, Laboratorio di guida al tirocinio in Servizio Sociale, in Politiche e servizi sociali, ed. Franco Angeli, Milano 2018
LESSON SLIDES AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS
Teaching methods
The class is organized in a series of face-to-face lectures, each divided into a theoretical and a practical part. During the latter students will challenge themselves through practical experience.
In particular, the class consists of:
tutorial sessions that prepare the student for the practical work;
exercises and simulations in which technical, relational and methodological skills are developed in a protected situation, before or during experience in real contexts
Exercises, essays and in-depth analysis
analysis of cases presented by students themselves
Moreover, the course's aim is to get the student closer to the reality of work in both public and private social services, in which the social worker operates. Therefore meetings with professionals are planned, both within services and in the classroom.
During the class the students will be divided into small groups sorted by geographical origin or interests. The groups will be set by the students themselves.
Each group will be asked to present a case or a working situation according to an outline that will be presented in the classroom. The students will be asked to comment, give suggestions and ask questions according to the TAG (Tell Ask Give) model of active learning.
Assessment methods and criteria
Learning verification
The student will be required to produce a descriptive and evaluative report of the internship experience and to connect this to the topics covered during the class, according to a model that will be provided during the lessons.
The achievement of the expected results will be verified through an oral exam which will cover the entire program.
The exam aims to:
- verify knowledge
- asses the ability to apply knowledge and understanding and to articulate a reasoning based on the logical connection of the concepts learned.
The answers will be evaluated according to the following criteria: relevance of the answer, ability to synthesize, clarity in presentation and grammatical correctness (syntactic and lexical).
Other information
Other recommended texts
G. Pieroni, M. Dal Pra Ponticelli Introduzione al servizio sociale, Parte terza, Roma 2019
M. Tognetti Bordogna Il tirocinio come pratica situata, in Politiche e servizi sociali, ed. Franco Angeli, Milano 2015
