Participatory Approaches to Social Work & Community Development (Basic Skills and Methods)

Annotation

Description Of the Study Unit

The aims of the study unit are that the student:

- is able to relate social and community development work to other practices aiming to address social exclusion

- is able to relate participatory approaches to adult social work to practices aiming to address social exclusion

- is able to articulate the relation between participatory social work and community development work and to formulate a concept of professional identity in social and community development work and diaconia

- is familiar with the basic concept of empowerment and is able to practice empowering methods

- knows how to use groups in professional work and is able to reflect on the experience of a group

The contents of the study unit include:

- Participatory methods of social and community development work

- Comparative critique of methods of social and community development work

- Professional identity

- Social security and income maintenance, as a factor in welfare, in relation to social and community development and diaconia (focus on Czech and their own/one other context)

- Empowerment

- Communication skills

- Personal and worker roles in groups

Process of the Study Unit

Week 8 .75 cr

Mag. Tony Addy (Responsible Teacher)

Lectures on community work and participatory social work

Mag. Tony Addy

Preparation for placement tasks, guidelines for assignments

Mag. Tony Addy (Responsible Teacher) & Ing. Romana Belová

Introduction to social security systems in the Czech Republic in comparison with other European countries.

Weeks 9 – 11 & 13 - 16

Community Work Assignment 2cr

Reading task related to national social security systems 1.25cr

Week 17

Mag. Tony Addy (Responsible Teacher)

Feedback on community work assignment – group work (included in the credits for the assignment)

Written Exam on basic understanding of income maintenance and Social Exclusion in two countries (included in the credits for the reading assignment)

Week 21

Mag. Nana Agapishvili 1cr

Group Work in social work (practical experience and reading preparation)