SWB307 Critical Youth Work Practice

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

This unit focuses on a wide range of practice arenas relevant to work in services for young people. Increasingly professionals working with young people or in agencies concerned with or impacting on young people require expertise about specific issues and practice responses. This expertise may be related to a particular professional role (eg policy analyst and advocate), the orientation or framework employed by the funding program or service (eg early intervention or prevention), or particular practice approaches that respond to issues/needs that may be impacting on young people who constitute the target group (eg mental health, drug use, juvenile offending). This unit will engage students in developing a critical youth work practice framework, supported by engaging with critical youth work theories and input from youth work practitioners. 

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Identify, discuss and analyse a range of specific practice areas in contemporary youth practice, in terms of the knowledge, skills and attributes required for critical and reflective practice.
2. Identify and discuss the legal and ethical dimensions of young people's situations and articulate practice responses
3. Apply critical practice principles and frameworks to scenarios involving young people.

Content

Learning Approaches

Experienced practitioners from youth services have been invited to share their insights on practice for a number of the workshops. This support from the field is a valuable way for you to be exposed to contemporary practice issues, ideas and realities. The tutorial on these weeks will collaboratively explore various dimensions of practice relevant to the week's topic. You will engage with case studies on the Canvas site for the unit as a way of exploring various dimensions of practice.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Each workshop will include a question and answer period during which you are invited to ask questions about the unit content and assessment tasks.
Assessments are formative and summative. General feedback will be provided to students via the unit homepage. Specific feedback will be provided to individually to students for each assessment task.
You are also strongly advised to email the lecturer or to utilise the consultation times to raise any concerns or questions you have.

Assessment

Overview

This unit is designed to orient you to youth services practice in a holistic, critical and informed way. The assessment is designed to assist you to develop an in-depth appreciation of at least one field within youth services, as well as develop the capacity to respond to the multidimensional issues that young people accessing support often experience. The unit will support you in considering the links between critical theory and practice in developing your own critical youth work practice framework.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Youth Service Practice Report

You will perform the role of a social worker and individually prepare an evidence-based practice report. This report will require you to identify relevant issues and approaches to youth work and respond to these issues via specific practice approaches. You will prepare the report on behalf of a youth work team, and it will be submitted hypothetically to a youth work organisation. A list of practice approaches will be provided and will reflect topics discussed in lectures. The submission will draw upon relevant contemporary literature, include assessment of the efficacy of different approaches, and adopt a critical social work perspective.

This report provides a real-world learning experience, including undertaking a social work role, interactions with audience, organisations and advocacy through developing a youth work practice report. 

This assignment is eligible for the 48 hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Assessment: Case Study Response and Practice Framework Reflection

Assuming the role of a youth social worker, you will produce a detailed case study response and a critical practice framework reflection. Both of these sections will adopt a critical social work perspective. Three case studies will be provided one week prior to the assessment due date in order to mimic real-world practice. You will need to choose a specific case study for this assessment. This assessment is undertaken in two parts, which are both due on the same date: 

Part A: Case Study Response (25%)  

In your assumed health social worker role, undertake an in-depth written case analysis of a case study, guided by questions that are provided.   

Part B: Critical Practice Framework Reflection (25%) 

You will identify aspects of your critical youth work practice framework that have informed the responses in your chosen case study and construct a written critical reflection demonstrating the use of their practice framework in responding to the case. The assessment is authentic as it mirrors case planning that occurs within youth work practice settings.  

This assignment is eligible for the 48 hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Other

You are expected to read widely from provided references, materials placed in QUT Readings accessed through the Canvas site, materials placed on Course Reserve of Kelvin Grove library, and other relevant sources.

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no unusual risk management issues associated with this unit. 

Course Learning Outcomes

SW04 Bachelor of Social Work

1. Critique and apply coherent theoretical, practical and contextually relevant social work knowledge, skills and values, and cultivate a commitment toward meeting diverse clients and community needs. [Knowledge, Practice, Values and Disposition]
   Relates to: Case Study Response and Practice Framework Reflection
2. Construct and implement strategies for engaging in critical thinking and decision-making, utilising advanced research knowledge and skills to inform culturally safe practice, and promote social justice from diverse perspectives. [Practice, Knowledge, Values and Disposition]
   Relates to: Youth Service Practice Report, Case Study Response and Practice Framework Reflection
3. Access, evaluate, and utilise relevant social work information that informs and assists in intra- and inter-professional communication in a range of contexts, through effective oral, written and digital interactions. [Practice, Knowledge]
   Relates to: Case Study Response and Practice Framework Reflection
4. Design a plan of action for working within socially progressive, anti-oppressive, culturally safe and ethical practice, that embody an autonomous and collaborative evidence-based orientation to social work, integral to the standards of professional social work practice. [Values and Disposition, Practice]
   Relates to: Youth Service Practice Report, Case Study Response and Practice Framework Reflection
5. Critically examine tenets of diversity and diverse perspectives in social work, and advocate for a socially just society and the promotion of human dignity that reflect different social, political, cultural and historical circumstances, on the beliefs, values and aspirations of various groups, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. [Values and Disposition, Knowledge, Practice]
   Relates to: Youth Service Practice Report, Case Study Response and Practice Framework Reflection