Unit information: Leadership and Management in Social Work in 2022/23

Unit name	Leadership and Management in Social Work
Unit code	SPOLM0029
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Dr. Mim Cartwright
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	N/A
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	N/A
Units you may not take alongside this one
School/department	School for Policy Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Unit Information

The Unit is aimed at team managers within local authority children’s services and other social work staff within children’s services who provide professional supervision and/or are working towards taking on management responsibilities. It is designed to:

• Develop students’ understanding of leadership and management in social care services for children and families, and of the factors that support effective team work
• Examine best practice in relation to professional supervision
• Support the development and improvement of leadership and management skills
• Explore current theoretical ideas about innovation and change management, and their application to practice
• Promote reflective practice and professional/organisational learning
• Critically consider relevant current research knowledge to support ethical decision-making in complex childcare practice
• Contribute to personal and professional development of both new and experienced team managers and supervisors

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theories of management and leadership and relate these to their professional context
2. Critically evaluate different approaches to professional supervision and organise and implement appropriate supervision strategies
3. Critically appraise theories of organisational change and their application to practice
4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of factors that build and sustain effective team work
5. Critically reflect on the application of social work values within a management role

How you will learn

Individual supervision with students to discuss their planning and learning (a minimum of three sessions). Each session will focus on navigating the course materials available and familiarisation with the assignment, discussing the learning materials and reading that this student has undertaken and making links to/reflecting on progress with their assignment.

How you will be assessed

Assessment of the Unit will take place through:

• A critical and reflective assignment (4000 words) analysing a small change project undertaken in the workplace. Confirmation of the work undertaken will be required from a suitably qualified practice assessor.

This assessment addresses all intended learning outcomes

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SPOLM0029).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.