Unit information: Advanced Practice in Communication and Direct Work with Children in 2022/23

Unit name	Advanced Practice in Communication and Direct Work with Children
Unit code	SPOLM0026
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Dr. Vicky Sharley
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	N/A
School/department	School for Policy Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Unit Information

This unit is designed to support experienced practitioners to extend their knowledge and understanding of direct work and to encourage them to interact more directly with children and young people. It aims to:

• Enhance students’ theoretical and practical understanding of effective communication with children and young people (including disabled children with and/or those with different communication needs), their families and their carers,
• Appraise the evidence base for different therapeutic techniques and approaches, to develop an informed view of ‘what works’ to support best outcomes for children who have experienced different forms of harm
• Consider the significance of participatory and rights-based approaches to work with children and young people and their application to practice
• Understand the child/young person in context and explore children’s responses to experiences of trauma, separation and loss
• Promote students’ understanding of the impact on themselves and others of working with trauma through the process of critical reflection

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of the Unit, students should be able to:

• Synthesise and apply theory in practice to support direct work with children and young people
• Critically appraise different working methods and strategies and use professional judgement to apply these to enhance their work with children and young people
• Critically assess the use of therapeutic approaches with children and young people who have experienced different forms of harm
• Demonstrate critical awareness, and ability to judge the appropriate use, of participatory methods with children and young people
• Assist children and young people to express their needs, wishes and feelings and to understand and process difficult past experiences

How you will learn

Teaching will take place in 1.5 hour sessions, normally over a 3 day block with a further re-call day. The unit will combine lectures, seminar discussion, workshops and practical exercises

How you will be assessed

A critical and reflective assignment (3500-4000 words) analysing a piece of direct work undertaken by the student, supported by documentary evidence from the practice context; and Assessment through observation by an appropriate practice assessor of a relevant aspect of the student’s practice; this assessment will be, based on criteria linked to the Professional Capabilities Framework.

The assignment will be marked and graded. The observation of practice will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis; all practice-based elements of the assessment are must-pass but zero-weighted. Both pieces of work must be passed to gain the credit points for the Unit.

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. SPOLM0026).

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.