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SOWK28005 - Social Work Field Education 1

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Social Work Field Education 1 offers a practice-focused learning experience that allows you to integrate theory and practice and develop a sense of professional identity and proficiency by applying your classroom-based learning in a supervised social work setting. Throughout this placement, you will develop your direct practice skills and critically reflect on your use of self to gain insight into the collaborative nature of social work. Additionally, you will deepen your knowledge of the interface between policy, law, ethics, and practice in your agency setting and consider the organisational and legal constraints placed on the social work role in this context. Critical reflection is a key component of this unit and social work practice, facilitating the ongoing evaluation and improvement of practice. You will engage in regular reflective exercises to assess your interactions, decisions, and the impact of your practice. This process will deepen your understanding of your professional identity and enhance your work with diverse communities. This placement is the first of two compulsory Field Education placements. Students are required to attend the placement for a total of 500 hours.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 18
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.375
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisites:
SOWK28001 Understanding Social Work: Foundational Knowledge and Skills for Practice
SOWK28002 First Nations Knowledge and Social Work Practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
SOWK28003 Psychosocial Health and Wellbeing Across the Lifespan
SOWK28004 Intersectionality and Social Justice in Social Work Practice
 
Corequisite:
SOWK29001 Ethical and Legal Issues in Practice
 
 
 
 
 

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2025

There are no availabilities for this unit on or after Term 3 - 2025

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 18-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 37.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 450 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 0%
2. Written Assessment 0%
3. Presentation 0%

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

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Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Develop and demonstrate the integration of professional social work knowledge, skills, and values within the placement context aligning with the AASW Code of Ethics, AASW Practice Standards, and organisational context for practice, including adherence to legislative and policy frameworks.
  2. Reflect on your professional practice, incorporating self-care strategies and use of self in the organisational context along with problem-solving skills and cross-cultural competency.
  3. Create opportunities to develop your skills in assessing service users’ needs and evaluating appropriate intervention strategies using social work theoretical frameworks and ethics.
  4. Construct a professional practice framework relevant to your emerging social work practice and demonstrate its application in various contexts.

Field Education is a key component of a social work course. All students studying social work must complete 1000 hours of placement time in an agency over two placements as required by the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS) (2023). This unit is the first placement for students within a human service or social work organisation.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Presentation • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Knowledge • • • •
2 - Communication • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • •
5 - Self-management • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • •
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8