SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY SLWK 201: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK Summer, 2011 Instructor: David

Axlyn McLeod, MSW, PhD student Office: (under renovation) Telephone: 501-240-3291(c) e-mail: mcleodda@vcu.edu Course Description: Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Systematic overview of the social work profession. Knowledge of the nature of social work, the fields of social work practice, target populations, overview of social work methods. Competencies and Practice Behaviors: Upon completion of this course, students will achieve a beginning level of skill in demonstrating the following competencies as evidenced by the related practice behaviors: 1. Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional practice (EPAS 2.1.2).

d. Make ethical decisions by applying standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. e. Apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled decisions.

2. Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments (EPAS 2.1.3).
f. Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and colleagues.

3.

Engage in diversity and difference in practice (EPAS 2.1.4)

g. Recognize the extent to which a cultures structures and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege and power. h. Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups. i. Recognize and communicate my understanding of the importance of difference in shaping life experiences.

4.

Advance human rights and social and economic justice (EPAS 2.1.5)
j. Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination.

Revised: Fall 2009

TEXT The required text for this course is: E. Segal, K. Gerdes, and S. Steiner. (2009). An Introduction to the Profession of Social Work. Brooks-Cole.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES 1. Individual Reflective Blogs: 40% of final grade The purpose of this required, and semester long, assignment is to encourage reflection, discussion, and interaction among students, in reference to topics related to the course. Your weekly completion the blog is mandatory. Blog requirements: Week 1 o Set up your own personal blog in the provided space in blackboard. Weeks 2 through 8 o You must complete a minimum of one personal blog posting, under your own reflective blog, commenting about your thoughts concerning the topics discussed in class for that week. You may comment about anything you please, as long as it is related to the content of the course, what you learned from the discussions, presentations, or activities of the week, and/or how you feel about the way the weeks content is related to the world you live in. o You must read blogs of your classmates and comment on at least two peoples blog posts in constructive and thoughtful ways. o Your blog posting for each week, and comments on classmates blogs for the week, must be posted NO LATER THAN 12-MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY NIGHTS! o You may feel free to write blog posts after this time, but you will not receive credit for the previous week for them. Evaluation 100% credit will be given to each blog posting that meets the above listed criteria.

2.

Quizzes 40% of final grade

There will be two quizzes given at designated dates and times listed on the syllabus. Each quiz will cover material from your texts, lectures, blogs, wikispace and classroom discussions. Make-up quizzes are not scheduled. 3. Wikispace Presentation 20% of final grade

Social workers perform a wide array of roles and advocate for change in the lives of individuals, and communities, in remarkably diverse ways. However, many times there are astonishingly limited conceptions, in the community, about what roles social workers play in the change process. In this assignment you will be presenting, to your classmates, external resources you have found that help to explain, and add to the understanding of the topic of the session. You will identify these resources using any of the tools that others in the community (who could be impacted by the services of a social worker) could use. You will save all the resources you locate in a collective Wikispace found in blackboard, so that the entire class has access to the work of others. Presentation requirements: o On the date of your presentation you will have already added your resources to the Wikispace, and you will pull it up in the classroom and present why the resources you found are helpful to the class. o Your resources can include, but are not limited to Videos (youtube) Links to Personal or private websites Blogs Government resources Professional organizations Anything else that you find helpful Text Attachments Documents ANYTHING else that you find helpful o This is a group project o You will be assigned to work in groups of five (6 total class sessions) o You will be randomly assigned to these groups o You will draw which session your groups will be presenting in Evaluation One half of your grade will be based on group members evaluating each other. The other half will be based on overall presentation creativity and applicability in assisting to understand the concepts of the session.

CLASS TIME BREAKDOWN 1. 40 minutes group presentations / discussion 2. 5 minute break 3. 40 minutes lecture /discussion 4. 5 minute break 5. 40 minutes guest speakers and activities 6. Final 30 minutes computer lab time Class times sessions may need to be rearranged on occasion, but the breakdown will typically include three 40-minute in-class sections, and one 30-minute lab time to complete online class components, per session.

METHOD OF EVALUATION Students are expected to complete the assigned readings as scheduled, to attend ALL CLASSES, and to participate in class discussion and other class activities. Grades will be computed as follows: 40% 40% 20% Final Grading Scale: 90-100 = A 80-89 = B 70-79 = C 60-69 = D Below 60 = F Two Quizzes @ 20% each Individual Reflective Blog Collective Wikispace Presentation

COURSE OUTLINE AND CLASS SCHEDULE

Date Readings May 23

Topic

Course Overview & Preparation for online based course requirements Social Work: A Helping Profession BSW Curriculum Overview:

Chapter 1

Guest speaker, Dr. Sanford Schwartz) May 25 A History of Social Welfare (I will present an example of an appropriate Wikispace Presentation for this topic) Chapter 2

May 30 June 1

NO CLASS ~ MEMORIAL DAY Theoretical Frameworks Generalist Practice Models for Social Work Social Work in the Public Welfare Domain* Chapter 4 Family & Children Issues* Chapter 7 Ch. 3, 5

June 6 June 8

June 13 Chapter 8 June 15 June 20 Chapter 14 June 22 13 June 27 Chapter 6 June 29 11,12 July 4 July 6 Chapter 9

Social Work with Elderly Clients* (guest speaker)

1st QUIZ Adult & Juvenile Justice Systems*

Mental Heath & Substance Abuse* Services (guest speaker) Social Work Values, Ethics & Diversity

Ch. 10,

SW Practice in School & Workplace* NO CLASS - 4th of July Health Care Issues (Special activity)

Ch.

July 11 July 13

Future Challenges / Review FINAL QUIZ

* Indicates classes that contain student group presentations

Summer Studies 2011 Calendar Classes do not meet Monday, May 30, or Monday, July 4. Class dates Number of weeks Classes start Special deadlines Last day for add/drop Last day to withdraw May 31 June 7 June 18 June 27 July 1 July 9 July 12 July 28 August 2 Classes end/final exams Jun 10 Jun 23 Jul 13 Jul 13 Jul 21 Aug 3 Jul 28 Aug 12 Aug 15

3 May 23 May 24 5 May 23 May 24 8 May 23 May 24 4.5 Jun 13 June 14 6 Jun 13 June 14 8 Jun 13 June 14 5 Jun 27 June 28 4.5 Jul 14 Jul 15 3 Jul 25 July 26 Exams are given on the last scheduled class day.

For classes that meet outside the sessions listed above, students may drop the class until the close of business on the day following the first day of a given class and receive a refund. The last day to withdraw from these classes is the midpoint of the class. There are no refunds in the summer for withdrawals. Exact deadlines are on the first floor of Grace Harris Hall, 1015 Floyd Ave. Students are responsible for meeting these deadlines. Disabilities Students with disabilities, who may need an accommodation to participate and maximize

learning in this course, should contact the instructor prior to the second class session. Consultation with the University's Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities is strongly recommended. Students in this course are expected to abide by the policies of the VCU Honor System. This policy is published annually in the University Resource Guide. What to Know and Do to Be Prepared for Emergencies at VCU 1. Sign up to receive VCU text messaging alerts (http://www.vcu.edu/alert/notify). Keep your information up-to-date. 2. Know the safe evacuation route from each of your classrooms. Emergency evacuation routes are posted in on-campus classrooms. 3. Listen for and follow instructions from VCU or other designated authorities. 4. Know where to go for additional emergency information (http://www.vcu.edu/alert). 5. Know the emergency phone number for the VCU Police (828-1234). Report suspicious activities and objects.

Admission Policy: Introduction to Social Work (SLWK 201), and Communication in the Helping Process (SLWK 230), are pre-professional courses intended to provide students with knowledge of social work and communication processes, as well as experience with the kinds of demands that are made upon socialworkers. For students to be admitted to the professional program, they must: l. attain Junior standing; 2. have a cumulative GPA of 2.50 on all hours previously obtained; 3. have a grade of "B" or above in Introduction to Social Work (SLWK 201), and Communication in the Helping Process (SLWK 230) 4. have completed all required General Education courses. An application for upper-level courses is available in the BSW Office, Room 107, Raleigh Building. Additional information regarding specific course requirements will be provided in class.