Social Work from the User's Perspective

1. Social Work from the User's Perspective Elective course, ECTS: 3 2nd semester, 1st year kristina.urbanc@pravo.hr

2. Course Description • Interactive classes based on principles of active learning and critical thinking, outreach practice based on the concept of service learning. • Concept of active learning and critical thinking in social work; • Principles, prerequisites and ethics of user involvement in social work practice; research and education; • Examples of good practice of users involvement into the theory and practice of social work; • Field visits to associations institutions ; • Writing reports in small groups, presenting reports from field visits; Conclusion and evaluation.

3. Plan of the course 2.3. 2017. • Introduction, course description, expectations and tasks. 9.3.2017. • No lecture on this date 16. 3.2017. • Principles, prerequisites and ethics of user involvement in social work practice research and education 23.3. 2017. • Preparation for field visit and group task. 30.3. 2017. • Examples of good practice of users involvement into the theory and practice of social work; • Field visits to associations institutions; 6.4. 2017. • Writing reports in small groups, presenting reports from field visits;Kolokvij. 13. 4. 2017. • Presenting reports from field visits; Results of exam. Conclusion and evaluation.

4. After successfully completing the course, students will: • Be able to define and understand principles of user's involvement and historical context and the importance of the user's perspective in social work • Be able to define and recognise ethics of participation in the decision-making process in social work and the level of respecting the user's perspective in examples from practice • Gain insight into the examples of users involvement in social work in other countries and be able to recognise and analyze examples of good practice • Gain insight and be able to recognise and analyze key obstacles to the users involvement in decision-making processes and creation of services in social work • Get direct experience of interviewing users about their expectations from social workesr and be able to analyze these experiences in group discussion • Recognise, analyze and evaluate their own experience and contribution in the process of learning

5. Expectations from students: Final grade is defined as a result of written exam, oral presentation from a field trip (gropup task) and essay (homework). • Group presentation (2 points) • Essay (homework) (2points) • Writen exam (10 points) Talking hours (previous appointment by mail): kristina.urbanc@pravo.hr • Wednesdays 11:00 - 13:00, room 13

6. Literature: Urbanc: Lectures Ljetopis socijalnog rada, (2009) 16, 2.(thematic issue on users involvement in social work practice) Urbanc, Kristina; Bratković, Daniela; Lisak, Natalija (2014.) Civil society organisations as a vital support for persons with disability in Croatia. // Socialno delo. 53 (2014) , 3; 85-96 Sewpaul, V. i Jones, D. (2004) Global standards for social work education and training. Social Work education, 23, 5, 493-513. Beresford, P., Branfield, F., Taylor, J., Brennan, M. Sartori, A., Lalani and Wise, G. (2006) Working together for Better Social Work Education. Social Work Education, 25, 4, 326-331