BV2400 Child protection in the welfare state - Preventive work Course description

This course concerns preventive, social pedagogy and health promotion work with children and young people in different local environments. It will provide insight into the importance of children and young people’s environments when growing up to their development and health, and address risk and protection factors. It also focuses in particular on the role of child welfare officers and their responsibility in preventive work in arenas such as kindergartens, schools and leisure activities. The cooperation between the child welfare service and preventive arenas is a main topic of the course. 

The interprofessional teaching programme ‘Communication with Children, Youth and their Families’ INTER1200 will be taught at the start of the course. See INTERACT’s website for a more detailed description of the content of INTER1200; https://www.oslomet.no/en/research/research-projects/interact

Language of instruction is Norwegian.

The student must have completed and passed the first year of the Bachelor Programme in Child Care and Welfare.

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• has broad knowledge of the child welfare officer’s role in preventive social pedagogy work with children and young people in arenas such as kindergartens, schools and leisure activities
• has knowledge of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in children and young people
• has broad knowledge of children and young people with social and emotional challenges and of the significance of risk and protection factors to children and young people’s health
• has knowledge of different perspectives on preventive and health-promoting work, including preventive perspectives on youth criminality, drugs and deviance
• has broad knowledge of how to cooperate with children and their parents/guardians in the child’s best interests
• has knowledge of how structural factors can affect children and young people's situation and conditions for upbringing
• has broad knowledge of different institutions’ areas of responsibility and inter-institutional cooperation, particularly cooperation between the child welfare service, schools and kindergartens
• has knowledge of creative and aesthetic methods and how these can contribute to children and young people’s mental and physical health
• has knowledge of innovative thinking and innovation processes in the context of child welfare work 
• can update their knowledge of health and social policy

Skills

The student

• can apply knowledge of preventive and health promotion work in arenas for children and young people
• can apply their knowledge and skills to communicate and cooperate with children and their parents/guardians in preventive work
• can use their knowledge and skills to initiate and follow up inter-agency and interprofessional cooperation, particularly cooperation with the child welfare service
• can apply relevant measures that help young people in difficult situations to be included in working life
• can employ activities that promote play, learning, inclusion, mastery and participation in arenas for children and young people
• can apply knowledge of children and young people’s digital everyday lives  

General competence

The student

• can apply knowledge from different disciplines and perspectives to professionally, ethically and critically reflect on their own role as a child welfare officer in preventive and health-promoting social pedagogy work
• can understand and reflect on the importance of an aesthetic approach in work with children and young people
• can understand and reflect on the connections between health, education and living conditions

The teaching takes place with in-person attendance on campus in the form of lectures, group work, self-study, written assignments and presentations in groups. A mini-practical training period is included in the course where students carry out creative and innovative activities in interaction with children and young people in different arenas.

The following coursework requirements/compulsory activities must have been approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework 1. Active participation in mini-practical training

The attendance requirement for compulsory teaching activities is 80%. If a student's absence exceeds 20%, a comprehensive coursework requirement is set to compensate. If a student's absence exceeds 40%, they lose the right to take the exam.

Each student is responsible for ensuring that their attendance is documented. The length of the teaching days will vary, and it is each student's own responsibility to stay informed about the teaching schedule.

The exam in the course is a written assignment based on project work in small groups.The assignment is set at the start of the course. The exam group will carry out a limited project assignment based on an issue in their practical training arena. Students are obliged to participate with equal contributions in the project assignment. If, during the work process, a disagreement arises in the group on this point, the matter must be taken up immediately with the supervisor and possibly passed on to the subject manager. If the requirement for equal participation is not met, this can be considered as "Not attended" and the student must wait until the following academic year to take the group exam in the subject.

The exam paper must be 15 pages long, (+/- 10%). Font and font size: Calibri 12-point. Line spacing 1.5. The approved citation style APA for assignments must be complied with.

The exam group who receive a fail grade are given one opportunity to submit an improved version of the projectassignment for assessment.

All aids are permitted as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Pass/fail.

All exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner.