BVV3050 Child protection, media and public sphere Course description

This course is about the relationship between the child welfare service and the media. The child welfare service is discussed much more often than before in both traditional and social media, and the pressure on staff and children/youth/parents has increased. The course focuses on all parts of the child welfare field (front-line, second line and preventive) and addresses both traditional editor-controlled media and social media. It includes both written and audio and visual media. The course comprises four main areas:

• The media’s coverage and presentation of the child welfare system
• The child welfare system’s use of media in its strategy to communicate with society 
• Children and young people’s use of social media
• Opportunities and challenges relating to child welfare staff’s use of social media in their work with children, young people and parents

The students will first be divided into smaller groups of 4-5 students and choose a topic that falls under one of the main areas above, which they will study in depth. The groups will work regularly on their topic in the course of the elective subject period and be supervised by the lecturers. 

The student must have completed and passed the second year of the Bachelor Programme in Child Care and Welfare Work or Bachelor's Programme in Social Work.

Knowledge

The student:

• has broad knowledge of children’s digital everyday lives
• has broad knowledge of discussions and presentations of the child welfare system in different media
• has knowledge of the child welfare service’s handling of the media and media strategies
• has knowledge of research and development work relating to child welfare and the media, and knowledge of relevant debates
• has digital literacy, including knowledge of digital security in work with children, young people and families

Skills

The student:

• can reflect on power relations, professionalism and their own role as a professional in connection with the use of social media/digital communication when working with children and families 
• has insight into the importance of social debate on the child welfare service in the media
• can use digital tools and relevant technology in work with children, young people and their families

General competence

The student:

• has insight into and can deal with ethical issues in the field of child welfare and media at the societal level and in their own service provision

Teaching methods vary between lectures by external and internal lecturers, plenum discussions and group work.

No coursework requirements/compulsory activities.

The exam in the course is an oral group exam. The groups present their in-depth topics orally to fellow students and lecturers and receive feedback on the presentation and content from both fellow students and lecturers. The group work is submitted as a product either in writing (3-4 pages excl. references) or in the form of a video/visual/text product (3-5 minutes). The product and presentation will be assessed together.   

In exceptional cases, students can take an individual exam.

Groups who fail or students who were absent from the exam for a valid reason can take a resit/rescheduled exam. In such case, they may submit one reworked version for grading.

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.