EPN-V2

SBV4000 Knowledge perspectives in child welfare Course description

Course name in Norwegian
Kunnskapsperspektiver i barnevern
Study programme
Master Programme in Applied Social Sciences - Study Option International Social Welfare and Health Policy
Master Programme in Applied Social Sciences - Programme Option Child Care, part-time
Master Programme in Applied Social Sciences - Programme Option Child Care
Master in Programme Applied Social Sciences
Master Programme in Applied Social Sciences
Elective modules, Master Programme in Applied Social Sciences
Master Programme in Applied Social Sciences - Programme Option Social Work, part-time
Master Programme in Applied Social Sciences - Programme Option Social Work
Weight
10.0 ECTS
Year of study
2020/2021
Programme description
Course history

Introduction

Child welfare is a social field whose practice is based on implicit and explicit theories drawn from many different disciplines. It is a normative area, and a critical basis is required for assessing what knowledge is valid and relevant to practice in the field. Ways of understanding children and their status in society form important premises for the child welfare service's activities at all times. An aim for the course is to develop critical and analytical thinking of child welfare services knowledge base and activities.

Required preliminary courses

None.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student has

  • in-depth knowledge of key theoretical understanding of children and childhood, including child constructions that address children as participants in daily life and in the child welfare service¿s professional practice
  • insight into the importance of theoretical understanding for the practice in the field
  • knowledge of the importance of social class, ethnicity, age/generation and gender in the context of child welfare
  • knowledge of the methodological implications of the different theoretical interpretations

Skills

The student is capable of

  • analysing child welfare's implicit and explicit knowledge base.
  • analysing the phenomena related to child welfare
  • analysing and discussing child welfare phenomena with a basis in social science theory and social science perspectives

General competence

The student has

  • the necessary expertise to remain critical to new knowledge​

Content

Emnet behandler en rekke barnevernrelevante temaer, som familie/foreldreskap, sosial ulikhet/fattigdom, barns rettigheter, tidlig innsats, møte med minoriteter, og dokumentasjon, evidens og standardisering. Ulike perspektiver på disse temaene presenteres.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods vary between lectures given by lecturers and guest lecturers. Students will actively participate in teaching and group work.

Course requirements

Work requirements for groups are to make a summary and an assessment of a number of syllabus articles, equivalent to the number of students in the group. Syllabus articles will be distributed to groups. It is assumed that the group collaborates on the work requirement. The summaries of the syllabus articles should be submitted in Canvas, and will be available for the other students in the course. Approval of the work requirement by the course convener is required to sit the exam.

Assessment

7-days individual home exam on a set topic. A topic relevant to child welfare must be discussed in an analytical manner using the syllabus litterature and eventual other litterature. The duration of the exam is one week and the scope of the paper should be ten pages (+/- 10%).

Permitted exam materials and equipment

Alle hjelpemidler er tillatt så lenge regler for kildehenvisning følges.

Grading scale

A grade scale A-F.

Examiners

The exam is graded by an internal and an external examiner.

A random selection consisting of at least 25 % of the exam papers will be graded by both an internal and external examiner. This will inform the grading of the remaining exam papers.

Course contact person

Oddbjørg Skjær Ulvik