Applied Social Care (Part-Time) – BA

This module will help students develop their academic skills and a sense of autonomy in order to thrive in the third-level academic environment and beyond.

This module provides students with the awareness of the importance of the self when working with colleagues and service users. It explores the nature and principles of groups and group work and develops confidence in building effective working relationships with individuals and groups.

This module will introduce students to Social Care; to the historical context, key concepts of the domains of knowledge, regulatory requirements, legislative, ethical and practice and boundaries of the profession which are relevant to the social care profession.

The purpose of this module is to introduce social care students to the sources of Irish law, to explain to students the structure and practice of the administration of law in Ireland and to enable students to apply legal concepts and legal reasoning to a range of issues confronted in social care practice, with particular reference to personal constitutional rights, child protection and civil liability.

This module further develops student’s awareness of social care environments. It promotes a resilient, strength-led approach to social care environments and encourages students to acquire a theoretical frame of understanding. It introduces students to Children First 2017 including definitions and indicators of abuse, safe practice, mandatory reporting procedures and dealing with disclosure and report writing.

This module will introduce students to the concept of development, providing an in-depth understanding of the psychological development taking place in infancy, childhood and adolescence. Theories and perspectives on child and adolescent psychological development relating to an individual’s physical, cognitive,social, cultural and emotional development will be explored.

This module will provide experiential opportunities to gain specialist knowledge of the various forms of creative art and to explore and develop the student’s own creativity with reference to creativity theory. To provide the student with an introduction to creative drama and movement and its use in social care settings through theory, practicals and self-reflection.

This module aims to introduce the student to the key principles and practices in the social care setting. It focuses on programme planning, relationship building and behaviour that challenges in practice.

This module introduces the discipline of Sociology, its origins and development, key sociological concepts and approaches, the major theorists and theoretical perspectives, in order to facilitate the development of the sociological imagination, and a world view relevant to areas of social care practice.

This module provides students with an understanding of the concepts, values and core skills underpinning approaches to working for and with people with disabilities.

The purpose of this module is to familiarise social care students with the sources, concepts and regulatory framework of Irish family law and of human rights law. Specifically, the module aims to explain the law relating to families, cohabitants and children and to introduce students to the fundamentals of international human rights law.

This module is experiential in nature, and provides students with opportunities to develop therapeutic and counselling skills which will enable them to work more effectively and professionally with service users in social care practice. The module requires students to reflect on their practice of using these skills, while obtaining in-class peer and lecturer feedback. Students will be introduced to the person-centred approach as a model that enhances relationship-building between the social care worker and service user/client.

The aim of this module is to prepare the student for the first practice placement in a Social Care settings. The students wil be provided with a clear understanding of the roles and responsibility of the TUS practice placement team and placement documentation. The student will be supported in applying the Standards of Proficiencies into the day-to-day practice of Social Care.

The purpose of this module is to develop social care students’ understanding of the international and domestic law pertaining to children. It incorporates an examination of Ireland’s international legal obligations in this area arising under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and related international instruments, as well as examination of the Irish Constitution and the domestic legislative framework.

• The Interactional Approaches to Art module offers learners an opportunity to develop safe practice based on creative and recreational knowledge, abilities and teamwork based facilitation skills.
• The Drama module aims to facilitate the student in developing the skills needed to apply the creative arts (Drama and on a minor level recreation) in social care situations. Drawing on various forms of drama and drama therapy, the student will learn to analyse and critique drama as a form of therapy in the social care context.
• The recreation module, through research and assessing needs for practical participation and reflective work, it will provide the learner with knowledge and confidence to assess, plan, develop and deliver a recreation programme to mainstream and special needs groups in a safe environment.

The aim of this module is to provide the student with an opportunity to practice in a social care setting to develop their skills, knowledge and competencies for professional practice.

The aim of this module is to develop the student’s knowledge, understanding and application of the research process to enhance the evidence base of social care practice. The module introduces students to: research methodologies relevant to the field of social care; qualitative and quantitative techniques; ethical issues in research; research design; data analysis and doing research with vulnerable groups.

The purpose of this module is to familiarise students with the circumstances in which Social Care Professionals may be subject to liability in their professional capacity. It will address matters including professional liability, regulation and compliance, employment law, data protection law and whistleblowing legislation.

This module aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to work with and for people with disabilities across the lifespan using empowering person-centred and rights based approaches in their practice.

The aim of this module is to provide the students with opportunities to acquire skills and develop their knowledge in preparation for their second practice placement. The module will support students to reflect on their first practice placement learning and to develop their ability to critically reflect on their own current and future practice and their experience of engaging with the standards of proficiencies.

This module will provide students with an opportunity to explore the main features of a range of psychological problems, how psychological dysfunction occurs and the treatments and therapies available for successful management. The module addresses recent changes in approaches to mental health. These changes include the shift from a biologically dominated conception of mental distress to a biopsychosocial approach and the move from expert-led care to recovery orientated, partnership-based support. This module will equip students with the knowledge and understanding required for working with service users in mental and emotional distress.

This module provides a thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of modern management. It addresses the science of management in social care contexts, the exercise of appropriate judgement, and an awareness of ‘good practice’ in managerial and supervisory contexts.

The aim of this module is to provide the student with an opportunity to practice in a social care setting to develop their skills, knowledge and competencies for professional practice and build on their learning from the previous Placement.

The module will provide students with an opportunity to study atypical development with a specific focus on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The module will equip students with an appreciation and understanding of the varied and complex causal/risk factors of atypical development.The module will enable students to evaluate the effectiveness/efficacy of various interventions and educational supports based on research evidence. It will equip students with the basic knowledge required to understand the developmental needs of children and adolescents with certain emotional and/or behavioural problems.

The aim of this module is to further enhance students’ knowledge, skills and competencies in line with the Standard of Proficiency for Social Care Workers; to

• enable them to work effectively in various social care settings,
• encourage students to apply critical thinking and reflective practice within their interprofessional, supervisory and practice-based learning,
• explore methods and skills of identifying and responding to the various needs/issues encountered within the social care environment,
• be able to demonstrate an evidence-informed approach to determining appropriate assessments,
• analyse the importance of interprofessional & interagency collaborative practice,
• engage the students in group work, as well as examining the concept of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and a professional duty of care.

The aim of this module is to provide the students with opportunities to acquire skills and develop their knowledge in preparation for their third and final practice placement in a Social Care setting. The module will support students to reflect on their first and second practice placement learning and to develop their ability to critically reflect on their own current and future practice and their experience of engaging with the standards of proficiencies on both placements and in class.

This module will enable students to apply sociological and social policy perspectives to assess social service provision and social issues relevant to the role of the Social Care Worker.

• The Art module will further develop students understanding of how creative art and recreational approaches can be used safely in social care, through active creative and recreational facilitation, creative skills development, and creative theory.
• The emphasis of the Drama module will be on equipping students with the theoretical, learning and teaching theories, practical, safety, facilitating, evaluative and self-reflective skills needed to develop the use of facilitating drama group work in contemporary social care.
• In the Recreation module, students will develop a greater understanding of the role of recreation/creative approaches in social care work throughout this module, becoming more competent in practical research, delivery and management of activities with a variety of groups. Students will extend knowledge in the delivery of sporting, creative and recreational activities in the community and social care settings.

The aim of this module is to provide the student with a third opportunity to practice in a different social care setting to further develop their skills, knowledge and competencies for professional practice and build on their previous experience and consolidate learning from their first and second placements