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Howdy SWM3  Team,
Just wondering if we have an ETA on the unit outline and if the structure discussed will inform the outline or vice versa?
Understanding the learning outcomes and what is required of us students prior to making a decision as to how these can be demonstrated via course structure will assist my personal contributions to the matter.
Apologies if I was too late to the party on this one, competing priorities with prac have only just allowed me to consider this unit.
Cheers.

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Thankful and curious, but feeling drained!

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Thankful and curious, but feeling drained!

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I echo what many others have said...I very much appreciate the time and effort that the teaching team are taking to try and create a unit that is engaging and anti-oppressive, however, I also feel that I am at my limit trying to juggle placement and everything else in my life and so have little headspace to give this the consideration it deserves.
I like that we are being given choice and I would like to see a combination of group and individual assessments. For group work I would prefer smaller groups, the same group throughout, and for us to be able to form these groups ourselves.
My key concerns are fairness in marking if we are being assessed in different ways (I acknowledge that Stephan has addressed this point) and having clear information from the start about exactly what is expected. Ambiguity around some things in the past has led to confusion and anxiety.
Thanks to all the teaching team for creating a space where we can have a say.

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Well you folks have been busy posting on our Padlet wall and we really appreciate your engagement here. We acknowledge that this is a difficult time for most of you, balancing placement pressure with other life issues. Also, the thought of having to contribute to the design and delivery of this unit is possibly daunting or overwhelming. I have made another short video to encourage more of you to contribute to this process as we work through what this unit will look like! We are committed to give you the best learning experience that we can. Please keep posting and let us know your point of view.

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Our cohort has grown really close and it hurts that many, including myself, seem to be, at best, surviving, per the chart below.  What can we do to ensure across the board that we're in the 'green'/ thriving rather than struggling or in crisis? 

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Our cohort has grown really close and it hurts that many, including myself, seem to be, at best, surviving, per the chart below.  What can we do to ensure across the board that we're in the 'green'/ thriving rather than struggling or in crisis? 

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I know we can choose what model we complete, but how will grading be fair when people are doing different assessments?

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It’s great to see this discussion and hear the very divergent views, which is what the broad field of social work is all about.  I’d also like to acknowledge the caution and concern expressed about the unknown and unknowing – uncertainty is uncomfortable.  I’m not planning to answer the specific comments, but I do want to reiterate our previous information that our proposal is to put forward some options for students to choose from, if and as they want. One of these options is for a staff designed and led standard unit.  The unit outline will be available well before the unit is due to start.  No student is going to be required to undertake an alternative approach if they don’t actively choose to.  Having experienced an alternative form in the past I am excited by the prospect – as an esteemed colleague stated ‘it is worth the struggle’.  And I hope there will be some amongst you who want to explore this alongside us.  But I will also participate in the standard lecture/workshop format of the unit for those who choose it.  Keep the comments coming – dialogue is the foundation of what we do.
Sue

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I love the idea of being able to design my own learning outcomes and assignments. However, I think it's absolutely crucial that other students have the choice to have a totally normal unit experience without any extra cognitive drain or confusion, because prac has been really tough for many of us.
I also think that for those of us designing our own stuff, we're going to need a great deal of very clear and easily understandable feedback, starting very early in the process and continuing throughout, to ensure the increased freedom of the experience doesn't end up just translating to increased confusion and stress.

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I appreciate the thought and care from the teaching staff about co designing the unit but I am just unsure what to do with this. We are in the last part of our placements and I just want to make it to the end and I don't feel I have the space or clarity to think of how the next unit will work. But examples of how this has been done previously would be helpful and I agree that there would need to be clear guidelines regarding assessment.

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A big takeaway from my placement experience is that I don't know what I don't know. I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to contribute any value to co-designing the unit if I don't have any prior knowledge of the subject. I would preferred a more traditional structured approach personally, or potentially integrate student led activities throughout the unit with the unit coordinators acting more as facilitators if the consensus is to move ahead with a co-designed approach. I would like more clarity around what is required of us in co-designing the unit please. :)

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I prefer structured learning via lectures with some group work

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I prefer structured learning via lectures with some group work

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I would prefer not to design the course and have lectures like the more traditional units. I thought the way that Stephan's unit (foundations last semester) was delivered worked really well. It was the right balance of a very clear structure (so we all knew what was expected) along with some group work following the rata family case study; this helped us to consolidate our learning, break up the lectures, and kept us interested.

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The idea of designing or even co-designing unit sounds like a complicated idea. I don’t know what I don’t know, so how would I construct my own unit? We are paying uni fees to be taught information required to make us successful social work practitioners. To design our own unit would require extra work and pressure that we don’t need right now! Especially when currently on placement. I admire that as staff you would like us to have a voice, but I think that giving too much room for us to decide gives more confusion, less clarity on what we need to do to pass, and less confidence that we are on the right track. As a 6 week intensive unit, I think having a clear course structure designed by the unit coordinators will help us to get through it with clarity and ensure we learn all the material and skills required to become competent in counselling.

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I could definitely get around the idea of a self-directed learning style as I believe it could be an enriching opportunity. However, I am nervous about the potential for miscommunication that could occur and have significant fears around how staff and students will remain on the same page to meet all requirements properly. As someone who has done a significant amount of counselling in my placement I’m very keen on strengthening my intervention and engagement skills as I’ve had to learn a lot of these skills “on the job” so far. Taking this into consideration, my anxiety would be quelled if there was some way to guarantee communication of unit requirements will be clear.

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Open to either option, with a preference for a more traditionally structured unit. My primary concern is how would it be made fair across the cohort if everyone is doing different things

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Sue mentioned that we had a cohort-designed unit previously. Could you please share their outline, along with the feedback from their form? I'd love to build on and learn from their learnings, instead of re-inventing the wheel. Either way, this feels like a way that the instructors are not taking responsibility for our learning.

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Poor communication of expectations. High anxiety.

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Poor communication of expectations. High anxiety.

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The way this unit is being approached seems to be partly a response to how Semester 1 was handled and the miscommunication/unclear expectations present in Methods 2. Trying to amend this problem by giving students more flexibility and freedom to determine their own course of study does not fix this issue. If anything, this approach makes it worse. The anxiety of having unclear assessment expectations looming over student's heads is not comforting. This creates an environment where the same problems from semester 1 will be repeated. Although students may have more "flexibility" to study their way, this creates even more opportunities for students and tutors to have different understandings of what is expected. As poor communication has been demonstrated (methods 2), how can we be assured that we won't have staff come back and say "That's not what was expected of you"? We acknowledge that there is benefit to this model of learning but as bridges have already been burned, this learning model now only fans flames of anxiety. Hearing it said that we are "stepping through processes together" is not comforting for many of us students to hear. Right now we need a reason to be able to trust again and this only reflects signs of instability and lack of planning.

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Like much feedback from others, I have reservations Re. Being expected to design our own unit + study for it. On top of full time placement and work with no break before this unit starts, having that pressure on us to also design our own unit is unfair. I am so so tired. As someone who also is not as “academic” as perhaps some of their peers, I don’t have the first clue about designing my own unit. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

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Stepping into the unknown...exciting yet scary!

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Stepping into the unknown...exciting yet scary!

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Hi everyone, working in Field Ed we know there are constant moments of uncertainty...stepping out of our comfort zone. I've enjoyed working with colleagues to explore the 'delivery' of a unit that is allowing for student voice, participatory and inclusive. How it will take shape is an unknown...much like our meetings thus far that have involved different voices and messiness! However, there is a great deal of learning to be had in such uncertain/uncontrolled spaces - really encourage you to share your ideas and embrace the process...beginning with posting on this padlet. Natalie

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The last thing I want to do after doing 450 hours of unpaid labour is to create my own assessments.

Given the course was already criticised by many for having vague marking guides last semester, this is a very odd choice.

I understand that people can choose what course model they would like to complete, however I can't see how this will foster fairness among the cohort.

Please don't make me your guinea pig.

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Honestly, we've been studying for months and now completing a long placement amongst managing our daily lives. I'm not sure about introducing a new, unknown component to an already stressful time. I understand the concept but how it was presented is too broad for me to be comfortable with it. I would personally like to stick with the original model please.

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“If the structure does not permit dialogue the structure must be changed”
― Paulo Freire

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Antonia's brief check-in about Methods 3

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What do you think about Padlet for the inclusion of voice?

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What do you think about Padlet for the inclusion of voice?

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Is an anonymous posting platform like padlet a helpful space for you to share your thoughts, reactions, responses to the proposed Methods 3 unit?

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Kaya folks, just my little piece of motivation to encourage you to get involved in the development of our Methods 3 unit! Let me know what you reckon.

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Click on the red circle ikon in the bottom right corner. Simply type your feedback and click publish. You can also respond directly to posts via the "reply" function. 

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Click on the red circle ikon in the bottom right corner. Simply type your feedback and click publish. You can also respond directly to posts via the "reply" function. 