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Foundation Integrative Seminar II (SOWK 6158)

Integrate curriculum with experience.

SOWK 6158 Foundation Integrative Seminar II is the second of a three-part sequence that occurs consecutively across three terms. It is taken in conjunction with your practicum. In this course, you will integrate the knowledge, skills and values you will have learned in foundation courses with the experiences and observations gained through your field education.

Course Description

You will come to understand your field placement agency’s mission, goals, objectives, organizational structure, sources of funding and their operating budget. You will see how this organization relates to and interacts with other agencies within the overall social welfare system, and you will be able to identify changes in your field placement setting that could improve services to its clients. As you work directly with social policies that affect your clients and influence the activities of your field placement setting, you will examine how and why these policies are formulated and change over time. Engaging and effectively communicating with clients are among the most important skills a social worker can possess. You will learn to tell how affective and cognitive responses during the interview impact the overall interviewing process, and you will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of your micro-interviewing skills. Your future profession is driven by the principles of the National Association of Social Workers’ Standards for Cultural Competency. Working in the field, you will put these standards into action as you experience how minority status can influence client experiences with human service agencies. You will examine how your field placement agency addresses the needs and concerns of diverse clients and how your own values and beliefs can affect your relationships with people who are different from you.

Sample Learning Exercise

You will interview a client and fully document the process, including orienting information, verbatim dialogue, an analysis of the interview and a social service plan/intervention plan.

Course Topics

Throughout the course, you will focus on select core topics or themes. Sample topics are listed below and are subject to change based on the instructor.

  • The Agency Context of Practice
  • The Social Policy Context of Practice
  • Assessing Practice Skills
  • Diversity and Cultural Competency

Learning Outcomes

Through SOWK 6158, you will gain firsthand experience specific to professional social work identity, values and ethics, diversity, human rights, social and economic justice, and cultural competence with emphasis on Hispanic families and children.

  • Know the current evidence-based research on the client population served by your field placement agency.
  • Integrate mezzo and macro concepts and theories learned in the classroom with practice at the field education site.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of culturally competent practice.
  • Use effective oral and written communication skills with multiple constituencies at various levels of social work practice.
  • Recognize ethical dilemmas and knowledge frameworks to resolve those dilemmas.

Learn More About Helping Others

In SOWK 6158, you will incorporate field experience into your understanding of social work. To learn more about this course or any other course in the online Master of Social Work from Our Lady of the Lake University, call 855-275-1082 to speak with an admissions advisor right away, or you can request more information.

The content presented on this page is representative information for example purposes and is subject to change as course and student needs change over time.

Programs that include this course