Study Guide

Objective

The students will be able to:
• know how to work in a responsible manner and follow the regulations of the work life
• develop a personal understanding of professional identity
• identify the placement context in the social service system
• improve their spoken and written Finnish skills in practice
• apply their skills in professional communication
• apply the legislation on the status and rights of social welfare clients

Content

Contents:
• Work life regulations
• Professional identity and practice
• Social service system in Finland
• Practicing Finnish in a placement context
• Professional communication
• Client-oriented approach, client's right to good treatment
• Confidentiality, data protection and information security

Teaching methods

Contents:
Work life regulations
Professional identity and practice
Social services
Practicing Finnish in a placement context
Professional Communication
The 5-week placement will take place in social services, community work, youth work or in the field of early education. The duration of the placement is 7 hours/day and 35 hours/week. The placement places will be provided by teachers. If the students finds a placement place by him-/herself it should be approved by the teacher well in advance.
The main target of the placement is to practice professional communication with service users and if the student is not fluent in Finnish improve his or her Finnish skills.

Student workload

The 5-week placement will take place in social services, community work, youth work or in the field of early education. The duration of the placement is 7 hours/day and 35 hours/week. The placement places will be provided by teachers. If the students finds a placement place by him-/herself it should be approved by the teacher well in advance

Content scheduling

The module consists of introduction to placement + practical placement (6 cr) and a reflective writing task + a reflective workshop (1 cr). The placement is carried out in some social service, youth work or community work organisation
The student is asked to take minimum 2 photographs during his/her placement according to the following instructions:
Take the first picture during the first days of your placement.
What are your feelings during the first day of your placement? What aspects do you pay attention to in your placement place? What puzzles you? What is strange and surprising? What makes you happy? What are your expectations and goals for the placement?
Take the second picture at the end of your placement.
What are your feelings at the end of the placement? What aspects do you pay attention to in your placement place? What aspects have turned from strange to familiar? What still puzzles you? What makes you happy? How did you reach your goals and how were your expectations full filled?
Write a story of your "journey" in your placement place, a story where the first picture serves as a starting point for your journey and the second picture as an end to your itinerary.
What was your placement journey like? The written text should be max. 3 pages. The teachers may want to use your narratives and pictures as research material. (anonymously). Please, state clearly if you do not want your text to be used for research purposes

Further information

It is possible to apply for RPL if the student has another degree in the field of social and/or health care and if the studies have contained similar placements or if the student has worked in a field as a professional. It is important that the goals of the placement are met when applyong for RPL.

Evaluation scale

0-5

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

pass-resubmitted