Unit rationale, description and aim

Social workers engage and facilitate change with individuals who are experiencing complex issues in their lives, requiring effective and sensitive communication skills. In this unit, students are introduced to the social work process that includes engagement, assessment, planning, intervention and review and to practice theory and frameworks for practice with individuals. Students are also encouraged to develop interpersonal communication skills through experiential learning. Ethical principles and values that underpin social work practice with individuals are explored through examples of ethical issues that confront practitioners. The aim of this unit is to prepare students for social work practice with individuals in a way that is informed by social work values, ethics, knowledge and skills.

2026 10

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  • Term Mode
  • Semester 1Campus Attendance
  • Term Mode
  • Semester 1Campus Attendance

Prerequisites

SWTP110 Professional Communication Skills in Social Work

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Explain social work processes, models and framewor...

Learning Outcome 01

Explain social work processes, models and frameworks for practice with individuals, including those from diverse and historically marginalised communities
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC9

Demonstrate effective written, verbal and non-verb...

Learning Outcome 02

Demonstrate effective written, verbal and non-verbal interpersonal communication skills with individuals, including those from diverse and historically marginalised communities
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC3, GC9, GC11, GC12

Demonstrate social work processes and practice ski...

Learning Outcome 03

Demonstrate social work processes and practice skills including engagement, assessment, planning, intervention and review.
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC2, GC4, GC7, GC8

Critically reflect on the influence of personal va...

Learning Outcome 04

Critically reflect on the influence of personal values, professional values and ethics in social work practice with individuals
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC6, GC7, GC8

Content

Topics will include: 

Social Work Processes in Working with Individuals 

  • Cultural and diversity issues
  • Critical reflection and reflective practice
  • The influence of personal values on practice
  • Self-care 

 

Social Work Practice Skills 

  • Advanced Interpersonal communication skills  
  • Communication skills with individuals from diverse and historically marginalized communities.
  • Collaborative practice

 

Client engagement skills with service users

Expanding on core engagement skills:

  • Engaging with service users
  • Worker qualities that enhance engagement 
  • Tasks of engagement 
  • Rapport building 
  • Empathy and reflection of feeling
  • Reflection of content skills
  • Active and reflective listening
  • Confidentiality and ethics of engagement
  • Working with involuntary service users 
  • Working with clients from culturally diverse communities


Social work assessment  

  • Assessment skills - questioning, summarizing, paraphrasing, gathering and interpreting information.
  • Assessment tools 

- Genograms  

- Ecomaps 

- culturagrams 

- road maps 

  • Multi-dimensional assessment 
  • Biopsychosocial assessment 


Intervention planning skills 

  • Understanding the change process 
  • Collaborative goal setting
  • Planning for endings 
  • Evaluation and termination 


Practice Models 

  • Task centered approaches 
  • Solution focused approach 
  • Cultural responsiveness 

 

Ethical Practice

  • Professional values - respect and social justice principles in professional practice with individuals 
  • Practice competency and professionalism
  • Professional boundaries and dual relationships 
  • Conflicts of interest 
  • Ethical issues and ethical dilemmas in social work practice 
  • Information recording and sharing 

 

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. These include a Short Answer Quiz, an Interview Plan and a Roleplay Skills Assessment and Reflection. The Roleplay Skills Assessment and Reflection comprises of 1) Part A - a prepared video recording of a roleplay social worker – client interview using set case scenarios, and 2) Part B - a written reflection by the student of their performance in the professional interview. Submission of both Parts A and B are required. The assessment tasks are designed as authentic social work tasks in which students demonstrate the reflective, analytic and practice skills that will be required of them when undertaking field placements.   

To pass this unit, you are required to meet the attendance and assessment requirements. There is a hurdle assessment of at least 80% attendance. You are required to obtain a minimum mark of 50% and pass the Roleplay Skills Assessment. The Roleplay Skills Assessment is a compulsory assessment in this unit which you must pass to pass the unit and to be able to undertake field practicum. Should a student fail the role-play exam they will be offered a second chance to take the role-play exam. This is an opportunity to achieve a Pass (PA) grade for the assessment by demonstrating satisfactory attainment of each learning outcome.

Overview of assessments

Short Answer Quiz Enables students to demonstrate...

Short Answer Quiz

Enables students to demonstrate their knowledge of key concepts in the social work process

Weighting

15%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2

Interview Plan Enables students to prepare an ini...

Interview Plan

Enables students to prepare an initial service user interview informed by social work knowledge, ethics, and values.

Weighting

40%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

HURDLE TASK Roleplay Skills Assessment and...

HURDLE TASK

Roleplay Skills Assessment and Reflection -

Enables students to demonstrate social work practice skills in undertaking an interview with a client  and to reflect critically about their own interview performance.

Weighting

45%

Learning Outcomes LO2, LO3, LO4

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit prepares student for direct and face to face communication, relationship building, assessment and report writing with clients in the social work practice setting. The unit encourages student development in self-awareness, written and verbal reflection on practice social work assessment and synthesis and analysis of information. Therefore, teaching and learning strategies for this unit include lectures, small group discussions and skill development workshops, including roleplay and reflection on practice activities.   This unit is a pre-requisite to SWTP333 Social Work Field Education 1.

This unit encourages the development of students’ professional identity, and use of self in the professional context, using written and verbal reflection exercises.

This unit is delivered in an attendance mode on campus. This unit is structured in three modules with different learning and teaching activities that are designed specifically in each module to support student learning. Each module builds on the next and is designed to reflect the actual process of working with an individual client or service user in a social work practice context.  

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS OF UNIT 

This Unit incorporates professional social work skills based teaching and learning, and therefore has an attendance requirement of a minimum of 80% attendance at weekly lectures and the skill development and practice tutorials.

An attendance record for weekly lectures and tutorials will be kept.

Reasons why attendance is required 

In tutorials, you will be interacting with other students and developing skills which you will use in your professional/clinical experience. Students who do not attend are at risk of not developing the required knowledge and essential skills.  

Representative texts and references

Representative texts and references

Bennett, B., & Green, S. (Eds.). (2019). Our voices : aboriginal social work (Second edition.). Macmillan International Higher Education.

Dudgeon, P., Milroy, H., Walker, R. (Eds.) (2014) Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice (2nd ed.). Commonwealth of Australia 

Harms, L., (2015). Working with People – Communication Skills for Reflective Practice. (2nd Ed.), South Melbourne: Oxford University Press

Healy, K. (2012). Social work methods and skills. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Higham, P. E. (2020). Communication and interviewing skills for practice in social work, counselling and the health professions. Routledge.

Ling, H.K., Martin, J., & Ow, R. (2014). Cross-cultural social work local and global. South Yarra, Victoria: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lishman, J. (2015). Handbook for practice learning in social work and social care. Knowledge and theory (3rd ed.). London; Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

McAuliffe, D., Chenoweth, L., & Boddy, J. (2022). The road to social work and human service practice (7th edition.). Cengage Learning Australia. 

Maidment, J. (Ed.). (2023). Practice skills in social work and welfare : more than just common sense (4th edition.). Routledge.

Mantell, A., & Scragg, T. (2023). Reflective Practice in Social Work. Sage. 

O’Hara, A., & Pockett, R. (2011). Skills for Human Service Practice: Working with Individuals, Groups and Communities. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press

Pomeroy, E. C., & Garcia, R. B. (2018). Direct practice skills for evidence-based social work : a strengths-based text and workbook. Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Trevithick, P. (2012). Social work skills and knowledge: A practice handbook (3rd ed.). Maidenhead Berkshire, UK: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill. 

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