Field Placement Manual (2008-2009)
PART IV: OVERVIEW OF CURRICULUM
The curriculum at the master's level has been developed with a strong conviction that preparation for professional practice necessitates the integration of knowledge, values and skills. This integration is purposefully facilitated by structuring classroom instruction and field experiences so that they can mutually support and reinforce students' educational learning objectives.
Students are required under the accreditation standards of the Council of Social Work Education to take courses in the areas of social welfare history and policy, research, human behavior and the social environment (individual and social processes), American racism, and social work practice. All courses in the MSW program fall within one of these curricular areas or sequences. The faculty views the profession of social work practice holistically. It seeks to integrate these essential curricular elements, i.e., sequences, into a unified whole.
Social Policy Sequence
Social welfare policies provide the institutional, political and social framework within which social work practice operates. The main goals of the Social Welfare Policy Sequence are to help students develop an understanding of the history and value base of this framework as well as the programs, agencies and institutions which seek to deliver services with maximum effectiveness to their clients and to help students learn how to influence system changes that will further client interests.
Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE)
The principle objective of the HBSE sequence is to provide the student with information and theory about human growth, development and behavior across the life span. This information is set within a context of knowledge relevant to functioning within micro (individual and family) mezzo (small groups and neighborhoods) and macro (small and large organizations and communities) levels of human interaction.
American Racism Sequence
The inclusion of racism and social change content in professional education makes contemporary and relevant many basic concepts that have been the hallmark of the School's educational heritage. Racism is a complex and pervasive problem which has an integral relationship to all social work endeavors that affect individual functioning and the quality of life. Racism content taught by this sequence has extended the scope and meaning of the concept of service and the concept of agency function to address current needs and issues. Sexism and other forms of oppression are also addressed by this sequence.
Social Work Practice Sequence
Social Work practice courses are central to the education of students in the School of Social Policy & Practice. In the Foundation year the courses emphasize using students' field practice experiences and material from the field to illustrate and examine practice principles, concepts and issues in developing a professional use of self within the functional, structural, and ethnic-sensitive frameworks. Advanced year practice classes are designed to deepen the understanding of practice theories and frameworks and their application in relation to one of two concentrations--clinical or macro practice.
Research Sequence
The research curriculum aims to insure that students will acquire the basic research skills for strengthening their practice; acquire an appreciation of the role of research in theory development; know the range of methodological strategies available for social work research; develop a commitment to the use of research in the student's own area of specialization as well as in dealing with problems of racism and other oppressions in contemporary American society.
Foundation Curriculum
Click here for a complete listing of all course descriptions.
The Foundation portion of the MSW Program provides the base for the Advanced portion of the curriculum. Foundation courses introduce students to a generalist orientation, one that seeks to make explicit social work concepts and principles that under gird work with individuals, families, groups, communities and systems. The foundation curriculum also seeks to broaden the students' perception and involvement beyond the the level of the individual and family by looking at groups, organizations and communities within the context of the environment.
First Semester (2-year program) |
Second Semester (2-year program) |
SW 601 History and Philosophy of Social Work and Social Welfare |
SW 611 Contemporary Social Policy |
SW 602 Human Behavior in the Social Environment I |
SW 612 Human Behavior in the Social Environment II |
SW 603 American Racism and Social Work Practice |
SW 613 Understanding Social Change: Issues of Race and Gender |
SW 604 Foundations of Social Work Practice and Field Placement |
SW 614 Social Work Practice and Field Placement |
Advanced Curriculum
Click here for a complete listing of all course descriptions.
In the Advanced portion of the MSW program, students select a method of concentration (clinical or macro practice). Students take a required year-long course in their concentration plus four electives. At least one of these electives must be a practice elective in the student’s concentration. The other three must include at least one “free elective.” The other two electives may be additional practice or free electives.
As in the foundation portion, the advanced portion of the curriculum is concerned with the holistic nature of social work practice. Students learn to intervene in a variety of social-environmental systems impinging on people, focusing their learning on mastery of relevant concepts and methodological approaches appropriate to the practice context. Major emphasis in the field experience may be on either direct practice or macro practice. The field experience in conjunction with classroom theory provides students with professional preparation that can be used following graduation in a variety of settings.
First Semester (2-year program) |
Second Semester (2-year program) |
SW 704 Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice I |
SW 714 Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice II |
SW 715 Introduction to Social Work Research |
SW 7xx Research Option |
Two additional CU’s (see Bulletin) |
Two additional CU’s (see Bulletin) |
Faculty Advising
Faculty advising is a central and integral part of MSW education. The advising role is built upon a basic educational principle of the School creating a structured process in which the student works to achieve a professional identity as a social worker within an educationally focused relationship with a faculty member. To insure the richest educational experience for students, two faculty members will be assigned to each student to help plan and facilitate an individualized course of study, namely, an Educational Advisor and a Practice Professor/Field Liaison Advisor.
Educational Advisor
The educational advisor's role with the student requires the recognition and valuing of individual patterns of learning and processes of growth; problem solving directed toward participation and use of the total program (i.e., a quiet listener rather than an active participant in class); educational planning regarding courses, concentration, placement etc. These points of contact with the advisor are generally in the beginning of the semester, at mid-semester, and at the end of the semesters. Conferences with a student may also be held at other intervals determined by advisor and student.
In this relationship, the student is expected to participate in defining her/his educational objectives and professional goals and ways to attain them within the context of the educational program. The advisor's role is restricted to issues which are clearly educational and do not impinge on the personal concerns of the student.
Collaboration with other instructors regarding the student's progress in all courses is at times part of the educational advisor's role.
Practice Professor/Field Liaison Advisor
The Foundation and Advanced practice instructors advise students on all matters pertaining to practice courses and field practice performance. This includes liaison with the field, coordinating the field curriculum assignments with the student's educational needs, learning objectives, and grading the field part of the student's educational experience. Grades for the practice class are given after the completion of the field work. This requires contact with the field instructor at the beginning, mid-point, and end of the semester by telephone and, at some point during the year, usually during the first semester, an on-site visit. Foundation practice instructors will develop a field work plan for the Advanced placement in conjunction with the Field Department.