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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Social Work

Undergraduate Course: Creative Social Work and the Arts (SCWR08008)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryCreative Social Work and the Arts recognises that the creative and expressive arts play an important part in the helping professions and therefore have a legitimate place in social work education. This course is built around two broad themes: i) the role of the arts in therapeutic intervention examines a range of strategies and approaches which can enhance social work practice and ii) the role of the arts in social activism and in giving support to citizen voice.
Course description Creative Social Work and the Arts recognises that engagement in the arts can contribute to practice with users of social work services and members of marginalised communities. It can also provide a means of communicating their experiences to the wider public, with the potential to increase awareness and understanding. The course will examine the relationship between the arts and social work and also the potential for more creative practice. It will also examine political influences on social work resources and the creative arts in Scotland. Enquiry and Action Learning will be the method of course delivery and assessment. There are two main aspects of the arts which will be developed:
i) the role of the arts in therapeutic intervention examines a range of related strategies and approaches which can enhance social work practice. These include art, storytelling, music, drama, photography and film making in a range of social work contexts with children and adults. Practitioners from the field will contribute to teaching, illustrating a range of interventions which are applied in the therapeutic context with case material.
ii) the role of the arts in social activism and in giving support to citizen voice will examine arts-inspired initiatives (local, national and global) which have addressed social issues or the experiences of marginalised groups such as those whose lives have been affected by issues around, e.g. mental health, imprisonment, homelessness or learning disabilities. Again, practitioners and activists from organisations such as Impact Arts will contribute to teaching and present examples of initiatives which can promote social inclusion, health improvement, community cohesion and intergenerational practice.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  77
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 11, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 175 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 80 %, Practical Exam 20 %
Additional Information (Assessment) One essay: 80% (summative)
One presentation:10% (formative)
Participation: 10% (ongoing) This will be assessed against the SPS Tutorial Participation Marking Descriptor and standardised across each tutorial group via a tutor/course organiser meeting.
Feedback Formative Feedback: The group exercise will take the format of a short presentation where students will demonstrate their learning on the place and function of creative arts in social work practice, based on lecture input and fieldwork visits. Full guidance on this presentation will be provided in the course Learn page. The assessment of this activity, undertaken by the course tutor, will be aligned to clear criteria, making use of the SPS tutorial presentation marking descriptor. Standardisation of assessment across each tutorial group will be ensured via a tutor/course organiser meeting.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate their understanding of a range of social issues which affect the users of social work services
  2. Demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between the creative arts, helping professions and communities of need
  3. Through engagement with literature, research and action learning, evaluate the contribution of the arts to creative practice with individuals and communities
  4. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the factors which impact upon social work and arts related provision in communities
Reading List
Camic, P.,Tischler, V. and Pearman, C.(2014) "Viewing and making art together: a multi-session art-gallery-based intervention for people with dementia and their carers" Aging & Mental Health 18 (2) 161-168
Crociani-Windland, L. (2017) "Deleuze, art and social work" Journal of Social Work Practice 31(2) 251-262
Jackson, K. (2015) "Beyond Talk - Creative Arts Therapies in Social Work" Social Work Today 15(3)22

Moxley, D., Feen-Calligan H. and Washington, O. (2012) "Lessons Learned from Three Projects Linking Social Work, the Arts, and Humanities" Social Work Education 31(6) 703-723
Moxley, D. and Feen, H. (2016) "Arts-Inspired Design in the Development of Helping Interventions in Social Work: Implications for the Integration of Research and Practice" British Journal of Social Work 46 (6) 1690-1707
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Research and Enquiry - Creative thinking, knowledge integration and application.
Communication - verbal communication and presentation skills
Group work - working effectively as part of a team
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Autumn Roesch-Marsh
Tel: (0131 6)51 3870
Email: A.Roeschmarsh@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Brodie Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)51 3139
Email: Brodie.Hamilton@ed.ac.uk
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