SWK Lecture 1 CC Part 1 - PDF

SWK lecture 1 CC Part 1 Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message. Hi everybody and welcome to your first lecture. So as I explained that the lectures are not live lecture classes. The lectures consist of pre-recorded videos where I will speak and use PowerPoints to discuss...

SWK lecture 1 CC Part 1 Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message. Hi everybody and welcome to your first lecture. So as I explained that the lectures are not live lecture classes. The lectures consist of pre-recorded videos where I will speak and use PowerPoints to discuss the lecture and discuss the content of the work. So for those of you who are still settling in, I just wanted to let you know that the purpose of the lecture is not for me to go through every detail of what you have read. So the lecture in a sense is going to be a little summary of the important points within the article that you're reading or the content of the reading that I gave you. And in a sense a bit of a summary that will help you understand the work. So for those coming directly from high school, it is slightly different and you are going to have to learn to take responsibility for your own learning. And that is why we don't go into, it's really impossible with the amount of knowledge that you need to acquire to build your career. There's so much that we can't actually fill it in the time that you need to do the course. So a lot of it is independent learning and I literally can't go through every paragraph within the article. So what we tend to do is create a bit of a discussion around some of the main themes within the article. And that's what I'm going to try and do for you, as well as kind of point out some of the important concepts and try to help you understand it better. Give examples in terms of the content of the work so that you can understand it easier. So let's go. So what the whole purpose of this week is, is about just basically introducing you to the role and purpose of theory. So I know that the pain article focuses a lot on social work theory, but this is an introduction. And once you maybe grasp some of these concepts, you can understand the article better as well. So the purpose, as I said, of today's lecture is then to help you understand what a theory is. It's also to explore the different purposes of theories for social service professionals. And then we're focusing on the pain reading, which does tend to focus on social work theory and social work practice. But it can be applied to a range of different social development professions, which I've explained. So, in other words, while you're going to be reading about social work and social work theories, in a sense, for any career, when you think about the theory, you will use that to a specific theory to understand your work environment, to understand the people that you that you will be working with. And so you'll see that I made a comment further on in the on one of the days and I wanted you to comment. And so, for example, a theory about why ISCOM are we having so much load shedding? What is your view or what is your theory, your ideas on load shedding? So so what we use then is a pattern of organized ideas. And that's basically what a theory is. So so what are theories? So as we said that theories then are ideas, knowledge and understanding that social service practitioners need to explain why and how we should make our practice decisions. So in other words, you how are you going to know how to help people if you don't have certain information or certain knowledge and certain ideas and thoughts about how to help this person in the most effective way? Right. So in other words, I need to have an idea about how I need to teach online so that you can understand the work. So the kind of theory I use, for example, in my teaching, we actually call it collaborative learning or they call it pedagogy. So what that basically means is I, as a lecturer or teacher, have a particular way in which I think about how I need to be teaching you. And so what that is, is a specific theory. So in my in my teaching, the theory that I like to use is actually called transformative. So in other words, the idea that we can learn and problem solve together, that's for teaching. But in any profession, particularly in social development, there are specific ideas about this. So then we also want to say that theories are then generalized sets of ideas that describe and explain our knowledge of the world in an organized way. Right. It's an organized way. It's in other words, it's not all over the show. It's not about a random range of different things, but it's actually organized in a particular way. And we're going to look at that. A theory then is an organized statement of ideas about the world, which attempts to help provide explanations and understanding which can inform our practice. So when we're talking about practice, then we're talking about the way social development professionals do things, the way we address a client, the way we help a client or a customer, whichever you want to call it, or a patient. Sometimes it's the particular way you do that. And so what a theory then is, as I said, it's a generalized set of ideas about how we understand the world. So in other words, as a social worker, as a social worker who is interested in trauma, I believe that suffering and hardship can people can deal with it, that people are resilient, that when we grieve and mourn our losses, you know, when you think about COVID and all the things that family members that some people may have lost, there is an idea within trauma that COVID-19 was like mass trauma, and that we need to mourn and grieve so that we can move forward in a post COVID world. So that's my sort of theory, which is based on trauma theory, my ideas about COVID-19 and the pandemic. So I would help someone using that if they come to me and they've lost someone during the pandemic due to COVID-19, I would kind of rely on that. So that is how it informs what I do then as a social worker or a psychologist or someone working in social development or working in the community. So you can get that it's a set of ideas about how we understand the world. So just as another example, for example, theories, because we say that it's a generalized set of ideas, think of all the theories regarding and conspiracy theories, for example, regarding COVID-19, regarding the vaccination, you know, you have anti-vaxxers. And, and the idea of probably the theory about this is that maybe the vaccine is poisonous, maybe the vaccine infringes on the religious and political rights or human rights. So that is the idea and the theory behind why they are protesting. And that gives you an idea then of what theory is. So one of the important things about theory, for example, is that it helps us to be accountable in our practice. So imagine, you know, so if your friend, so the difference in between using a theory and your own ideas, if your friend comes to you, and she's having or they having relationship problems, then you will tell them, you know what, I think that you should go and sort out your issues with your boyfriend, sort out your issues with your girlfriend. Because I think that they are not treating you fairly. Right. So in other words, and you may say, and you know what, you can just end the relationship, I think that you need to do that. However, in a professional relationship, if someone had to come to me as a social worker, or someone had to come to me as a counselor, or working in the community, and they tell me, Shanaz, I'm having difficulty with this relationship, he is doing this, or she's doing that, I have an account, I have to be accountable to my profession. So a theory helps me to be accountable as well. So instead of telling the person, go and end the relationship, you know, I think he's treating you badly, I think she's treating you badly, I think you don't deserve that. Instead of doing that, what I will then do is I will help the person and say, can you tell me more about this relationship? What is it that you that you're finding very difficult? I will not give advice, because it's not my place. If I, as social workers, we not or even in psychology counseling, you're not necessarily there to give the person advice, because we believe that maybe everyone is able to solve their own problem. And so because I come from that perspective, and that is the theory that I work with, instead of telling the woman or the guy to end his relationship, I may say, come back again. And let's talk about this. Let's explore this more. Tell me how you feel, you know, it will not be about going to end that relationship. So you can see the difference, there's a sense of accountability. As a professional, I need to be careful about the kind of advice that I give someone. And so theory then helps us to understand and contest ideas, as it says here, and the world around us, it offers us a framework for practice, and helps us to be accountable, self disciplined professionals. So you can't bring in your own personal views always. Yes, I mean, if you have, if you are particularly religious, you could share and ask that, but I cannot tell them, oh, you need to go to mosque and pray on Fridays, or you need to go to church on Sunday, that will change it for you. I think you need to pray about it. So while I may feel that personally, theory then helps me understand that I need to be self disciplined, that I can't do that. So that's just a little bit of an introduction, and we'll continue further after this. Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.