| CODE | SWP1341 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Social Skills Development | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Social Policy and Social Work | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit aims to familiarise students with basic concepts and practices in respect of social skills. The study-unit will enable students to become aware of and evaluate their own social skills and to further develop their skills through training sessions within a group. It is intended to help students to strengthen their skills on personal, interpersonal and group levels. Sessions will focus on communication skills; self-awareness; managing conflict, solving problems and making decisions; and managing time, among others. The study-unit will consist of 22 two hour sessions, each focusing on a particular topic and will be based on experiential learning in training groups. Knowledge and Understanding By the end of this study-unit, students will be able to: • Identify, articulate and display feelings in appropriate manner; • Demonstrate behaviours consistent with being a good listener; • Describe keys to effective communication; • Describe the importance of body language for communicating meaning; • Recognise the importance of non-verbal language in understanding and communicating with others; • Identify the dynamics of shyness and anxiety, and the steps to manage these; • Describe the steps in rational problem-solving; • Describe the types of conflict and how to manage them; • Describe how stress affects performance and may be managed well; • Recognise the critical elements and behaviours of team-building and cooperation; • Recognise the influence of family, peers, culture and media on personal behaviours; • Discuss the various manifestations of anger and how it may be managed; • Demonstrate an appreciation of diversity in social life. Skills By the end of this study-unit, students will be able to: • Demonstrate reflexivity through weekly journalling; • Demonstrate good listening skills; • Demonstrate feelings appropriately; • Communicate effectively and respectfully; • Formulate constructive feedback and manage feedback received; • Perform Actively in groupwork in a creative and responsible manner; • Solve problems systematically; • Demonstrate assertive behaviour, managing anger and conflict constructively; • Analyse the causes of stress and take action to manage it well; • Demonstrate responsibility for one's individual learning plan and desired outcomes. Attendance: This study-unit is based on experiential learning, which takes place within a group setting. Mutual trust, respect and collaboration are key ingredients in successfully completing this unit. This requires a committed presence from all members in the group, for one’s own learning and professional development as well as for other students and the group as a whole. In view of this, it is mandatory for students to attend all sessions. In the event of serious reasons which would make it absolutely impossible for a student to attend, s/he may be given permission to absent her/himself from one session. Unjustified absence from more than 3 sessions "will lead to the student being declared ineligible for assessment of the unit, in which case a 0 mark and an F grade shall be assigned and recorded" (General Regulations, Clause 40[1]). If the absence from more than 3 sessions is justified, the student will get an ‘Incomplete’ and be allowed to refer the unit to the second year as long as they can progress conditionally. Selected Bibliography: - Carnegie, D. (1997). How to stop worrying and start living. London: Vermillion. - Corey, G., & Schneider Corey, M. (2002). I never knew I had a choice: Explorations in personal growth. California: Brooks/Cole. - Fensterheim, H., & Baer, J. (1989). Don’t say ‘yes’ when you want to say ‘no’. London: Futura. - Kennerley, H. (1997). Overcoming anxiety: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques. London: Robinson. - Lindenfield, G. (1995). Self-esteem. London: HarperCollins. - Lindenfield, G. (2000). Managing anger: Simple steps to dealing with frustration and threat. London: Thorsons. - Looker, T., & Gregson, O. (1997). Managing stress. London: Thorsons. - Szuchman L.T.,& Thomlison B. (2004). Writing With Style - APA Style for Social Work (2nd ed.) Belmont: Brooks/Cole. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Practical | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Andreana Dibben Damian Spiteri (Co-ord.) |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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