Why study this course?
If you're a practising social worker with at least two years of experience this course will enable you to learn how to supervise, teach and assess social work students up to (and during) their last placement. The course has been designed to conform to the professional requirements and competencies for Stage 1 and 2 (combined) of the Practice Educator Professional Standards for Social Work (PEPS), TCSW (2012) and The British Association of Social Workers (BASWA, 2020).
More about this course
If you're an experienced social worker, this course is designed to further develop your knowledge and skills as a Practice Educator (PE), with opportunities to share different techniques and understanding with other PEs. We aim to:
- transfer your knowledge and skills of social work practice to practice education
- develop your understanding of the principles of adult learning, supervision processes, methods of assessment planning and decision making within an explicitly anti-oppressive framework
- help you reflect critically on supervision and teaching techniques
You'll be taught through a combination of lectures, our online learning tool Weblearn, seminars and workshops. You'll also have the support of a personal tutor.
On completion, you’ll have the authority and capability to recommend, using appropriate evidence, whether your students are fit to practise once qualified, and you will be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Practice Education.
Assessment
You'll be assessed through a range of tools and expected to maintain a regular reflective learning log of your experiences of teaching and assessing your student, in order to plan and monitor your student's progress as well as reflect on your own learning from the experience.
Assignments will include individual and group activities, case-study work, presentations, progress exercises, coursework and direct observations of your practice.
You'll also be assessed via a portfolio which evaluates the ways in which you managed the student learning and assessment process, it includes your evidence-based recommendation as to whether your student is fit to practise once qualified. Other elements include a report by a practice assessor who will assess you twice during the course, as well as a feedback report from your social work student on your performance as a teacher, assessor and supervisor.
On successful completion, you will attain 30 credits at postgraduate level (Level 7) and be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Practice Education.
Professional accreditation
The course has been designed to conform to the professional requirements and competencies for Stage 1 and 2 (combined) of the Practice Educator Professional standards for Social Work (PEPS), (TCSW, 2012).
Fees and key information
Apply nowEntry requirements
You must be:
- able to offer practice learning opportunities that are appropriate to London Metropolitan University social work students
- a registered social worker with at least two years’ experience post-qualification, but at least three years at the point of qualifiying for the PEP
- currently working in a social care setting
Course structure
The course will involve:
- understanding learning and teaching in higher education from a range of theoretical frameworks, identifying and meeting workforce development needs, and understanding research methods
- ongoing critical analysis of up-to-date policy development and practices, in order to encourage and build on reflective practice learning and teaching in the field
- reviewing professional codes of ethics, underlying ethical concepts and methods of ethical decision-making
- supervising a social work student against the Professional Capability Framework (PCF) (The College of Social Work, 2012) for 70 or 100 days
- participating in interviews of potential candidates for entry onto our courses
- offering live supervision to current students with two-way feedback
- delivering teaching sessions on reflective practice and reflective writing
- role-playing case scenarios from practice with students’ participation
What support will I receive?
You will be allocated a practice assessor who will provide verbal and written feedback on your performance when practice teaching a student. You will also be given formative feedback on your assessed university assignments prior to summative assessment. Teaching will be held at the University’s Holloway campus.
Questions?
If you have any questions at all please email pe@londonmet.ac.uk.
Fees
To discuss the cost of the programme, please email pe@londonmet.ac.uk
How to apply
To apply, please download the Short Courses Enrolment Form 2021-22 and the Practice Education (Stages 1 and 2) application form.
Please email the completed forms along with supporting documents (see below) to pe@londonmet.ac.uk.
You must include:
- enrolment forms (both of the above enrolment forms)
- copy of your passport
- a passport-sized photograph
- a line manager’s reference