School of Social Work Syllabus Template Guide - USC Search

Social Work 611 Leadership in the Social Work Profession and Organizations: Theory and
Practice 3 Units
Fall 2015 |Instructor: Prof. William | |
|(Bill) Bedrossian | |
|E-Mail: | |Course Day: | |
|wbedross@usc.edu | |Thursday | |
|Telephone: 323-461-3131 x248| |Course Time:| 4:10-7:00 pm |
| | | | |
|Office: Appointments| |Course |City C |
|upon request | |Location: | |
|Office Hours: with prior | | | |
|appointment | | | |
Course Prerequisites
Catalogue Description Through didactic and experiential methods, students learn to interpret and
apply leadership theory and research. Covers skills of effective leadership
at all organizational levels.
Course Description On April 22-23, 2010, 400 social work leaders, ranging in age from 22 to
85, met in Washington, DC to explore issues facing the profession.
Leadership development was one of the 10 imperatives voted on by the
attendees. This imperative's goal is the integration of leadership
training in social work at all levels in order to identify the next
generation of social work leaders among Gen X and Gen Y professionals. [1]
As social work professionals, our leadership begins with understanding and
managing ourselves so that we can be in service to the individuals, groups,
communities and organizations we serve. In addition, we serve as leaders
to strengthen the profession through direct practice, community organizing,
supervision, consultation, administration, advocacy, social and political
action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and
evaluation. Our ultimate goal as social work leaders is in the
sustainability of a profession that has sought to enhance the wellbeing of
mankind in all walks of life. This includes taking responsibility for the
development of others through supervision, mentoring, teaching, management
and self-leadership. Leadership is defined as "a process of influencing others to achieve a
goal." This course is derived from theory and research and uses real life
observations and experiences from both faculty and students. Advanced
social work professionals require leadership knowledge, skills, and
abilities to better understand and meet the challenges of working within
complex and diverse urban social settings that address a range of
contemporary social service issues. The course will address a panoply of
topics to enhance effective practices. Among these are motivation,
communication skills, power and influence, team building and group
facilitation, conflict management, and various approaches to leadership
styles and methods with emphasis on situational approaches and
transformational leadership. One purpose of this course is to help students
become more effective leaders and to better understand the demands of
leadership. Specifically, the course will serve as a guide for interpreting
leadership theory and research and fill the gaps between leadership theory
and practice. While not all master's level social workers will take
responsibility for formally leading or managing organizations and projects,
but informal leaders do emerge and followership is intrinsically a part of
the leadership process. This course is built on the integration of
leadership, followership, and the situation as an essential component of
excellence for advanced social work practice.
Course Objectives The Leadership in the Social Work Profession and Organizations: Theory and
Practice course (SOWK 611) will: |Objective # |Objectives |
|1 |Provide a framework for the application of personal, |
| |interpersonal, team and organizational leadership skills |
| |grounded in behavioral science theory and research. |
|2 |Promote the capability of effectively advocating and |
| |influencing across a spectrum of social work practice from |
| |micro, mezzo to macro practice, in order to achieve social |
| |and economic justice for clients. |
|3 |Provide opportunities to gain the knowledge and skills |
| |related to power and influence, ethics, values, diversity, |
| |multiculturalism, when acting on behalf of client and |
| |populations as social work change agents in organizations and|
| |communities. |
|4 |Teach skills for enhance students' ability to motivate, |
| |communicate, change and support healthy functioning in |
| |groups, teams, organizations and community settings and to |
| |respond to the needs of diverse and multicultural |
| |populations. |
|5 |Provide the means to assess students' strength-based |
| |leadership skills and support development of a plan to |
| |augment their leadership skill. |
Course format / Instructional Methods Lectures, interactive discussions, experiential exercises, role plays,
videos, power-point presentations, overheads, instrumentation and guest
lectures will comprise the delivery format for the course. The course will
be taught from the perspective that students will be engaged throughout
their lives in organizational contexts and that understanding leadership
will be useful, whether they are internal employees, managers or directors
or external advocates or consultants attempting to affect the setting and
the community. This practical orientation drives the structure of the
course which will involve experiencing and participating in activities that
provide insights, knowledge and practical skills about leadership in
organizations and in social service contexts. The lectures are designed to supplement and go beyond the assigned
readings. Questions about the reading and lectures are welcomed. Expect the
lectures, discussions, activities and so forth to extend, provide insight,
and employ actual examples from both the instructor and students
experiences in field placements and other settings. The application of
these modalities will also emphasize the relevance to the students
concentration.
Student Learning Outcomes Student learning for this course relates to one or more of the following
ten social work core competencies: |Social Work Core Competencies |SOWK 611 |Course |
| | |Objective |
|1 |Professional Identity |* |1,5 |
|2 |Ethical Practice |* |3 |
|3 |Critical Thinking |* |1,5 |
|4 |Diversity in Practice |* |1,3,4 |
|5 |Human Rights & Justice |* |2,3 |
|6 |Research Based Practice |* |1,4 |
|7 |Human Behavior |* |1,4,5 |
|8 |Policy Practice |* |2,3 |
|9 |Practice Contexts |* |2,3,4 |
|10 |Engage, Assess, Intervene, |* |1,3,4 |
| |Evaluate | | |
* Highlighted in this course
The following table explains the highlighted competencies for this course,
the related student learning outcomes, and the method of assessment. |Competencies/ |Student Learning |Method of |
|Knowledge, Values, Skills |Outcomes |Assessment |
|Professional Identity-Identify | | |
|as a professional social worker| | |
|and conduct oneself | | |
|accordingly. | | |
|Social workers competent in | | |
|Professional Identity: | | |
|Serve as representatives of the| | |
|profession, its mission, and | | |
|its core values. | | |
|Know the profession's history. | | |
| | | |
|Commit themselves to the | | |
|profession's enhancement and to| | |
|their own professional conduct | | |
|and growth. | | |
| |Practice personal |Assignment 1 & 2 |
| |reflection and | |
| |self-correction to | |
| |ensure continual | |
| |professional | |
| |development. | |
| |