Operating environments in social guidance (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

0-5

Objective

The aim of the course is to deepen your understanding of the operating environments of social guidance and how to analyse changes in it.

Competencies:

Proactive development
Internationalism and multiculturalism
Expertise in the social field

Learning outcomes:

You will be able to develop new client-oriented, sustainable and economically viable solutions in anticipation of the future.

You will be able to anticipate the impact and opportunities of global developments and phenomena in your field and in multidisciplinary networks.

You will be able to critically analyse societal and global changes and anticipate their social impact on the life course of citizens.

Content

The course focuses on current scientific research and concepts in the field of social work, service structures and digitalisation, client and service guidance, multi-professionalism, multi-tasking and multidisciplinarity, work orientations of encounter and empowerment.

Location and time

La 30.8.2025, 08.30-16 lähiopetus
Ke 24.9.2025, 12-16.00, webinaari
To 23.10.2025, 15-19.00, webinaari
To 13.11.2025, 12-16.00, webinaari

Materials

The following work will be used throughout the course:

Payne, M. 2020. How to Use Social Work Theory in Practice. Policy Press.

In addition, you can use the following sources as part of your learning tasks:

Arnkil, T., E. 2020 Kunnioittava ja toivoa herättävä kohtaaminen. Helsinki: THL.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-343-495-0

Mönkkönen, K. 2018: Vuorovaikutus asiakastyössä. Asiakkaan kohtaaminen sosiaali- ja terveysalalla. Tallinna: Gaudeamus.

Raitakari, S., Harrikari, T., Hekkala, M. & Kivipelto, M. (toim.) Sosiaalityö kriiseissä ja poikkeuksellisissa olosuhteissa. Sosiaalityön tutkimuksen vuosikirja 2023. Saatavana verkossa.

Raatikainen, E. 2015. Lujita luottamusta: Asiakassuhteen rakentaminen sosiaali- ja terveysalalla. PS-kustannus.

Teaching methods

Teaching and learning methods used include webinars, face-to-face teaching at school, independent work, independent or small group assignments in Moodle.

Both webinars and in-class tutorials are interactive learning situations and you will be prepared for them according to the instructions given in advance (which will be given in the Moodle workspace).

If you use AI in your assignments, please include a verbal description of how, to what extent and where you have used it.

Employer connections

Visitors from working life

Exam schedules

No exam

Student workload

Webinars and contacts 16 h, individual, group assignments and learning tasks 119 h

135h

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Sufficient (1)
You have a narrow understanding and analysis of the social and health service system and environment. Identify changes in the structure of social and health services. You base your knowledge on scientific evidence. Reflect on your own experiences. You write in an illustrative manner, but the text contains illogicalities and shortcomings.

Satisfactory (2)
You understand and apply the social and health service system and environment from more than one perspective. You can identify and describe a few changes in the service structure of the social and health care system. Justify your knowledge in a structured way on the basis of scientific evidence. Reflect on your own experience in a structured way. You write in a logical and illustrative manner, but the text exhibits certain shortcomings. You write text that is partly unstructured and exhibits numerous different language and style errors.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

Good (3)
You will examine and analyse the social and health service system and its environment in a comprehensive manner. You will identify at least three major changes in the structure of social and health services and be able to reflect on solutions. Justify your knowledge on the basis of sound scientific evidence. Reflect on your own experiences in a structured, critical and clear manner. You write in a logical and illustrative manner, substantiating the points you make. You write structured text with occasional language and style errors.

Very good (4)
You examine and analyse the social and health service system and its environment from a variety of perspectives and are able to assess their impact on your own work. Identify and describe in a comprehensive and critical manner a number of changes in the service structure of the social and health care system. Justify your knowledge on the basis of researched evidence in a rigorous manner. You carefully base your knowledge on researched evidence. You reflect on your own experiences in a structured, critical and clear way. You write in a logical, analytical and competent manner. You write structured text in a fluent and almost error-free formal style.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Excellent (5)
You will examine and analyse the social and health service system and the environment from a variety of perspectives and be able to critically assess their impact on your own work. Identify and describe in a comprehensive and critical way several changes in the service structure of the social and health care system. Justify your knowledge carefully on the basis of researched evidence. You reflect on your own experiences in a structured, critical and clear way. You offer new perspectives. You write convincingly, presenting a logically coherent whole in which you combine things in a new way. You show an ability for critical and argumentative writing.

Further information

The course is assessed by the learning assignments completed during the course (approved-fail) and by a numerically assessed learning assignment (0-5) summarising the topics covered during the course. All the learning assignments given during the course must be passed.The numerical grade for the course is given on the basis of a written summative learning assignment. The course also includes a personal self-assessment based on the learning objectives of the course.