About Social Work, BA (Hons) - at Sheffield Hallam University
Social workers enable people to live independent lives by assessing needs and providing services to support, care for or protect them when needed. People needing help, support or guidance from social workers include
* children and families
* people with mental health problems, learning or physical disabilities
* older people
* young people who may be in trouble with the police or at school
Social workers need to be tolerant, clear thinking and able to find effective solutions to problems.
You must be able to develop trusting relationships with service users without becoming emotionally involved, and you should be committed to helping them overcome their difficulties. This might involve dealing with people who express reluctance and who may behave in a volatile manner.
Social workers come into contact with many different people, so it is important that you respect cultural differences and have the ability to relate to people with widely varying backgrounds.
On this course you study the theories, skills and values of social work. We introduce you to supervised practical work in a range of social work settings. This includes working with people who have problems in their lives or whose actions cause significant problems for others.
You spend at least 200 days across the degree in practice learning where you develop your skills by applying theory in real working situations. You can work in at least two different settings and with two different service user groups.
We arrange practice learning with our partners in local authority, private and voluntary agencies, across South Yorkshire and the North East Midlands. We have international links which can enable you to complete part of your practice placement overseas.
Service users and carers are central to all aspects of the course delivery and development, including teaching, assessment and placements.
We base some of our teaching in our modern, £13 million, purpose-built Robert Winston Building on our Collegiate Crescent Campus. We also have a practical skills room in our Woodville Building that reproduces a single bed studio apartment with an enclosed bathroom. This emulates the home environments you work in after graduating.
All our teaching staff are qualified and experienced social workers, or have experience in related professions. Many are involved in research in social work and have a well-established reputation in various international projects, including
* international practice learning opportunities for students
* EU-funded projects to develop an international curriculum
* projects developing social work practice and social work education
