Course Title: Field Education (Social Science)

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Field Education (Social Science)

Credit Points: 24

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
HUSO2155	City Campus	Undergraduate	365H Global Studies, Soc Sci & Plng	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2007, Sem 2 2008, Sem 1 2009, Sem 2 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 2 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 2 2011

Course Coordinator: Nicole Pepperell

Course Coordinator Phone: +(61 3) 9925 8248

Course Coordinator Email:nicole.pepperell@rmit.edu,au

Course Coordinator Location: 37.2.14

Course Coordinator Availability: By Appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Pre-requisites : None

Co-requisites : Organisational Studies

Organisational Studies has been scheduled to run concurrently with your Internship/Placement (providing that you undertake it substantially within the teaching weeks of the semester). This course investigates your experiences of your Internship/Placement organisation and challenges your understanding of contemporary working conditions and culture and your own actions as a actor/player in the organisational drama. It will assist you to develop the skills to make sense of what is happening in the organisation you are working in and in organisations in general.

Course Description

What is this course about?

You will recall from your first course, Introduction to Policy, that this program attempts to build a picture of how public policy is both an agency for the expression of government power and a mechanism by which particular groups and ultimately, individuals can wield power. Through the courses you have undertaken you have investigated the challenges that face those who make policy and those who implement it and you have developed a set of capabilities that underpin the practice of an applied social scientist.

The final chapter in this story concerns your transition between your time in the university and your emergence as a practitioner of applied social science in an organisational context. The major component of the course comprises a 35 day Internship/Placement in the form of a supervised work/learning experience which will give you exposure to professional responsibilities in a live organisational setting. Whilst the Internship/Placement has been designed to give maximum benefit to you as the intern, the work you will undertake will be an essential component of the work the organisation requires to achieve its goals. In this sense, your Internship/Placement goes well beyond forms of work experience in which the main purpose is to provide the individual with a ‘taste’ of the work and/or workplace. Your Internship/Placement is structured to involve all the expectations and responsibilities that are placed on other employees as they operate in the cultural and operational environment in the organisation you work in. At the same time, you will receive support from staff at RMIT and within the workplace to ensure that you extract maximum learning which will take with you as your exit from the university in the next step to becoming a fully fledged practitioner.

Just as the story began, there are multiple layers of action and interpretation. One layer encourages you to bring together learning that you have gained in different sites, including your academic studies with other sites of learning, including your background and life experiences, your voluntary and paid work and your professional and academic networks relevant to your vocational specialisation. The course complements formal and traditional learning methods situated in the university environment with hands-on experience in the workplace. It provides a space in which you can continue to explore, apply and develop the range of ideas and capabilities you have established through your program to date. It enables you to integrate what you have learned in different courses into your practice as an organisational member.

On another layer, the course works as an individualised learning program linking your specific vocational specialisation and work-related interests to the generic graduate capabilities you have been developing during your studies in the Bachelor of Social Science. This means you will identify and manage your learning needs and select experiences that reflect your development and career interests. These apply both to the organisation you select and the project/work that you negotiate to undertake whilst on Internship/Placement.

A further layer provides you with the wherewithal to investigate the way that power functions within an organisation and how it impacts on the organisation’s function and ends. During your Internship/Placement, you will see at first hand the workings of power, and how they shape what gets done and by whom and the outcomes for clients, communities and stakeholders. You are the lead actor in this drama, and the Internship/Placement also provides you with the opportunity to understand how your own values, beliefs and assumptions can play out through the work you do.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Your Internship/Placement will serve three primary purposes. Depending on your previous experiences and aspirations for the future, individuals will place different priorities on these purposes. The Internship/Placement works as:

• a career strategy where you aim to use your Internship/Placement as entry to an area or organisation in which you might hope to gain employment once you have graduated;
• interactive learning where you integrate some of the specific skills used in the application of social science with particular themes or areas of application. These will reflect your vocational specialisation within your degree program, and
• professional practice where the emphasis is upon embedding the graduate capabilities you have developed into contemporary working conditions and culture, as they are played out in the organisation you undertake your Internship/Placement within.

We expect that most students will undertake their Internship/Placement in an organisation that is new to them, and which reflects their professional interests and aspirations. Some students may already be employed in an organisation in which they hope to keep working once they have graduated. Therefore, it is possible for you to undertake an Internship/Placement with your existing employer provided that the work you will be doing enhances your existing professional practice. This means that you will need to negotiate a project or period of work that is different from your regular employment and which provides you with the opportunity to expand your existing practice by taking you into a new area or drawing on a combination of skills that you do not currently use. You are not able to use existing work as a placement, even if it is in a relevant field of practice.

What can I expect to learn by studying this course?

The Field Education course aims to: 

• increase your knowledge and understanding of the field of professional practice;
• increase your knowledge and understanding of the nature of organisational life and work;
• extend your experience of a preferred employment field, broadly defined;
• develop skills for professional practice;
• ensure graduate capabilities are met, and
• enable you to identify, clarify, develop and manage your career interests.

Overview of Learning Activities

What opportunities does the course provide for me to learn? What will I be expected to do?

During this course there are a number of people who can support your learning, depending on your particular needs. You can access support from:

• Robyn Dale, the RMIT course co-ordinator for Field Education (Internship/Placement);
• Robyn Dale and Karen Davies who will be your RMIT mentors, and
• your supervisor in the workplace.

Each of these people has a different role to play making sure that your Internship/Placement is a valuable working and learning experience during which make the next step in developing your practice. There are a number of events which occur at different stages of the course which help you establish, conduct and complete your Internship/Placement, including the assessment for the course. These include:

• an individual interview with either Robyn Dale or Karen Davies whilst you are still planning your Internship/Placement. This will be aimed at ensuring that your learning needs are clear and are aligned with your strategy for selecting an appropriate organisation and negotiating your internship, and
• a meeting between you, Robyn Dale or Karen Davies and your supervisor once during your Internship/Placement. This can be initiated by yourself, your workplace supervisor or your RMIT mentor and may occur at any time during your Internship, usually after the half way mark. It will focus your progress in your Internship/Placement and how your development of professional practice is progressing. You can also contact your RMIT mentor at any time to discuss issues that arise in relation to your learning in the workplace. They may also contact you to see how you are progressing
  
  We encourage you to manage your own affairs where possible, in order to equate real work conditions. However we will always be available to assist you or as a reference point for discussion on any issue.
  
  A manual which outlines the field education policies and procedures and contains other helpful information such as contact details, is also available to support you. The Manual is available on the DLS and at the initial one-on-one interview. It is very important that you read this manual thoroughly and ensure that a copy is presented to your supervisor/manager.

Overview of Learning Resources

What will I need to access and read for this course?

Distributed Learning System (DLS)

You are advised to check your student email and the DLS site regularly for messages from the course co-ordinator.

References

You are encouraged to explore particular aspects of organisation that interest you as your internship progresses. The Organisation Studies course has been designed to support your learning in this. However, the following texts will provide an introduction to key perspectives on organisational analysis and major themes.

• Mills, A. J. and Simmons, T. (1995) Reading Organisation Theory, Toronto, Garamond Press,
  
• Fineman, S., Gabriel, Y. and Sims, D., (1992), Organisations and Organising, Sage Publications, London
  
• Bolman, L., Deal T., (2003), Reframing Organisations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Fransisco
  
• Casey, C. (2002), Critical Analysis of Organizations, Sage Publications, London

The following texts will be useful to assist you develop yourself as a reflective practitioners

• Cleak, H & Wilson (2004) Making the Most of Field Placements, Southbank, Victoria: Thomson
  
• Fanthome, C (2004) Work Placements: A survival guide for students, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan
  
• Moon, J A (2004) A Handbook of Experiential and Reflective Learning: Theory and practice, New York: Routledge Falmer
  
• Schon, D (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action, New York: Basic Books

Overview of Assessment

There is one major writing task for this course, submitted at the end of your internship.
There are also smaller tasks, which you need to undertake to successfully complete the course. Each of these tasks assists you complete a stage of the process of setting up and completing your internship/placement.