FSS:SPRb1126 Policy Engagement - Course Information

SPRb1126 Policy Engagement of Social Workers

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).

Teacher(s)

Mgr. Roman Baláž, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Mgr. Roman Baláž, Ph.D.
Department of Social Policy and Social Work – Faculty of Social Studies
Supplier department: Department of Social Policy and Social Work – Faculty of Social Studies

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 15 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

The course aims to introduce students to the possibilities and limits of policy engagement of social workers in specific institutional and organizational settings. Critical reflection on the interconnection between social structure and the agency of social workers is the core of the course. Students will understand
1. the institutional and organizational settings of social work,
2. the policy process, streams, and coalition, and, finally,
3. the possible forms of how social workers can be engaged in policy-making in such an environment.

Learning outcomes

While elaborating on the real cases of policy engagement, students will learn about the possibilities and limits of a chosen policy action in particular social work institutional and organizational settings.
The course lays relevant foundations for 1) future policy-makers to critically assess volatile relations among the policy actors while creating policies and 2) future social workers to critically evaluate their prospective way of causing policy change.

Syllabus

• The course consists of three parts. The first part deals with general concepts explaining the nature of settings in which social work is provided, such as social institutions and organizations. The second part elucidates the nature of the policy process, policy streams, and coalitions of policy actors. Students will understand how policies are created, where, and by whom. The third part shows examples of social workers’ engagement as policy actors in policy streams and coalitions.
• Structure of lessons and reading
• 1. Institutions and organizations
• 2. Policy process and policy streams
• 3. Policy process and policy advocacy coalitions
• 4. Policy process and ideas
• 5. Policy engagement of social workers I. (examples of good practice)
• 6. Policy engagement of social workers II. (examples of good practice)
• 7. Presentation of collaborative papers

Literature

required literature
• Sabatier, P. A., & Jenkins-Smith, H. C. (Eds.). (1993). Policy change and learning: An advocacy coalition approach. Westview press. (selected pages)
• Almog-Bar, M., Weiss-Gal, I., & Gal, J. (2015). Bringing public policy into policy practice. Journal of Social Work, 15(4), 390-408.
• Ritter, J. A. 2022. Social work policy practice. San Diego: Cognella academic publishing. (selected pages)
• Béland, D., & Cox, R.H. (2016). Ideas as coalition magnets: Coalition building, policy entrepreneurs, and power relations. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(3), 428-445.
• Kingdon, J. W. (1995). Agendas, alternatives and public policies. New York, NY: Longman. (selected pages)
• Reay, T., Zilber, T.B., Langley, A., & Tsoukas, H. (2019). Institutions and organizations: A process view. Oxford University Press. (selected pages)

Teaching methods

Lectures, team discussions, group work, experts presentations

Assessment methods

A full attendance
A collaborative paper – a reflection of possibilities and limits of policy engagement
A presentation of the collaborative paper – a team presentation

Language of instruction

English

Further Comments

The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2022, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2022/SPRb1126