Pre-requisites

YT501 Theories of Youth Work

Co-requisites

None.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

• Design program objectives, a program budget and an integrated evaluation strategy

• Organise program implementation in a youth service organisation

• Explain key group work theories, concepts, processes and dynamics and apply these to practice

• Demonstrate knowledge and skills for planning and evaluating small group experiences

• Utilising a Christian worldview, Demonstrate theoretical knowledge and practice skills for facilitating, participating in, and providing group leadership in small work groups / teams

• Drawing on literature, demonstrate problem analysis and theory of change in relation to an identified social issue

Unit Description

Groups are powerful instruments of personal and social change. Group members can effectively harness the energy and power and resources to achieve a group’s purpose. This unit introduces frameworks, concepts, strategies and skills for maximising the benefits of group work in formal and informal settings for service-users or organisational work teams.

Group work theories will be explored in their application to youth work practice with groups in a range of settings including secular and Christian environments. Concern for social justice will provide a philosophical underpinning in the unit; critical youth work perspectives will provide the overarching theoretical framework with attention to race, gender, culture and other power dimensions in group processes and dynamics. Focus will be on the diversity of groups and group work in practice; planning and evaluating groups; understanding and managing group processes and dynamics; and self-reflective practice in groups.

Throughout this unit we also focus on providing students with a theoretical and practical understanding of program design as an organised response to social problems. Students will develop skills in program development and design, implementation, program resourcing/budgeting and evaluation.

Topics

• Introduction
• Group development
  • Planning groups and getting started
  • Understanding group dynamics and processes
  • Group facilitation and skills for managing ‘sticky issues’
  • Work groups and team work
  • Therapeutic Groups
  • Group Leadership
• Program Design
  • Experiential Learning and Cooperative Learning
  • Problem and Needs Analysis
  • Theory of Change
  • Program Design
  • Program Evaluation

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Unit offerings

Face to face: Semester 2, 2025 (Every Year, Semester 2)
Face to face: (Every Year, Semester 2)

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.