UDLSCMFY - BSc (Hons) Leadership in Communities (including foundation year)

The foundation year of the four-year Community Development and Leadership degree helps prepare students with non-traditional qualifications, lower UCAS points and mature students wanting to return to education, for level 4 study at undergraduate level. It teaches students the academic study skills, digital skills, research techniques and critical thinking that they will need for undergraduate study as well as introducing them to basic ideas, approaches and themes in social sciences and their pathway choice. The foundation year also aims to develop their independent learning, supporting them to become confident and proactive students, able to operate effectively at undergraduate level within a large university.

The BSc Leadership in Communities (LIC) (including foundation year) is designed to provide students with an understanding of the principles of community development, and of leadership within communities. Academic, transferable and employability skills are developed from student induction. Tailored support for academic skills is provided at all levels. Students are encouraged to reflect of their own learning and practices, and are supported to move to independent learning.

Theory and practice are blended through, for example, real-world projects and the third-year placement module. Interactive lectures, seminars and workshops are complemented by activities including visits, conferences, guest lectures and tutorials. Employability skills are developed throughout the course, and are embedded in core modules in the final year. The BSc Leadership in Communties (levels 4, 5 and 6) is accredited by two professional bodies, the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Institute for Leadership and Management, giving students access to additional materials and to professional networks.

On-line resources are provided through the Virtual Learning Environment, and through on-line reading lists and links, and additional support is provided through peer support success coaches and academic mentors.

Teaching and learning is informed by the university strategy, and integrated with a range of other sources, including professional requirements, the requirements of the employment market and the QAA Youth and Community Work Benchmark. The content of the degree reflects the University Equality and Social Justice Framework (ESJF), with issues of equality and diversity embedded across all core modules, and in a suite of optional modules that allow students to pursue particular aspects of the ESJF.

The preparatory level 3 year aims to support and prepare students to become "undergraduate ready". This will be done by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and understanding in social sciences and their pathway choice, the key digital and academic skills in order to communicate their ideas effectively (orally and in writing), using an appropriate academic style, that will allow them to progress onto level 4. It also aims to develop their understanding of different assessments and learning and teaching styles in HE and to build their confidence by experiencing and understanding theories and knowledge through personalisation and reflective learning techniques.

The BSc Leadership in Communities (including foundation year) aims to engage students in learning that integrates subject knowledge, professional practice and theory. The course aims to develop students who are socially mobile, socially aware and driven by values such as social justice and equality. Students will be able to apply knowledge related to community development and leadership, and will develop transferable and employability skills. The course aims to develop individuals who will embody community spirit, authentic leadership and resilience, using professional skills to transform their own lives, and the prospects of marginalised communities and individuals

1. To offer a course relevant to a range of careers in the area of voluntary and community sector leadership as well as a range of partnerships with statutory and/or private organisations.
2. To facilitate the acquisition of a range of social, cultural and management theories and discourses relating to issues of policy, practice and action affecting communities.
3. To enable students to identify and communicate effectively public policy and public sector management issues arising out of political, economic, historical, cultural, social and technological changes.
4. To enable students to understand the ethical dimensions of and tensions inherent in public (global and local) policy making and implementation.
5. To enable students to engage in progressively rigorous comparative theoretical analysis.
6. To facilitate the development of knowledge, understanding and practical skills involved in social investigation and/or community project development, apply their learning by choosing appropriate qualitative and quantitative research and project design and data collection methods.
7. To enable students to make dispassionate use of data as evidence in assessing priorities, seeking funding bids and quality assurance processes.
8. To facilitate the ability of students to plan and execute an independent, in-depth piece of work.
9. To enable students to become confident ICT users.
10. To enable students to apply and reflect on their learning during work placements and/or voluntary work in the context of cultural diversity and social exclusion, and hence engage in self-evaluation.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within ommunity development and Leadership
2. devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of community development and leadership, particularly issues relating to equality, diversity and social justice
3. describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in community development and leadership, recognising the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge;
4. manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to community development and leadership);
5. apply the methods and techniques that they have learned to review, consolidate, extend and apply their knowledge and understanding, and to initiate and carry out projects;
6. critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem;
7. communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
8. exercise initiative and personal responsibility, including decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts, and within the context of partnership and collaborative working;
9. undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature; and
10. demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity and will act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible practitioners/professionals in their discipline.

Youth and Community Work

At level 3 students will be thoroughly prepared for a range of different assessments to give practice in the types of assessments they will face at higher levels. Examples include research reports, in-class tests, written portfolios, individual oral presentations, group led seminars, literature reviews and essays. These assessments are spread over 8 15 credit modules which allows for early assessment and feedback, giving students a clear sense of progress at the end of semester one. Students have opportunities in all level 3 modules for formative feedback via draft submissions and one to one tutorials, which focus on strategies to improve their work and reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. Further formative feedback is received through regular short in class and online tests, peer assessment and discussions and tutor oral and written responses.

Students are supported to progress from level 3 to subsequent levels through the careful use of formative and summative assessment which test a range of skills. Clear feedback and feed forward are provided, enabling students to improve performance. Marking is explained in each module, and through a series of skills sessions, which enable students to engage critically and mark examples of work.

The purpose of the assessments is to reinforce students’ learning through a structured and time-bound process of reflection, presentation and writing. Students understanding of each of the module aims and learning outcomes will be assessed throughout each module. A range of assessment methods will be used for formative and summative assessment. The forms of assessment have been designed to test students’ knowledge of each of the modules.

Formative assessment, and draft work is considered and commented on. Comments on draft work are provided a week before the final hand in date, so that students have opportunities to amend their work.

Students are assessed through a variety of methods (assessment components) including online platforms, podcasts and oral presentations; research reports; practical reports and literature reviews; case studies; and essays. Transferable skills have been embedded in the learning outcomes of the core modules.

Assessment is the responsibility of the academic staff delivering the modules, and the team works collaboratively to develop assessments, mark assessments and ensure that marking is carried out fairly and to the right level.

The teaching team provides opportunities for draft submissions, and clear developmental feedback on formative and summative assessments. Students will be given clear deadlines for handing in drafts and, if they meet these deadlines, will be guaranteed to receive feedback in time to allow them to improve their final submission.

The varied diet and content of assessment reflects the University Equality and Social Justice Framework, allowing students to demonstrate skills across a number of domains.

Employment-related skills are embedded throughout the course, and students engage with employers through guest lectures and work-related conferences. Transferable skills relevant to employment, such as report writing, professional presentation skills and written/oral skills are tested through assessments in a number of modules. Students are encouraged to develop skills through voluntary work, and there is a core 45-credit placement module in year three. The supervised placement requires students to integrate their learning with the realm of real-world challenges and opportunities, and helps students enhance the leadership skills developed in leadership and social enterprise modules.

Part time provision will be based on a single-day delivery, allowing for issues of timetabling. Full time study is based on two-day delivery (each teaching week)

There are no course-specific regulations.

Preparatory Certificate

4 core modules at level 3 (60 credits)

Preparatory Diploma

8 core modules at level 3 (120 credits)

Certificate in Higher Education

4 core modules at level 4 (120 credits)

Diploma in Higher Education

4 core modules at level 4 (120 credits) plus:

4 core modules at level 5 (90 credits) plus any option (30 credits). Total: 240 credits

Throughout the foundation year students will be required to reflect on their learning, identify areas of strength and weakness and develop action plans in response to these reflections. This will occur informally through tutor and peer feedback and also formally through reflective writing as part of the assessments and the written and oral response from tutors to this. We expect that through this experience of reflective learning, students will start to understand the value of being proactive, independent learners, ready for their first year of undergraduate study.

Reflective learning and personal development are core to the values and principles of community development, and to development of leadership skills. As such personal development planning and reflective learning, reflective practices, target setting, review and self-assessment are embedded throughout the course. A range of activities ask students to apply these to themselves, their personal aspirations, their work/volunteering experience, and future work in a community context. Opportunities for collaborative learning are designed to enable students to progress from being a passive to an active and reflective learner in control of own learning and to support others in making developmental decisions and choices.

Students will reflect critically on the relationship between theory and practice, and will consolidate this through the placement and dissertation in the final year. Independent learning skills are developed throughout the course, with supervisors providing support to final-year work.

Both reflective learning and personal development are rooted in principles of equality, diversity and social justice, enabling students to engage with anti-oppressive practice in the community. These principles are embedded in all core modules, and students are able to pursue their own interests through optional modules.

National Occupational Standards for Community Development

We have an excellent record in progressing students into professional careers and/or further studies. Student engagement in the employment market is encouraged through work-related and work-based activities throughout the course. These include: bespoke leadership modules which integrate theory and practice in community-related areas; the use of associate lecturers who provide cutting edge professional input; regular guest speakers from a range of third sector, public and private organisations; employment-related conferences; placements; and the development of employability skills through bespoke training in the final year of study.

Graduates from community development and youth related courses can enter a wide range of careers including social research, community work, counselling, teaching, youth justice and social policy.

In addition to the University's standard requirements, you should have:

• at least one A level (or a minimum of 32 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC Subsidiary/National/BTEC Extended Diploma)
• English Language GCSE at grade C (grade 4) or above (or equivalent)

If you are a mature student with significant work experience, you are invited to apply for this course on the basis of the knowledge and skills you have developed through your work.