module specification

This module is designed to develop a critical awareness of policy changes, professional approaches and contexts, professionalism, organisational functioning to promote effective partnership working. Students will be introduced to and explore key organisational theories and practices and develop a critical understanding of the impact of organisational culture and change and policies upon professional practice. The module also develops student skills in effective teamwork, collaborative decision-making and negotiation through a series of participative learning experiences.

The aims of the module are to:

1. Provide an opportunity for social work and students from other courses to explore key theory, policy and practice elements of partnership working within a user-centred approach. This will involve a range of disciplines including social work, social care, health and housing
2. Enable students to experience, in a highly interactive way and within a safe environment, partnership working and organisational management relevant to partnership working, to inform present and future practice.
3. Develop student’s capability to reflect upon their own experiences of partnership working and explore factors that influence this, including finance and resource constraints, the ethical bases across the different professional groups and to examine how common values may underpin effective partnership working.
4. Locate the changing nature of organisations and evaluate the implications for effective inter-professional working within a theoretical and practice-based framework.

• Partnership working with stakeholders, customers, users, clients and carers
• Partnership working with colleagues within and across professional disciplines
• Interdisciplinary/inter-professional practice skills
• Interagency partnership working and policy
• Decision-making and negotiation skills
• Risk-management in partnership working
• Organisational contexts, theory and policy and practices
• Professionalism
• Professional codes of conduct/ethics
• Critical reflection

The purpose of the assessments is to reinforce students’ learning through a structured and time-bound process of reflection, structured learning activities and writing tasks. Students’ understanding of the module aims and learning outcomes will be assessed throughout the module through course work.  A range of assessment methods will be used for formative and summative assessment.
The modes of assessment include individual and group work exercises and self-assessments, reflective writing tasks, presentations and mini-simulated conferences/meetings, and a draft report plan. These are designed specifically to help students build the necessary knowledge and skills and so that formative feedback may be provided in a timely manner. These forms of assessment have been designed to test students’ knowledge of the key module themes and to demonstrate practice-based skills.  
The formal assessment is in two parts:

1. Students must participate in an inter-professional class based meeting to demonstrate key aspects of effective partnership working and self awareness (LO1, LO5)

2. Write a 3000 words report which has two elements
Part A: a personal reflective account of individual learning arising from the meeting and the module (500-700 words) (LO5)
Part B: a critical review of relevant theory, policy and ethical issues in relation to a case report, organisational frameworks and partnership working (2500 words) (LO2,3,4)

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

1. Identify and rehearse skills necessary for partnership working including inter-professional communication, networking, team-work, negotiation, and ethical decision-making.
2. Discuss the central concepts of partnership working, inter-professional learning and inter-professional working and be able to apply them to their own practice context.
3. Evaluate how different policies, professional codes, organisational frameworks, financial frameworks and approaches impact on partnership working with stakeholders, customers, users and carers within a context of policy change.
4. Discuss critically the factors that promote or hinder partnership working including vision, culture, equality and diversity, joint solutions, accountability, risk-management, information sharing, financial constraints and confidentiality.
5. Reflect on personal and professional self-awareness and critically analyse their practice and assumptions.

1. Students must participate in an inter-professional class based meeting to demonstrate key aspects of effective partnership working and self awareness (LO1, LO5)
2. 2. Write a 3000 words report which has two elements

Part A: a personal reflective account of individual learning arising from the meeting and the module (500 words) (LO5)

Part B: a critical review of relevant theory, policy and ethical issues in relation to a case report, organisational frameworks and partnership working together (2500 words) (LO2,3,4)

Audit Commission. (1998). A fruitful partnership: effective partnership working. London: Audit Commission
Brechin, A., Brown, H, &Eby, M.A. (eds) (2000) Critical Practice in Health & Social Care London: Sage OUP
Cameron, A., Lart, R., Bostock, L. and Coomber, C. (2015). Factors that promote and hinder joint and integrated working between health and social care services. London, SCIE
Glasby, J. & Dickinson, H (eds) (2008) Partnership Working in Health and Social Care Better Partnership Working Bristol:Policy
Glendinning C, Powell M & Rummery K (eds.) (2002) Partnerships, New Labour and the Governance of Welfare. Bristol: Policy Press
Her Majesty’s Government. (2015). Working Together to Safeguard Children: a guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. London: HMG
Molyneaux, J. (2001) Interprofessional Teamworking: what makes teams work? Journal of Interprofessional Care 15 (1) 29-35
Russell, I.M. (2005) A National Framework for Youth Action and Engagement: Report of the Russell Commission, London: Home Office.
Sullivan, H. and Skelcher, C. (2002) Working across Boundaries: Collaboration in Public
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Thompson, N. (2002) People Skills (2nd edn), Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wenger, E. (2002) Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press