Tools for Understanding Social Situations
Code: 43657 ECTS Credits: 9| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Social Policy and Community Action | OB | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Carolina Alejandra Muņoz Mendoza
- Email:
- carolina.munoz@uab.cat
Teachers
- (External) Sandra Ezquerra
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The objective of this course is for students to carry out concrets exercises analyzing contemporary social reality, using systematic observation and study tools, that contribute to improving social and community policies and programs.
Learning Outcomes
- CA09 (Competence) Create own resources for the application of participatory invigoration techniques, which address the complexity of social policies and specific community actions.
- CA10 (Competence) Adapt teamwork tools generating synergies that promote the definition of responsibilities, coordination of tasks and mutual collaboration.
- KA09 (Knowledge) Recognise the main theoretical responses for the understanding of social reality, emphasising the role of social policies at the local level.
- KA10 (Knowledge) Identify the institutional design, organisational models and interconnection of social policies at the local level, distinguishing related actors and their roles.
- SA09 (Skill) Analyse specific cases of social policies and community actions, from a perspective of complex social reality.
- SA10 (Skill) Analyse alternatives for solutions and/or areas for improvement that can strengthen methods for facing complexity in social policies and community actions.
Content
• Approaches to the analysis of contemporary social reality.
• Social policies and analysis of social reality at the local level.
• Institutional design and regional and municipal organizational models.
• Relationship between regional and municipal social projects, programs, and plans in the implementation of social policies.
• Relationship between social policies, political mandate, professional positioning, and population demands.
• Limits and opportunities for community action based on its relationship with policies defined at the supra-municipal level.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Case study visits, Master classes, Guest talks, Debates, Observations,Tours, Walks. | 50 | 2 | CA09, CA10, KA09, KA10, SA09, SA10, CA09 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Theoretical-conceptual and practical application exercises | 22.5 | 0.9 | CA09, CA10, KA09, KA10, SA09, SA10, CA09 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Readings, Information search, Observations, Review and/or creation of written, educational or audiovisual materials, Reflections, notes and personal study, Essays, among others. | 102.5 | 4.1 | CA09, CA10, KA09, KA10, SA09, SA10, CA09 |
The course is based on and applies the “Empirical Case Methodology” and, more specifically, “Case Analysis for Training or Educational Purposes.” The central focus is on “practical case studies,” where students will make in-person (field) visits to different areas of Catalonia to learn about specific experiences with social and community policies and programs and the various actors involved.
The activities combine theoretical-conceptual classes, including one specifically on the methodology of practical case studies, where students will learn about its fundamentals, characteristics, and applications as a framework prior to the field visits. The other classes include contemporary approaches to the analysis of social reality with the aim of providing a preliminary analytical framework that students will have to apply to the cases. Subsequently, the practical case studies themselves are carried out, including a contextualization session, field visits, and an analysis and closing session, where guidance is provided on the final projects that students will have to submit.
Each case study combines lectures with field visits, readings, group and/or individual exercises, and support for their completion.
Prior to the visits, students will have to seek contextual information about the territories to be visited, beyond what is provided in the course.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise during the course nš1 | 20% | 20 | 0.8 | KA10, SA09 |
| Exercise during the course nš2 | 20% | 20 | 0.8 | KA09, SA10 |
| Final Exercise Case 5.1 | 60% | 10 | 0.4 | CA09, CA10, KA09, KA10, SA09, SA10 |
The assessment system will consist of three assessment activities: two during the course (partial grades) and one at the end. The instructor's evaluation will be determined by specific criteria focused on the students' ability to integrate all the content covered in the classes, the visits, the supplementary materials, and the discussions generated with the students themselves.
Prior to each assessment, students will be informed of the specific criteria under which their work will be assessed, and the corresponding grade will be assigned.
Students will have access to spaces at the center where classes are held to promote exchange and shared reflection when completing their assessment work.
Attendance at all activities in this course is 100% mandatory; absences from any of these activities must be justified by the Master's Coordinator and, if authorized, may not exceed 20%.
A student will be considered to have obtained a grade of Not Assessable if they have attended fewer than 80% of the module sessions without authorization from the Master's Coordinator, even if they have previously submitted a project and received a partial grade.
Bibliography
Alinsky, S. Tratado para radicales.
Software
No software is required.
Groups and Languages
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |