Programme summary for MA MA International Social Welfare and Community Development

About the programme

This MA offers an opportunity for qualified social workers or community development workers to share in learning about social work and community development across the globe. Participants are part of a multicultural peer group recruited from both countries around the world and locally.

The course content is highly innovative in that it explores and analyses social change and professional responses in a globalised world and equips you for future local or international practice in community development or social work. The dissertation enables you to tailor your research to reflect your own interests and to select your own topic, so long as this is comparative. The emphasis is very much on learning from other countries and cultures. The varied teaching, learning and assessment methods draw on your own experience and are underpinned by principles of adult learning, individual responsibility and group support.

Programme structure

The MA in International Social Work and Community Development programme comprises two core modules ‘International Social Work’ and ‘Researching and Learning’, supplemented by two option modules taken from within a wide range offered by the University. These are followed by a dissertation.
Students are expected to choose two options from a selection of modules that are appropriate to social work or community development. There is an opportunity for students to focus on social work with refugees and asylum seekers, by taking options from the MA in Refugee Studies programme. Students may prefer to focus on community development, and will find a number of international development modules relevant to their interests, for example human rights law. Alternatively, students may simply wish to extend their knowledge by undertaking option modules that have more general relevance to their professional careers, choosing options from a wide range available at Masters level. Teaching on the compulsory ‘Researching and Learning’ module may be shared with other students on MA Programmes in the School.

Intake is in September, with a possible February start for students wishing to undertake the course part-time. The four taught modules are offered across Semesters A and B (that is, over one academic year for full-time students and over two years for part-time students). Students proceeding to the MA undertake a fifth module (the dissertation) in the third (or fifth) semester. The course for full-time students therefore extends beyond a calendar year although students from abroad may return to home countries for the third semester.

Career opportunities

A qualification at master’s level is normally essential for people seeking employment in international welfare and humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations and major non-governmental organisations. Graduates of this MA have taken up a variety of social work or community development posts in the UK or their country of origin, as well as in NGOs. Examples of subsequent employment include: work in a UN resettlement programme; as a social-work lecturer with special interest in development of mental health services in Bangladesh; as a manager of a social care unit in Greece; and as a social worker with asylum seekers in the Netherlands. The award also lays the basis for progression to further research, which may be either agency based or through a PhD, or onto a professional doctorate.

Support

Support to students is provided initially through module leaders who are knowledgeable about their teaching areas, and who are able to monitor the input of students to classes as well as their progress in assessment. The Programme Leader provides more general tutorial support, and the emphasis is also placed on the role of the student group as being both a resource and providing peer support.
Research training is given in relevant selected methods and, given the nature of the course, significant use is made of e-mail communications and the Virtual Learning Environment (UEL Plus). Social Work at UEL has strong collaborative links with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust which has a national and international reputation in the field of children and families work and mental health, and there is a joint Social Work Research Centre which encourages staff and postgraduate students to have their research published and disseminated. A number of former students on this programme have had their dissertations written up as articles in refereed journals, and staff are delighted to assist with this.

Admission

A good Hons degree in a relevant subject. Applicants must also have a professional qualification either in social work or in community development. All applicants must demonstrate a clear commitment to social work and / or community development, including previous experience in the field.
A selection is made on the basis of a written application supported by two satisfactory references. It is not based on interviews but communication by e-mail. Decisions will be based on evidence of the following:

• a professional qualification in social work or community development (or nationally accepted equivalent from their own country);
• an indication (e.g. through personal statement) that the applicant has relevant previous experience and that the course is appropriate to future work plans;
• evidence of ability to study at advanced level
• realistic plans for financial support, including during any study or project period abroad.

Note: This is an advanced course and not a conversion course. It is therefore not suitable for applicants without prior qualifications in social work or a related profession or for applicants wishing to gain a basic professional qualification in the UK.
UK applicants should also note that they must be qualified social workers in order to register for this programme as the term "social work" is protected by UK law. UK applicants who are community development workers without social work qualifications may instead apply for the MA in Refugee Studies and Community Development.

In the case of applicants whose first language is not English, then IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent) is required. International qualifications will be checked for appropriate matriculation to UK Higher Education postgraduate programmes.

Students who apply to enter stages of the programme may be admitted through normal Accreditation of Experiential Learning (AEL) or Accreditation of Certificated Learning (ACL) processes, or through an approved articulation agreement. Therefore such applicants must be able to demonstrate and evidence that they have the required learning outcomes as listed in the modules for which they are seeking exemption.

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