Page 241 - SYU Prospectus

Social Work

Department of Social Work

Mission and Goals

The mission of the Department of Social Work is to provide quality education to our
younger generation to contribute to the betterment of society. Through education, research and
advocacy, the Department is committed to nurture our students to become competent and
compassionate social workers and leaders of the future.

Features

Our Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) programme is the only one in Hong Kong which
offers three fieldwork placements for our students. The three fieldwork placements allow
students to further consolidate their knowledge and provide them with additional opportunities
and exposure in different service areas. Staring from 2021, overseas placements in Singapore
and Canada will be arranged for students to undertake their second block placement in
summer. The overseas placements are designed to broaden students’ exposures to different
cultures and social welfare systems and enable them to widen their global perspective,
professional experience and development.

The importance of generating new knowledge is also an important feature of the BSW
programme. Each student has to design and conduct an honours research study on a social
work-related issue in their third and fourth year of study. The Honours Project has proven to be
a great asset for our students in their future career development. Together with the three
placements, our students will be able to acquire a strong academic and practice foundation,
allowing them to become competent and compassionate social workers.

The design of the BSW (Hons.) programme has adopted a generic knowledge building
approach with emphasis on integration of theories and practices. The core requirements of the
professional social work training are placed over the four years programme covering
introduction to social welfare and social work, theories and methods working with individuals,
families and neighbourhoods, programme evaluation and social policy planning, practice
seminar and self-understanding. The curriculum is regularly reviewed to include new emerging
social issues and innovative interventions in the social work profession.

Special effort is also made to nurture teacher-student relationships during their
undergraduate studies. The establishment of Year Coordinators for each year of the cohort
allows the building of close support and relationship between teachers and students. Such
teacher-student relationship is conducive to the education and learning process and has
proven to be invaluable and very much treasured by our students over the years.

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