1. Social Work from the User's Perspective
Elective course, ECTS: 3
2nd semester, 1st year

2. Course Description
Interactive classes based on principles of active learning and critical thinking, outreach practice based on the concept of service learning.
Concept of active learning and critical thinking in social work;
Principles, prerequisites and ethics of user involvement in social work practice; research and education;
Examples of good practice of users involvement into the theory and practice of social work;
Field visits to associations institutions ;
Writing reports in small groups, presenting reports from field visits; Conclusion and evaluation.

3. Plan of the course
Introduction, course description, expectations and tasks.
No lecture on this date
Principles, prerequisites and ethics of user involvement in social work practice research and education
Preparation for field visit and group task.
Examples of good practice of users involvement into the theory and practice of social work;
Field visits to associations institutions;
Writing reports in small groups, presenting reports from field visits; Kolokvij.
Presenting reports from field visits; Results of exam. Conclusion and evaluation.

4. After successfully completing the course, students will:
Be able to define and understand principles of user's involvement and historical context and the importance of the user's perspective in social work
Be able to define and recognise ethics of participation in the decision-making process in social work and the level of respecting the user's perspective in examples from practice
Gain insight into the examples of users involvement in social work in other countries and be able to recognise and analyze examples of good practice
Gain insight and be able to recognise and analyze key obstacles to the users involvement in decision-making processes and creation of services in social work
Get direct experience of interviewing users about their expectations from social workesr and be able to analyze these experiences in group discussion
Recognise, analyze and evaluate their own experience and contribution in the process of learning

5. Expectations from students:
Final grade is defined as a result of written exam, oral presentation from a field trip (gropup task) and essay (homework).
Group presentation (2 points)
Essay (homework) (2 points)
Writen exam (10 points)
Talking hours (previous appointment by mail):
Wednesdays 11: :00, room 13

6. Literature: Urbanc: Lectures
Ljetopis socijalnog rada, (2009) 16, 2. (thematic issue on users involvement in social work practice)
Urbanc, Kristina; Bratković, Daniela; Lisak, Natalija (2014.) Civil society organisations as a vital support for persons with disability in Croatia. // Socialno delo. 53 (2014) , 3; 85-96
Sewpaul, V. i Jones, D. (2004) Global standards for social work education and training. Social Work education, 23, 5,
Beresford, P., Branfield, F., Taylor, J., Brennan, M. Sartori, A., Lalani and Wise, G. (2006) Working together for Better Social Work Education. Social Work Education, 25, 4,