| CODE | COU5304 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Experiencing Personal and Social Skills | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Counselling | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit intends to experientially help trainee teachers understand and explore the processes generally experienced by most groups and teams, as well as to equip participants with some of the basic skills necessary in order to facilitate daily interaction with others. It is also intended to familiarize participants with groups and teams. Moreover, it will help them practice and process some of the important skills necessary to function effectively as members of a group and/or team within diverse situations. This study-unit also introduces participants to personal values, attitudes and beliefs as persons interested in becoming professional educators. The method of learning and training is experiential since it is the objective of this study-unit to emphasize learning skills and not simply learning about them. It is therefore assumed that participants would practice the skills experienced in this study-unit outside the training group as well. The objective is to help them understand how skills, including processing, are practiced in context in preparation for their profession, which includes these skills as part and parcel of the learning outcomes of the subject. Further, in a context where processing is the lifeline of PSD, this will be addressed experientially throughout this study-unit. Processing is the technique which allows for the development of emotional literacy, and the ability to reflect and evaluate one’s own learning and performance. Any PSD strategies and techniques would be pointless if not followed by and incorporated within processing. Any exercise or activity carried out by the facilitator during a PSD session MUST be followed and concluded by processing. Without correct processing, students would not be able to integrate and internalise what they have experienced during the particular exercise, and hence will also not be able to transfer the learning they have experienced to real life. This would impede true personal growth and change, thus defeating the aim and rationale of PSD. The participants must therefore understand and be able to use this technique extremely well. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to: - Help participants understand the processes generally experienced by most groups and teams; - Introduce participants to basic skills necessary to facilitate daily interaction with others; - Familiarize participants with what happens in groups and teams; - Provide the opportunity for participants to practice and analyse some of the important skills necessary to function effectively as members of a group and/or team; - Help participants understand how to cope with diverse situations; - Introduce participants to personal values, attitudes and beliefs as persons interested in becoming PSD specialists; - Address sexuality and related issues; - Introduce participants to the concept of processing from an experiential perspective; - Give trainee PSD teachers the opportunity to both experience processing, explore its implementation in the classroom setting and explore its relevance to the development of emotional literacy. This will also be linked to the observations carried out in schools. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe and explain processes generally experienced by most groups and teams as experienced in the learning setting and observed in different educational settings; - Describe and explain what happens in groups and teams as experienced in the learning setting and observed in different educational settings; - Apply skills presented in diverse situations; - Recognize personal values, attitudes and beliefs necessary for persons interested in becoming PSD specialists; - Discuss issues of sexuality and how these issues may impact the teacher and the learner; - Explain what processing is; - Explain the experience of processing; - Discuss how the PSD teacher’s self-awareness impacts the planning and implementation of lessons; - Discuss and analyse processing in the classroom; - Discuss the use of processing for the development of emotional literacy. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify and practice basic skills necessary to facilitate daily interaction with others; - Practice and analyse some of the important skills necessary to function effectively as members of a group and/or team; - Appraise and analyse personal values, attitudes and beliefs necessary for persons interested in becoming PSD specialists; - Identify challenging personal issues, including issues of sexuality; - Plan personal strategies to address challenging personal issues; - Recognize and experience processing skills as observed and experienced during sessions and as observed in classrooms; - Critique the experiencing of their processing within the group. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Camilleri, S., Caruana, A., Falzon, R., & Muscat, M. (2012) The Promotion of Emotional Literacy through PSD - The Maltese Experience. In Pastoral care in education: An international journal of personal, social and emotional development, 30 (1), pp. 19-37. - Carter, P. (2011). Test your Emotional Intelligence: Improve Your EQ and Learn How to Impress Potential Employers (Testing Series). London: Kogan Page. - Stevens, R. (Ed.) (1996) Understanding the Self. London: Sage. (Published in association with Milton Keynes: The Open University) Original handouts, resources and exercises given throughout the study-unit Supplementary Readings: - Albom M. (1958). Tuesdays with Morrie; an old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson. Doubleday, New York. - Frankl V. (1959). Man’s search for meaning New York: Pocket Books. - Goleman D. (1996). Emotional intelligence; why it can matter more than I.Q. London: Bloomsbury Publ. Co. - Harris A. T. (1970). I’m OK- you’re OK. London: Pan Books Ltd. - Hopson B and Scally M. 1991. Lifeskills teaching USA: McGraw Hill Book Company. - Johnson D.W. 1997. Reaching out - interpersonal effectiveness and self actualization 6th Edition. USA: Allyn and Bacon. - Josselson R. (1996). The space between us; exploring the dimensions of human relationships. USA: Sage. - Mcnamara M. 1995. Lifeskills: a positive approach London: Souvenir Press. - Nelson-Jones R. 1991. Lifeskills: a handbook London: Cassell Educational Limited. |
|||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
|||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Marlene Cauchi |
|||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
||||||||||