This unit will provide the opportunity for candidates to:

• Develop the skills, knowledge and attributes required to teach, mentor, support and assess; qualifying students, social care staff, qualified social workers and other allied professionals for the purpose of developing their professional capability and raising the quality of services for users and carers.
• Demonstrate that they have met the relevant standards for practice educators specified by their appropriate professional body.

Indicative unit content

• Introduction to adult teaching, learning and assessment theories with an emphasis on their critical application to work-based learning situations.
• Models and methods of managing learning and assessment in the workplace that promote an effective learning environment, encourage learners to take responsibility for their own learning and support a partnership approach that involves the learner, service users / carers, colleagues and other professionals.
• Learner centred strategies that support effective experiential and reflective learning.
• Models and methods for the collection, critical evaluation and standardisation of assessment information including the use of professional assessment frameworks and procedures to benchmark and guide assessment decisions.
• Strategies for providing feedback to learners that encourage self-evaluation and promote development.
• Strategies for evaluating the overall learning process including the contribution that practice educators make to the promotion of a wider learning culture within their organisation.
• Work-based learning experience gained from supporting, enabling and assessing a professional learner in practice.
• Self- managed activities to extend learning and support critical reflection on practice experience.

Learning and teaching methods
This unit takes a blended learning approach requiring attendance at workshops, the completion of structured self-managed learning tasks together with relevant practice-based experience. Workshops introduce the unit and offer opportunities for small and large group work to facilitate critically reflective discussion and encourage theory to practice links to be made. Twelve hours of contact time is provided in the workshops with students expected to undertake a large proportion of self-managed activities and research to support, personalise and extend their learning.

Work-based experiential learning is an essential element of the process, with candidates normally required to be involved in organising, teaching and assessing professional learners whilst undertaking the unit under the supervision of University prepared supervisors and mentors.

This course requires 100% attendance.

This course is for Social Workers only
Students must normally hold a relevant professional qualification and have a minimum of two years post- qualifying experience by the time they start the unit.

Normally students may enter Level 7 (Master's level) study if they have been awarded

• Undergraduate degree (honours or non-honours)
• An equivalent qualification (the learning outcome of which are demonstrably appropriate in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills) equivalent to 120 credits at Level 6.

If you do not meet this criteria you are still able to apply for this unit but we may ask you to complete a study skills handbook to familiarise yourself with academic writing at masters level or pre-admission work. This will be sent to you when we have received your application form.

This unit is also available at Level 6 (degree level).

Fees and funding:

You will need to pay or indicate employer support of payment for unit or course fees to the university.

Applicants should contact their employing organisation for further details.

Pre-purchased places

The Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has contractual arrangements with NHS organisations, Local Authorities and the Pan-Dorset & Wiltshire Teaching Partnership for pre-paid places on specified modules. If you work within Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset or Hampshire and Isle of Wight you may be able to access the pre-paid places. These arrangements allow organisations to nominate the staff they wish to send on each unit or course.

The pre-arranged agreements allow individuals, such as yourself, a route to access appropriate professional development opportunities that are seen as strategically important to your organisation (in consultation with your Line Manager/Education Co-ordinator). All requests for pre-paid places must first be agreed by your organisation prior to completing an application.

• ILO’s 1-3 will be assessed by a record of practice requirements which must include some evidence drawn from an observation of practice and have third party verification (normally line manager) (1,500 word equivalent) Pass/Fail
• ILO’s 4-5 will be assessed by a reflective assignment (1,500 words) 100%.

Having completed this unit the student is expected to:

1. Organise, monitor and critically evaluate opportunities for professional practice learning and the assessment of capability in practice
2. Enable learning and professional development in others by selecting, and implementing appropriate learning and teaching strategies in a work environment.
3. Take responsibility for aspects of the assessment of learners in practice, using an appropriate range of methods, basing assessment decisions on relevant evidence and using professional judgement to resolve any inconsistencies in the evidence available.
4. Critically reflect on their practice, including consideration of application of professional and personal values to practice education, demonstrating the ability to synthesise information, gain new insights and develop original responses to problems.
5. Demonstrate a systematic understanding of relevant literature including a critical awareness of current issues and recent research and an ability to critically apply appropriate theoretical frameworks in practice

Course review:

In order to take advantage of new approaches to learning and teaching, as well as developments in practice to benefit our students we regularly review all of our courses. This course is currently going through this process and we will update this page to give you full information about what we will be offering once the review process has concluded.  These changes will come into effect for all new students from September 2025. Applicants will be notified by our admissions team of any changes.