The Department of Social Work at UNISA places the emphasis on developmental social work and trains students according to the Person Centred Approach which emphasises the uniqueness of each client. The question thus arises if this Department is indeed working with their students in a person-centred way, and if students think the Department lives out a person-centred philosophy. Exploring the personal contexts of students would give the Department of Social Work the oppor-tunity to try and find a fit between the personal contexts of students and the national requirements of training. From a population of 114 fourth level students in Social Work at UNISA, a self-selected sample of 79% emerged. Focus is placed on the students' perceptions of following five areas: (1) the self, (2) family life and family of origin, (3) living and study conditions, (4) UNISA and social work training, (5) social work as future career. / Social Work / M.A. Social Science (Mental Health)

Compared to other South African universities, the Department of Social Work at the UNISA has the highest intake of social work students but also the lowest throughput. Through post-graduate research, the Department of Social Work became aware of the often impeding influence of the personal, social and learning contexts of social work students on their performance, and identified a need for social work-specific student support. The following central research question was formulated: What would a life coaching programme to support social work students within an ODL context comprise of? To explore and describe the specific support needs of social work students, the qualitative research approach was used and data was gathered from focus groups of social work students and individual interviews with recently graduated and employed social workers who studied at UNISA. Tesch’s steps (in Creswell, 2009:186) were used to analyse the data systematically and data was verified by integrating Guba’s model (in Krefting, 1991:214-222) with Yin’s (2011:19-20) three objectives for building trustworthiness and credibility. The Intervention Design and Development (IDD) model of Rothman and Thomas (1994) was adapted and selectively employed, concentrating on Phase 1, 2, 3 (only Step 2) and Phase 4 in order to develop a support programme for this specific context. The goals of the support programme were to enhance student success and throughput, facilitate the personal, academic and professional development of students and to empower students to take ownership of their learning process. An online self-coaching support programme was developed and structured around seven actions towards growth, namely, clarifying my strengths, connecting to my context, clarifying my vision, completing my plan, committing to action and growth, confirming my direction and celebrating completion. The programme is divided into eight coaching conversations, two per level, contains many activities, stories and references to resources. It is designed to be compulsory and integrated into the practical work modules. Although activities are to be completed independently by students, support will be provided by e-tutors, workshop facilitators and supervisors. A programme coordinator will be available online as an e-coach to provide ongoing support to social work students. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

Compared to other South African universities, the Department of Social Work at the UNISA has the highest intake of social work students but also the lowest throughput. Through post-graduate research, the Department of Social Work became aware of the often impeding influence of the personal, social and learning contexts of social work students on their performance, and identified a need for social work-specific student support. The following central research question was formulated: What would a life coaching programme to support social work students within an ODL context comprise of? To explore and describe the specific support needs of social work students, the qualitative research approach was used and data was gathered from focus groups of social work students and individual interviews with recently graduated and employed social workers who studied at UNISA. Tesch’s steps (in Creswell, 2009:186) were used to analyse the data systematically and data was verified by integrating Guba’s model (in Krefting, 1991:214-222) with Yin’s (2011:19-20) three objectives for building trustworthiness and credibility. The Intervention Design and Development (IDD) model of Rothman and Thomas (1994) was adapted and selectively employed, concentrating on Phase 1, 2, 3 (only Step 2) and Phase 4 in order to develop a support programme for this specific context. The goals of the support programme were to enhance student success and throughput, facilitate the personal, academic and professional development of students and to empower students to take ownership of their learning process. An online self-coaching support programme was developed and structured around seven actions towards growth, namely, clarifying my strengths, connecting to my context, clarifying my vision, completing my plan, committing to action and growth, confirming my direction and celebrating completion. The programme is divided into eight coaching conversations, two per level, contains many activities, stories and references to resources. It is designed to be compulsory and integrated into the practical work modules. Although activities are to be completed independently by students, support will be provided by e-tutors, workshop facilitators and supervisors. A programme coordinator will be available online as an e-coach to provide ongoing support to social work students. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

The Department of Social Work at UNISA places the emphasis on developmental social work and trains students according to the Person Centred Approach which emphasises the uniqueness of each client. The question thus arises if this Department is indeed working with their students in a person-centred way, and if students think the Department lives out a person-centred philosophy. Exploring the personal contexts of students would give the Department of Social Work the oppor-tunity to try and find a fit between the personal contexts of students and the national requirements of training. From a population of 114 fourth level students in Social Work at UNISA, a self-selected sample of 79% emerged. Focus is placed on the students' perceptions of following five areas: (1) the self, (2) family life and family of origin, (3) living and study conditions, (4) UNISA and social work training, (5) social work as future career. / Social Work / M.A. Social Science (Mental Health)

South Africa is currently facing a severe shortage of trained and competent social workers. Case loads have reached proportions of such magnitude that social workers in the field are battling to meet the needs of the people they serve, while still maintaining high ethical and professional standards. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the field of social work has currently redirected a major part of the focus of the profession on meeting the needs of child-headed households, to find and train foster parents for these children and generally to assist the poorest of the poor to access various grants applicable to their circumstances. This redirection appears also to have changed the emphasis regarding social work training requirements. Whereas in the past the newly qualified social worker was able to acquire additional skills in the workplace, under the guidance of experienced social workers, today it would seem that the demands of the work place are such that the social worker needs to take on significant responsibilities on entering the field. At the same time the Department of Social Services in South Africa is encouraging universities to increase the intake of social work students, in an attempt to meet this rising need for personnel trained to meet the current requirements of the clients of social work services. This exploratory research will focus on the applicability of UNISA (University of South Africa) social work training to these current requirements of social work by tapping into three different frames of reference: 1) The experiences and perceptions of the final year social work student in their placement setting, and particularly on whether they have felt their UNISA training equipped them for the work they are required to do. 2) The way the UNISA student is perceived by the practice setting personnel (contact person), and whether they meet the requirements of the field setting. 3) Input from the UNISA appointed supervisors responsible for the final year social work students' professional development in the field.The person-centred approach and the developmental approach have been briefly discussed in relation to social work in South Africa in the literature review and form the backdrop to this research, guiding the researcher in the exploration of the perceptions of the three different types of respondents. Post-modern theory is also at the root of the researcher's attempt to find fit between the different perceptions and the implications for social work training at a distance learning institute in South Africa today. / Social Work / M. A. (Mental Health)

South Africa is currently facing a severe shortage of trained and competent social workers. Case loads have reached proportions of such magnitude that social workers in the field are battling to meet the needs of the people they serve, while still maintaining high ethical and professional standards. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the field of social work has currently redirected a major part of the focus of the profession on meeting the needs of child-headed households, to find and train foster parents for these children and generally to assist the poorest of the poor to access various grants applicable to their circumstances. This redirection appears also to have changed the emphasis regarding social work training requirements. Whereas in the past the newly qualified social worker was able to acquire additional skills in the workplace, under the guidance of experienced social workers, today it would seem that the demands of the work place are such that the social worker needs to take on significant responsibilities on entering the field. At the same time the Department of Social Services in South Africa is encouraging universities to increase the intake of social work students, in an attempt to meet this rising need for personnel trained to meet the current requirements of the clients of social work services. This exploratory research will focus on the applicability of UNISA (University of South Africa) social work training to these current requirements of social work by tapping into three different frames of reference: 1) The experiences and perceptions of the final year social work student in their placement setting, and particularly on whether they have felt their UNISA training equipped them for the work they are required to do. 2) The way the UNISA student is perceived by the practice setting personnel (contact person), and whether they meet the requirements of the field setting. 3) Input from the UNISA appointed supervisors responsible for the final year social work students' professional development in the field.The person-centred approach and the developmental approach have been briefly discussed in relation to social work in South Africa in the literature review and form the backdrop to this research, guiding the researcher in the exploration of the perceptions of the three different types of respondents. Post-modern theory is also at the root of the researcher's attempt to find fit between the different perceptions and the implications for social work training at a distance learning institute in South Africa today. / Social Work / M. A. (Mental Health)