Master of Social Work

• To equip students with a specialised understanding of the problems pertinent to a particular field of specialisation in social work and of relevant past and current approaches to these problems.
• To equip students with the research ability/problem solving capacity to participate in the search for productive approaches to these problems.
• To prepare students for participation in scholarly debates within the discipline and preparing them to teach in social work.
• To prepare students for doctoral work in the field of social work.
• To produce individuals who are qualified to engage in identifying, managing and solving important problems in various sectors of the social welfare field and the profession of social work.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Access may be gained to the qualification through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Entry Requirements

• Honours Degree in the related field or equivalent qualification, Level 8.

The programme extends over a period of one year. Learners must attend a course on research that does not contribute to the performance mark, and conduct an independent research project under the guidance of a supervisor. The outcomes of the programme have a direct connection with a specific field in social work and satisfy the requirements that are set by the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP).

Compulsory module: 12846 Thesis (Social Work) 871(180 Credits) (NQF Level 09).

Critical cross-field outcomes

The successful Master of Arts (Social Work) student will have

1. Mastered research skills and the logic of scholarly argument.
2. Developed a capacity for theoretical, self-reflexive, and critical thinking and solving of problems.
3. The ability to think in terms of theory, as an instrument for understanding reality.
4. The ability to work systematically and independently in approaching and solving abstract and complex problems.
5. The ability to present, and challenge, scholarly positions in forums/publications of substance.
6. The ability to identify and apply criteria of relevance and significance pertinent to various contexts of inquiry.

Specific Outcomes

The successful Master of Arts (Social Work) student will

1. Have specialised knowledge of theoretical and methodological traditions in social work.
2. Be thoroughly familiar with academic, ethical, and/or professional standards in the social work discipline.
3. Be able to identify and formulate pertinent research problems in social work and to apply appropriate knowledge and skills to solve them.
4. Be able to critically appraise accepted solutions to these problems by identifying and evaluating the assumptions on which they rest.
5. Be able to develop, in a self-critical way, new/more adequate solutions to these problems.
6. Be able to report the findings in the appropriate scholarly format.

1. The assessment used for this qualification complies with the stated purposes of the qualifications.
2. A range of formative and summative assessments is used, but the emphasis falls on a thesis or interrelated series of assignments in which students have to display the desired outcomes. Written and oral examinations and presentations, role-playing simulations, assignments, and case studies may also be used as instruments of assessment.
3. The appropriate kinds of assessment are used in an integrated manner to determine whether the specified outcomes have been achieved (see 6 below).
4. The assessment used meets the standard and level of achievement for Level 8.

Integrated Assessment

Integrated Assessment is accomplished by examining a thesis or a series of interrelated assignments that reflect the desired outcomes. The thesis or series of assignments represents an integrated summation of the level of knowledge and insight gained by the successful student as well as of his/her academic and communicative abilities.