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EDAC600 to EDAC634

 

EDAC600 Human Relationships and Professional Effectiveness                                                           10 cp

 

In this unit participants will be encouraged to view human relations and professional effectiveness as a creative venture in response to the opportunities, conflicts and contingencies of life. Reflective processes, personality indicators, stories and personal experience will be used to uncover how different personalities develop, operate and affect each other. Participants will be encouraged to identify patterns of values, needs, interests, abilities, limitations, biases, communication and survival games most characteristic of themselves and others, and to examine the effect of these on human relations and professional activities.

 

EDAC601 Advocacy and Negotiation                                                                                                    10 cp

 

Many issues of concern confront disadvantaged groups in Australian society such as people with disabilities. Advocacy is one way to represent the values and interests of these groups and communities. This unit focuses on the practice of advocacy on public issues of concern.

Advocacy not only is a critical practice area for community workers and activists, it is also an area of which any responsible citizen needs to be aware. Students in this unit will develop knowledge and practical skills in the advocacy process. Planning is a key focus, with practical skill development in lobbying, negotiating, direct action, making submissions and using the media. Considerable time will be given to the process of negotiation. Case studies of campaigns will be used to explore these practice areas.

 

EDAC603 Adult Education for a Culturally Diverse Society                                                                  10 cp

 

This unit explores the issues surrounding the education of adults of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia. During the unit, participants will examine issues such as: policies and programs related to cultural diversity, the education of adults of non-English speaking backgrounds; adult education within a community context, the effects of immigration and settlement on adult learning styles and choices; the effects of trauma on learning styles, methods of adult education with people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and the ethics of teaching about different groups.

 

EDAC604 Research Project                                                                                                                  20 cp

 

This unit provides students with an opportunity to explore in depth a topic of interest in the field of human relations and community education. The project entails research of an aspect of the scholarship and practice of human relations and community education.

 

EDAC605 Independent Study Unit 1                                                                                                     10 cp

 

This unit allows students to investigate an area of specialisation in human relations and community education. It contributes to the personal and professional development of the student and allows for specialisation in various areas of human relations and community education.

 

EDAC606 Independent Study Unit 2 (Cross-cultural Immersion)                                                           20 cp

 

Exploration is undertaken within a variety of sites and experiences including rural and urban settings, wealthy and poor, industrial and agrarian with special attention to educational initiatives. Programmes will be instituted that are an ideal way of increasing student awareness and providing opportunity for personal change since the individual experiences the cultural and societal differences first-hand and in their real setting. Students have the opportunity for multi-disciplined learning since a variety of strategies is required to analyse and filter experience.

 

EDAC607 Social, Cultural and Organisational Analysis                                                                        10 cp

 

This unit will enable students to explore the relationships between society, culture, organisations and the forces for social change. In particular, participants will examine: the manner in which culture operates and is ‘read’, within the context of current social debates; its role within the spheres of politics, economics and legislation. The unit will also consider questions about personal, social and organisational ethics and the power, representation and participation of various groups, including Indigenous Australians, in Australian society.

 

EDAC608 Social Movements and Meanings: Implications for Community Education                           10 cp

 

In this unit participants will be given an opportunity to explore the educational implications of a number of thought-provoking issues and new paradigms that are related to contemporary changes in human consciousness and to the scientific discoveries of the twentieth century. They will critically and reflectively examine how new developments in thought, action and social movements are unfolding and what measures educators and communities are taking to respond to their impact. Topics will include the challenge of quantum theory, the new cosmology and indigenous wisdom, as well as issues related to globalisation, post-modernism, environment, health, nationhood, human rights, migration, racism, reconciliation, gender, sexuality and family.

 

EDAC609 Collegial Reflection and Mentoring                                                                                      10 cp

 

Participants will be given the opportunity to reflect and process in depth critical incidents, problems and events involving the people and systems in which they operate as educators. As a group, they will develop and practice processes for critically reflecting upon their experiences as educators and mentors in order to identify and objectify the values, dynamics, overt and covert assumptions underlying their particular approaches. Areas of personal and professional growth, which can emerge from experience-based critical reflection, will be identified and articulated. The group will provide the central context for the participants’ reflections and analyses, and assist with the clarification of personal goals for professional growth as educators in the community. Participants will gain experience in mentoring skills appropriate for those involved in community education.

 

EDAC610 Child Protection and Communities                                                                                       10 cp

 

This unit is designed for teachers and educators to explore the range of risk and abuse situations within families and communities which affect children and young people. This exploration would include the indicators, myths, incidence and required intervention for sexual, emotional and physical abuse and neglect, bullying and domestic violence. Unit methodology includes critical reflection on theoretical perspectives, personal values and issues which relate to family life, as well as social and political issues which affect families, communities and risk assessment. The unit also includes reflection on the outcomes for children and young people of various approaches and interventions used to address a range of risk behaviours such as substance abuse, youth homelessness, young offenders and youth suicide.

 

EDAC611 Designing and Implementing Child Abuse Prevention Programs                                         10 cp

 

This unit will assist participants to be able to design, implement and evaluate child abuse prevention programs which reduce the risk factors and enhance the protective factors in community, school or juvenile settings. The unit will include the diverse needs of different children and young people, principles of effective prevention programs and the development of implementation plans for various settings. This would involve examining the theoretical perspectives and discourse of child abuse, status of children and young people, and their impact on the types of responses that can be made to reduce risk and enhance protective factors.

 

EDAC612 Field-Based Mediation and Reflection                                                                                  10 cp

 

This unit allows participants to practice mediation and advocacy in educational field placements and to reflect on their learning through the use of Schón, Boud, and Brookfield’s models of reflective practice. Participants undertake an intensive weekend workshop, then go out into the field for practicum, returning to the University for a one day session half way through their practice program, and then for a final weekend at the closure of the course in order to draw together their learning experiences, and to reflect upon the course as a whole.

 

EDAC613 Societal Responses to Child Abuse: Systems Intervention                                                    10 cp

 

This unit addresses the ways in which society discounts the problem of abuse and positions children within the community and the various legal and administrative responses to child abuse. This includes examining the effectiveness of the responses (including notification) and the short-term and long-term implications of this. It examines services and supports available to people and develops skills in needs assessment.

 

EDAC614 Case Studies in Cross-Cultural Education                                                                             10 cp

 

This unit allows students to develop a case study in a specific area of Indigenous culture and/or history. Students will develop a broad understanding of the personal, social and political issues relating to particular issues in their own cultural and cross-cultural contexts.

 

EDAC615 Indigenous Education in Australia                                                                                        10 cp

 

This unit will initially examine how the development of specific policies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education arose from Aboriginal experience of exclusion and assimilation in education. A range of specific issues will be further explored including: the impact of trauma and social dislocation on education for Indigenous Australians; adult education in the community context; issues relating to consultation and teaching about Indigenous Australia and issues concerning research ethics and access and equity involving Indigenous Australians.

 

EDAC617 Adult Learning and Community Education                                                                           10 cp

 

In this unit participants explore different ways of creating and facilitating positive environments where adult learning is community-based, collaborative, relevant to local needs, culturally sensitive and transformative in nature. They critically examine the principles, practices and ideologies underlying a number of models of adult learning and community education and come to some resolution regarding their own actual and preferred positions. Case studies, field work and experiential learning will be used as a basis for critically analysing how educational and social inequalities arise, and are perpetuated or challenged. There will be an examination of the role of international movements and government and non-government organisations in promoting community development and education.

 

EDAC618 Processes for Education in Personal and Interpersonal Development                                  10 cp

 

This unit will offer participants the opportunity to use inner work and educational techniques for self-exploration, emotional release and personal development with children, youth and adults. Gestalt, psychosynthesis, dream work and other creative processes will be used to tap into the wisdom of the body, mind and spirit and to make positive life changes. Humanistic, cognitive and existential theories and processes including control theory, brief therapy, reality theory, rational emotive therapy and transactional analysis will be studied as methods to use with individuals and small groups interested in growth, transformation, healing, improved interpersonal relations and problem solving. There will be special emphasis on ways to handle interpersonal problems, emotions and feelings.

 

EDAC620 Social Research Methods and Community Contexts                                                             10 cp

In this unit, students develop knowledge and practical skills in social research theory and methods. The unit provides a comprehensive overview of various approaches to social research with a solid grounding in strategy and methods. The strategy of ethnography is particularly explored as are the methods of interviewing, observation and the use of documentary data. Practical stages of the research process are the main focus of study. Students are required to design a small-scale research project developing these stages.

 

EDAC625 Theories and Concepts of Human Rights and Social Justice                                                10 cp

This unit provides theoretical and conceptual frameworks for the study of human rights and social justice. It examines human rights in both international law, through human rights treaties and other international instruments and in Australian domestic law. The elements of social justice and the criteria for a socially just society will be critically discussed. The unit develops not only knowledge of human rights and social justice, but deeper commitment to the values of human rights and social justice as a positive basis for social, civil, political, economic and cultural life.

 

EDAC626 Issues of Human Rights and Social Justice: Educational Perspectives                                 10 cp

The situations of particular disadvantaged and marginalised groups will be examined. Principles of human rights and social justice relevant to these groups and their situations will be addressed together with practical ways in which these principles can be implemented.

 

EDAC627 Community Placement, Analysis and Research                                                                    10 cp

Students will undertake a supervised placement in one of the following: a community organisation, non-governmental organisation, service provider or advocacy group. They will be involved in an analysis of the organisation including its ethos, work practices, and appropriateness in meeting the needs of the target group. This analysis will give explicit reference to principles of human rights and social justice.

 

EDAC633 Human Rights Law in Australia                                                                                              10 cp

Prerequisites EDAC525 Citizenship and Human Rights and EDAC625 Theories and Concepts of Human Rights and Social Justice

This unit provides non-lawyers and lawyers with an interest in human rights access to the domestic law governing human rights in Australia. It also provides students with the social and political context for the contemporary debate about the need for a bill of rights in Australia, and the shortcomings in Australian law for the adequate protection of minorities including Indigenous Australians, asylum seekers and refugees and women and girls who are trafficked. This unit provides NGO workers, educators, concerned citizens and other professionals employed by schools, church agencies and other professional and volunteer contexts with the learning needed to contribute to education, public dialogue and action enhancing human rights in Australia, including freedom of religion.

 

EDAC634 The International Law of Human Rights                                                                                10 cp

Prerequisites EDAC525 Citizenship and Human rights and EDAC625 Theories and Concepts of Human Rights and Social Justice

This unit provides lawyers and non-lawyers such as educators and human rights activists with a broad overview of the international law relating to human rights. Students will be given an outline of the Unites Nations (UN) system for the protection of human rights, and the emerging changes within the UN Human Rights system, particularly the role and function of the new Human Rights Council. The unit provides a special focus on East Timor and Cambodia, the two countries in the region to have received closest attention from the UN Human Rights agencies. The Right to Education and its relevant UN machinery are outlined. The role human rights education plays in the promotion of human rights in various professional contexts such as schools and community organisations are explored.