Program of Study: Year 2 of MSW Full-Time Program/MSW Program with Advanced Standing
Students complete program requirements within one of the following fields of study. Two-Year stream students declare their field of study at the beginning of February of the first year.
- Field (MSW): Children and their Families
- Field (MSW): Human Services Management & Leadership (formerly Social Service Administration)
- Field (MSW): Health and Mental Health
- Field (MSW): Social Justice and Diversity
- Field (MSW): Social Work in Gerontology
Field (MSW): Children and their Families
The program is designed to prepare students for social work practice with children and their families at all levels of intervention, from individual to group work with children, to family and couple intervention, to community organization, and to program and policy development. “Children and their Families” is informed by an ecological developmental model that considers children as dynamic individuals interacting with their environment. Given that families play a central role in child socialization and in dealing with other systems that impact children and adolescents, building on family strengths is key to achieving positive child outcomes. The developmental perspective adds an understanding of child functioning and of critical protective and risk factors in the child and family’s ecology across developmental phases. The ecological and developmental approaches are informed by current research evidence and empirically supported theory.
Practicum Implications: Point-of-service-entry for practicum opportunities in this field of study must be a child or youth, ages 0-24.
Courses of Instruction: Year Two of the Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program and MSW Program with Advanced Standing
Field (MSW): Children and their Families
Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program
- SWK4620H Social Work Practice with Children and Adolescents
- SWK4608H Social Work Practice with Families
- SWK4625H The Intersection of Policy and Practice with Children and their Families
- SWK4514H Research for Practice with Children and their Families
- Two half-credit graduate level electives
- SWK4702Y Social Work Practicum II (September – April)
MSW Program with Advanced Standing complete the above courses plus, the compulsory course: SWK4510H Research for Evidence-Based Social Work Practice. SWK4510H must be completed before taking any of the required research courses in this field of study. Students take this course in the first term of the MSW Program.
Total Course Load (Year Two of Two-Year MSW): Equivalent to 8 Half-Credit Courses
Total Course Load (Advanced Standing): Equivalent to 9 Half-Credit Courses
[H=.5 credit; Y=1 full credit course]
Field (MSW): Human Services Management and Leadership
(formerly Social Service Administration)
Develop skills in leadership, governance, stakeholder relations and strategic planning.
- Gain a thorough understanding of financial management including accounting, budgeting and forecasting.
- Develop knowledge and skills in human resource management and labour relations: hiring, training, managing performance and working with unions.
- Learn to manage service delivery including: developing appropriate organizational structures, annual planning, program development and evaluation, selecting and maintaining management information systems and contracting on behalf of the organization.
Courses of Instruction: Year Two of the Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program and MSW Program with Advanced Standing
Field (MSW): Human Services Management and Leadership
Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program
- SWK4425H Human Services Management and Leadership
- SWK4426H Financial Management and Leadership in Human Service Organizations
- SWK4427H Human Resource Management in Human Service Organizations
- SWK4515H Research and Quality Improvement in Human Service Organizations
- Two half-credit graduate level electives
- SWK4702Y Social Work Practicum II (full-credit)
MSW Program with Advanced Standing complete the above courses plus, the compulsory course: SWK4510H Research for Evidence-Based Social Work Practice. SWK4510H must be completed before taking any of the required research courses in this field of study. Students take this course in the first term of the MSW Program.
Total Course Load (Year Two of Two-Year MSW): Equivalent to 8 Half-Credit Courses
Total Course Load (Advanced Standing): Equivalent to 9 Half-Credit Courses
[H=.5 credit; Y=1 full credit course]
Field (MSW): Health and Mental Health
Social workers have key roles to play in assisting individuals and their families adapt to and overcome challenges associated with physical and mental illness. As members of inter-professional health teams, social workers seek to assist others in understanding the social and community context in which physical and mental illness occur and the way in which these larger systems contribute to the development of illness and exacerbate or ameliorate the challenges in adapting to illness. Social workers work to alter the social environment in order to enhance its potential to support individuals with varying needs and abilities.
Courses of Instruction: Year Two of the Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program and MSW Program with Advanced Standing
Field (MSW):Health and Mental Health
Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program
- SWK4412H The Context of Health and Mental Health Practice
- SWK4511H Practice Based Research in Health and Mental Health. Students can then elect to take one of three choices:
- SWK4622H Social Work Practice in Health and SWK4604H Social Work Practice in Mental Health, OR ;
- SWK4622H Social Work Practice in Health followed by SWK4632H Advanced Social Work Practice in Health, OR ;
- SWK4604H Social Work Practice in Mental Health followed by SWK4631H Advanced Social Work Practice in Mental Health
- Two half-credit graduate level electives
- SWK4702Y Social Work Practicum II (September – April)
MSW Program with Advanced Standing complete the above courses plus, the compulsory course: SWK4510H Research for Evidence-Based Social Work Practice. SWK4510H must be completed before taking any of the required research courses in this field of study. Students take this course in the first term of the MSW Program.
Total Course Load (Year Two of Two-Year MSW): Equivalent to 8 Half-Credit Courses
Total Course Load (Advanced Standing): Equivalent to 9 Half-Credit Courses
[H=.5 credit; Y=1 full credit course]
Field (MSW): Social Justice and Diversity
The Social Justice and Diversity specialization is designed to foster critical thinking and critical practice skills to address growing inequality, exclusion and marginalization within Canada’s diverse population. Courses draw from a range of knowledge to inform social work practice including: structural, feminist, anti-racist, indigenous, and anti-oppressive theories and approaches. This field focuses on addressing oppression and social exclusion through: understanding historic, contemporary, and transnational dimensions of oppression and, articulating ways to work towards social change.
Some core skills that are addressed in the SJ&D field of study include: anti-oppressive practice skills for working with individuals, families and groups; popular education and community mobilization; policy analysis and policy advocacy; and research proposal writing.
Working from a social justice and anti-oppressive lens, we also explore in what ways practice skills are inextricably linked to understanding how our values and knowledge-base guide our work. Critical reflexivity and social work praxis, thus, are key elements in this field of study. Through paying attention to the relationship between theory, research and practice we aim to better understand how theory informs our practices, and how our practices help us reconsider our theoretical and empirical understandings of social inequality, exclusion and marginalization.
Practicum Implications: SJ&D practicum may focus on different levels of social work practice including, but not limited to: direct service, community practice, program coordinator or management, and policy. Students are expected to develop learning objectives that address social justice, diversity, equity or anti-oppressive practice principles and approaches as relevant to the practicum setting.
Courses of Instruction: Year Two of the Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program and MSW Program with Advanced Standing
Field (MSW): Social Justice and Diversity
Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program
- SWK4304H Globalization and Trans-nationalization: Intersections of Policy and Community Practice Locally and Globally
- SWK4306H Theoretical Approaches to Defining Social Injustice and Engaging in Social Change
- SWK4606H Diversity, Access and Equity in Social Work Practice
- SWK4512H Research Knowledge for Social Justice
- Two half-credit graduate level electives
- SWK4702Y Social Work Practicum II (September – April)
MSW Program with Advanced Standing complete the above courses plus, the compulsory course: SWK4510H Research for Evidence-Based Social Work Practice. SWK4510H must be completed before taking any of the required research courses in this field of study. Students take this course in the first term of the MSW Program.
Total Course Load (Year Two of Two-Year MSW): Equivalent to 8 Half-Credit Courses
Total Course Load (Advanced Standing): Equivalent to 9 Half-Credit Courses
[H=.5 credit; Y=1 full credit course]
Field (MSW): Social Work in Gerontology
Social workers are important agents in assisting older people and their families to meet the challenges of an aging society. In this capacity, social workers provide a wide variety of services and programs both in the community and in institutions that are aimed at enhancing the quality of life of older people and assisting families to adjust to the aging of their family member. Social workers also play a vital role in the development and implementation of social and economic policies at the provincial and national levels through research on aging, consultation with government and through social advocacy.
Practicum Implications: A gerontology setting provides the student with opportunities to develop expertise in working with clients over the age of 50 and/or their adult children who are caregiving for older adults, and may also include opportunities to work with clients across the adult age span.
Courses of Instruction: Year Two of the Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program and MSW Program with Advanced Standing
Field (MSW): Social Work in Gerontology
Two-Year MSW Full-Time Program
- AGE2000H Principles of Aging
- SWK4612Y Social Work and Aging: Integrated Policy and Practice (full-course)
- SWK4513H Knowledge Building in Social Work
- SWK4618H Special Issues in Gerontological Social Work
- Two half-credit graduate level electives (of which one must be from the Specialization in Aging and the Life Course listing)
- SWK4702Y Social Work Practicum II (Clinical)
MSW Program with Advanced Standing complete the above courses plus, the compulsory course: SWK4510H Research for Evidence-Based Social Work Practice. SWK4510H must be completed before taking any of the required research courses in this field of study. Students take this course in the first term of the MSW Program.
Total Course Load (Year Two of Two-Year MSW): Equivalent to 9 Half-Credit Courses
Total Course Load (Advanced Standing): Equivalent to 10 Half-Credit Courses
[H=.5 credit; Y=1 full credit course]