| Unit name | Youth Policy and Social Welfare |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOL22022 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Fahmy |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Recent years have seen growing concerns for the circumstances and prospects of youth and young adults in the UK and internationally in response to recurrent economic crises which are reshaping young people’s transitions to adult independence (e.g. global recession, fiscal austerity, global pandemics, escalating inflation). This unit therefore provides an overview of the complex and changing relationship between youth and society and how this relationship impacts upon young people's prospects and routes to adulthood.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This is a Year 2 optional unit. It aims to consider outcomes for children and associated policy implications by examining the circumstances and prospects of youth and young adults. Pathways to adulthood begin well before age 18 and extend well into the twenties, and perhaps beyond. Here we examine how these pathways are shaped by social differences in childhood, how they are experienced by youth, and how they impact on longer-term social outcomes in young adulthood and beyond.
An overview of content
This unit provides an overview of the complex and changing relationship between youth and society and how this relationship impacts upon young people's prospects and routes to adulthood. This unit reviews key policy developments affecting young people in the UK and internationally today. The unit focuses upon the drivers of policy change by exploring the relationship between policy and wider social changes in the context of youth transitions, and how these relate to wider theoretical debates in the social sciences, for example, around individualisation, risk and postmodernity.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
This unit will improve your ability to:
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion successful students will be able to demonstrate:
Learning will be based on traditional academic lectures, class-based activities, and policy-focused assessment. In the classes, students will be supported to critically evaluate key academic contributions in this field based on student-led group-presentations and subsequent discussion and debate. Summative assessment is by means of an extended Policy Brief which addresses the wider policy context of academic debates on youth.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
There will be an opportunity for discussion and questions at the end of each lecture, and students will be offered verbal feedback on group-based, informal presentations during the classes. These formative presentations will improve students’ ability to evaluate academic evidence and assess its policy implications.
Students will be offered an opportunity to discuss their coursework and assessed work in a weekly online drop-in session. Students are encouraged to submit by email a draft assessment plan for comment no later than two weeks before their due date.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Policy Brief (3000 words, 100%). This assessment covers all of the ILOs.
When assessment does not go to plan
Subject to the university regulations for taught programmes, unsuccessful students may be offered an opportunity for reassessment. This will comprise a task of the same format of the original assessment.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SPOL22022).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
