Work placement and language internship 1 – Social pedagogy and client’s everyday life (5 cr)

Objective

The students can function according to the socio-pedagogical orientation. They can appropriately support and guide the everyday activities of both individuals and groups. During the internship, the students interact with service users in social services. The students can act as members of a team, work in a goal-oriented manner and evaluate their activities. They are able to act in situations where emergency medical care is needed.

Language or language-aware goals of the course (Finnish) are specified for each student depending on their levels of language competence.

A1: The students learn as observers the communication environment and the communication situations of the internship. They recognize the different communication roles of the professionals and communication goals in different situations. They increase their skills in interpreting oral communication situations based on extra lingual cues (e.g. tone of voice, gestures, facial expressions, body language, length of speech lines, participants, communication environment, duration of the situation), and are able to pick up frequently repeated words (greetings, key words and phrases related to situations) from the speech flow, even if they do not always perceive the deeper meanings of situations. The students also participate in the discussion in Finnish in short, predictable, and routine situations (greetings, asking for how people are, introductions).

A2: The students become familiar with the communication environment and communication situations of the internship. They identify different communication roles and communication goals of the professionals in different situations. The students can interpret oral communication situations with the help of extra lingual cues (e.g. tone of voice, gestures, body language, length of speech lines, the participants, communication environment, duration of the situation), and are able to pick up frequently repeated words from the speech flow (greetings, key words related to situations, introductions, explanations) and utilize them in their speech. The students take part in the conversation in Finnish in predictable and routine-like situations (greetings, asking for how one is, introductions, explaining, and describing)

B1–B2: The students become familiar with the communication environment and communication situations of the internship. They are able to act appropriately in various communication situations and participate actively and proactively in discussions at the workplace. The students are able to support the language learner in routine-like communication situations. They are also able to follow even more complex communication situations and act in them quite effortlessly, even if they would not participate in them as active communicators.

C1 – C2 (also native Finnish speakers): The students become familiar with the communication environment and communication situations of the internship. The students are able to act in different communication situations appropriately and as conscious linguistic participants utilising both plain language and the communication environment. The students participate actively and proactively in the workplace discussions and are able to independently support the language learner during the communication situations at work.

Content

Internship in the operational environments in social services. Language training supports the language learning of the students (at A1-B2 levels) and a language-conscious approach to work (at C1-C2 levels). At the A1 level, the students are instructed to pair up with the students with Finnish language skills for their internship. The students use self-assessment tool to evaluate their own Finnish language skills before and after the internship as part of their language PSP.

The course includes 1 ECTS credit emergency first aid.

Location and time

The 1st internship will take place in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in the spring 2025 from 22.4. - 23.5.2025 (Around 4 weeks, 5 days/week and 6 hours /day).

The internship will take place at a location organised by the DPSS degree.

INFO session Thursday 20.3. 10 - 11:45 , MPA2019.

E-form determining the concrete internship locations will be published after the enrollment has ended in December 2025. Everyone needs to answer to the E-form latest on 20.1.2025.

Prerequisites:
The students have completed the course: Introduction to Social Pedagogy.

Everyone must present a criminal records extract before they have their first work placement, also the open path students and students who can skip the course because RPL.
Info available: General workspace -> DPSS -> Documents -> Work placements -> 1. internship -> criminal records extract_INFO Please remember to submit a criminal record!

Teaching methods

Work placement in social or educational field.

Employer connections

The internship will take place at a location organised by the degree.

Student workload

1st internship is 5 credits, i.e. a total of 135 hours of student work.

The work is divided as follows:
* Emergency first aid 4 hours: (group will be divided in to two, keep both of the times available):
Tuesday 15.4. 8.30-11.45 & 12.45-16.00 (MPB5003.3) / Maiju Salovaara-Hiltunen

* 1st orientation and setting of internship objectives: 20.3.2025, 10.00-11.45 (MPA2019)

* Internship: 22.4. - 23.5.2025. 4 weeks, 20 days in total and 6 hours /day. Total of 120 hours.

*Guided reflection sessions support for Finnish learning at work placement: mandatory for Finnish as a second language students (S2-opiskelijat), optional (but fun and recommended) for native Finnish speakers:
Friday 25.4.2025 9-15
Friday 9.5.2025 8.30-11.45
Friday 16.5.2025 9-15

* Reflection on the training Friday 23.5.2025, 13.00-16.00
* the DL for the written report Tuesday 27.5.2025

Content scheduling

Emergency first aid 4 hours: Group will be divided in to two, keep both of the times available:
Tuesday 15.4. 8.30-11.45 & 12.45-16.00 (MPB5003.3) / Maiju Salovaara-Hiltunen
Students will choose one group to enroll in advance. Further information on enrollment will be sent to course enrollments in December 2024.

If you have a valid first aid training (EA1), please put the certificate in the course's OMA workspace (will be announced later).
In this case, you do not need to attend the first aid course. Otherwise, attendance at first aid training classes is compulsory.

Also if you are doing a RPL on 1st internship but you don't have a valid first aid card you need to attend to the first aid lectures.

Further information

E-form determining the concrete internship locations will be published after the autumn 2024 enrollments. Everyone needs to answer to the E-form latest on 20.1.2025.

INFO session Thursday 20.3.2025, 10-11.45, MPA2019.

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) needs to be done to Taina Konttinen latest on 15.12.2024.

RPL is possible if you have:
- Vocational school degree including internships social and health field (for example practical nurse, youth and leisure instructor).
- Work experience from the social field.
- Work experience (paid) in the social sector (e.g. ECE/education).
- Long-term, continuous (not individual days, min. duration 3 months and minimum working time 30h/week.
- Work experience cannot be accumulated in single days.
- 10-year ageing rule for both education and employment (as a general rule).

The decision can also be a “osaamisen osoittaminen”: showing your know how.
Attach the certificates to the RPL application.
Remember also to tell if you have done the first aid = you have your first aid card valid. Attach also a certificate about this to RPL application. If you don't have a valid EA card you need to attend to the EA lectures.

Evaluation scale

Hyväksytty/Hylätty

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

Framework of evaluation is as an attachment in the Curriculum's description.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

Framework of evaluation is as an attachment in the Curriculum's description.

Assessment methods and criteria

Pass-Fail

Qualifications

The students have completed the course: Introduction to Social Pedagogy. The prior language proficiency equals at least the level A1.1 at the Common European Framework of Reference.

Further information

Students on early education path must implement the internship in early education field.