Handbook

This is the first communication subject relating to work in the Human Services and is for students who have either not studied at university previously, and/or require further orientation to communicating in the Human Services profession. The subject incorporates the concepts of being, thinking and doing, and provides challenging learning experiences that cover a range of topics to illustrate communication on personal, social, organisational / political, and even spiritual levels. Students are required to actively do two things: to describe and to reflect critically upon their understanding and experience of communication; and to critique how and where, when and what, is communicated in those experiences. In doing so, students consider their own values and ethics in the context of the values and ethics of the helping professions, in order to demonstrate critical judgement about what content /information is appropriate in decision-making. The subject commences the process of critiquing research and arguments, through teaching thinking skills, including structured thinking, critical thinking, systemic thinking and lateral thinking. Students develop communication skills in the written form necessary for human services work, as well as knowledge about different levels of communication, including: intra-personal, inter-personal, trans-systems, and extra-dimensional communication.