Find out about the Institute's current and past project work.
Find out about the Institute's current and past project work.
The Practice Learning Qualifications (Social Services) are a new suite of qualifications set at four different levels and aimed at supporting the learning of staff and students in the workplace. Once developed, they will be approved by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), validated by an awarding body and are likely to be delivered through the Learning Centre Networks. The qualifications are the first of the SSSC's "Specialist Courses" to be developed.
The Practice Learning Implementation Group (PLIG) decided that the new qualifications would be most effectively developed through the collaborative activity of interested parties rather than through a competitive tendering process. It therefore commissioned the Institute to co-ordinate and lead the development of the new qualifications based on an agreed specification.
The project began in June 2005 and completed at the end of December 2005.
The Institute took the work forward in collaboration with universities and colleges, employers, the Scottish Qualifications Authority, service users and carers and the Scottish Organisation for Practice Teaching in Social Work (SCOPT) as well as students and other related professions. In order to keep these interests informed, a wide communication network was established. Smaller groups of individuals, led by a facilitator, took on specific aspects of the work. A project management group was made up of representatives from these smaller work groups alongside service user and carer representation led by the Institute's Project Manager and administrative support.
Consultation events were held throughout the process to help inform the design of the qualifications. Members of the communication network had access to see and comment on the developing work through a special site on a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
Please note: the documents are in pdf format.
The Scottish Practice Learning Project are currently in discussions with potential programme providers and a funding announcement was made in April 2006. Further details of this work are available from the SPLP website - www.splp.uk.com. The Institute continues to be involved with these discussions and a revised submission document is now available here.