Role Title: Research Intern 2, Lived Experience Project
Organisation: UWA Centre for Social Policy Practice, Research and Development
Internship Period: Semester 2 (July – October)
Location: Crawley
The Discipline of Social Work and Social Policy (SWSP) at UWA has a major focus on Lived and Living Experience in the teaching of its two courses. People with Lived and Living Experience of the issues commonly experienced by the service users of organisations in which social workers work collaborate with SWSP staff to help students understand the issues from their perspectives. These issues may include the experience of mental health conditions, homelessness, recovery from alcohol and drug use, survivors of family and domestic violence and others. The Lived Experience (LE) Educator has a central role in working with other teaching staff to enhance and embed the contribution of the people who provide valuable learning experiences for the students so that they gain the knowledge and skills to provide appropriate services to people experiencing these issues alongside their families, kin and significant others.
The Intern would work closely with the LE Educator and other relevant staff members in the SWSP Discipline to develop a plan for the continued contribution Lived Experience can make to the education of student social workers. This would involve the following tasks working alongside the LE Educator: to describe current activities in the Discipline, undertake a literature review of successfully applied LE models in social work and other relevant courses, identify possibilities and appropriate models for LE contributions in SWSP, and identify potential further research.
The Centre for Social Policy Practice, Research and Development will collaborate across disciplines and with those with lived experience to develop quality social policy research, analysis and practice focused on supporting child, youth, family and community wellbeing through setting policy agenda that focus on fostering human capabilities, maintaining and promoting human dignity and achieving social justice.