Admission requirements
Full-time students can choose to follow the course in the third (Professional Interpersonal Skills, Period 1) or fourth (Professional Interpersonal Skills, Period 2) block of the second semester.
Exemption
Exemption will only be granted from the course to those students who teach social and/or communication skills at the university of applied sciences or research university level and have at least two years of relevant work experience amounting to at least half a full-time appointment.
Other work experience or qualifications will not qualify students for exemption from the course. Students who believe they qualify for exemption from the course must submit the request to the Student Information Desk before 1 November 2013.
Description
On the Professional Interpersonal Skills course, the emphasis is on the psychologist in training as a professional and as a person. Whereas elsewhere on the programme the emphasis is on knowledge, here it is on using yourself as a professional tool in interpersonal relationships. The course will therefore focus on the acquisition of a general set of basic skills, namely how to reflect upon and modify your own behaviour. In addition, a limited set of specific basic skills will be addressed:
Basic discussion techniques: supplementary questions, concluding, paraphrasing, reflecting etc.
Feedback skills: giving and receiving constructive feedback
Decision making: forming and influencing opinion in a group context
Leadership: leadership and collaboration in projects
Course objectives
The aim of the Professional Interpersonal Skills course is to train students in:
The ability to observe people, situations and relationships
The ability to use skills to achieve one’s own aims
The ability to use these skills in different contexts, including real professional situations
The ability to reflect on the behaviour of oneself and others
Timetable
See the ‘registration’ section below for information on the registration procedure.
Professional Interpersonal Skills (2013-2014):
Useful timetable:
Mode of instruction
Full-time
The course takes six weeks, and attendance is compulsory for all participants on the Thursday (morning and afternoon) and the Friday morning. After week 5 of the course, the students will write a concluding meta-reflection and attend a final individual meeting. Students are expected to devote two days a week to the course.
Please note: all work group sessions and lectures are compulsory on the course. No exception will be made for other compulsory courses or examinations. Students must therefore ensure that they choose a suitable teaching period.
The skills will be acquired through a combination of methods:
In the first five weeks there are lectures for all participants covering the theoretical background of the material for that week (on the Thursday morning). These are followed by two practicals (two sessions, on the Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, of about 3.5 hours per week that are supervised by a lecturer). The students spend about two hours a week on exercises in the Skills lab (at a PC) that consist of individual video assignments with questions. In addition, there is set reading each week and written reflection assignments based on specific assignments and questions. Halfway through the course the students attend an individual meeting with the work group supervisor to discuss their progress. After the fifth week, the students write a meta-reflection, and in week 6 they have a concluding individual meeting with the work group supervisor(s).
Please note: in Period 2 there is one free week during the course due to the Ascension Day national holiday (this is week 22-2014). This free week will mean that the course will end one week later.
Part-time
A group for part-time students will start in both periods. This course takes six weeks, and attendance on the Monday and Tuesday evening is compulsory for all participants. Students are expected to devote two days a week to the course.
Please note: attendance of all work groups is compulsory. Students must either attend all lectures or watch the online video recordings in full; only part-time students can choose whether to watch the online video recordings. No exception will be made to attend other compulsory courses or examinations. Students must therefore ensure that they choose a suitable teaching period.
The skills will be acquired using a combination of methods:
In the first five weeks there are lectures for all participants covering the theoretical background of the material for that week (on the Thursday morning). These are followed by two practicals (two sessions, on a Monday and Tuesday evening, of about 3.5 hours per week that are supervised by a lecturer). The students spend about two hours a week on exercises in the Skills lab (at a PC) that consist of individual video assignments with questions. There is also set reading each week and written reflection assignments based on specific assignments and questions. Halfway through the course the students attend an individual meeting with the work group supervisor to discuss their progress. After the fifth week, the students write a meta-reflection, and in week 6, they attend a concluding individual meeting with the work group supervisor(s).
Please note: in Period 2, Monday 5 May is Liberation Day. The part-time work groups will take place on the Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in this week only.
Assessment
Student participation and progress in terms of skills demonstrated during the course and proven ability to integrate theory and practice in the reports will be assessed. Students whose attendance and progress is unsatisfactory will have to retake the whole course.
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences implemented the Ephorus system on 1 January 2006, for use by instructors for the systematic detection of plagiarism in students’ written work. Please see the information concerning fraud .
Blackboard
Extensive information about the course and assignments together with some of the literature will be provided on Blackboard. The staff from the course will register students for Blackboard (it is therefore not possible for students to register themselves).
Reading
Print-outs of the electronic documents provided on Blackboard (including literature on the scientific interview method and personal development)
Provided during the course in the Computer Skills Lab: GeVat3 basistraining in Professionele Gespreksvoering (J. Adema, K.van der Zee, P.R. Fokkinga, E.J.A. Bakker)
Books to purchase:
- Remmerswaal (11de herziene druk, 2013) Handboek Groepsdynamica (can be obtained from Labyrint] (previous versions are not suitable).
Study book service
Members of the Labyrint study association can purchase the books at a reduced rate from the Labyrint study book service on producing their Labryint membership card. Alternatively, there are the academic bookshops.
Registration
Registration is in conjunction with the general registration for the other courses for this semester.
Full-time students can choose to follow the course during block 3 or block 4 of the second semester. The department works with a single registration. All work groups run in parallel. The staff will assign students to work groups once registration has closed. As the students will be learning about the group process in new groups, the groups will not be according to name or personal preference. When choosing the period, students must ensure that there is no overlap with other courses/examinations due to the compulsory attendance requirement for this course. No exceptions will be made!
Contact
Drs. E. Bohnen (general coordination, student affairs such as exemptions and attendance)
Room 3B49
Tel: +31 (0)71 527 3381
E-mail: bohnen@fsw.leidenuniv.nlDrs. B.F.F. Vos (general coordination, logistics and group division)
Room 2B43
Tel: +31 (0)71 527 6458
E-mail: b.f.f.vos@fsw.leidenuniv.nl