New Program Concentration – Associate of Arts (Pre-Social Work) Degree! 

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Alexander College is delighted to announce that we have established a new program concentration for our Associate of Arts degree program – Pre-Social Work!

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Program Overview 

The Associate of Arts (Pre-Social Work) Degree is a foundational two-year undergraduate degree consisting of 60 credits in total. Students of the Associate of Arts (Pre-Social Work) degree program will gain multi-disciplinary knowledge in the faculties of arts, humanities, and social science, and develop their critical thinking and research skills.

The program also includes a customizable concentration in pre-social work, which allows students to explore different areas in social sciences, including social welfare, psychology, sociology, gender, and Indigenous studies.

Upon completion of the Associate of Arts (Pre-Social Work) degree program, students may choose to continue their undergraduate studies.

Attainment of this degree concentration does not qualify graduates for immediate employment in the field of social work. The credential is primarily intended to facilitate transfer into the third-year of four-year Bachelor of Social Work programs at a universities in BC.

For more information on the option of transferring to a university upon completion of the Associate of Arts (Pre-Social Work) degree, please consult the BC Transfer Guide or see an Academic Advisor.

The Associate of Arts (Pre-Social Work) degree program develops broad-based academic skills in the following areas:

• Reading comprehension
• Written and oral communication
• Mathematical and scientific reasoning
• Computer and technological literacy
• Research and evaluative skills
• Analysis, synthesis, and integration of knowledge
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Application of theoretical understanding to practice
• Collaborative and team-based experience

Specifically, the Associate of Arts (Pre-Social Work) degree program provides experience and aptitudes in the following areas:

• The historical, ideological, and theoretical foundations of social welfare in Canada
• The role that social welfare policies perform in the pursuit of social justice, with an emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion
• Familiarity with human cognitive development and behaviour
• Familiarity with social welfare policies, programs, and systems in Canada
• Social inequality and the resulting impact on populations
• Different cultural conceptions of social well-being among various individuals, groups, communities, organizations, and societies
• Self-awareness of how personal values, attitudes, and beliefs align with the field of social work