CRPROF-NQF5-KM-10 Workplace Assignments

We recommend that this Workplace assignment be completed and submitted at the end of Knowledge Module 10 – Principles of Pastoral counselling in a Christian context. Students or pastors with previous experience in this field are allowed to complete this Workplace assignment earlier during their studies.

The work experience focuses on providing the Learner with an opportunity to: Observe the life skills and virtues of people in the Church to develop proactive and reactive life skills and nurture Christian values. 

Explanatory notes for the students

This assignment has three parts, namely: 1) Identify, in consultation with leaders in the faith community, the main issues related to the holistic wellbeing (socio-economic, physical, emotional and spiritual health) and Christian values of faith community members. 2)Prepare programmes and present or conduct interventions to cultivate pro- and reactive life skills and spiritual disciplines. 3)Prepare and present programmes and interventions to nurture a Christian value system

Part one: Identity, in consultation with leaders in the faith community, the main issues related to the holistic wellbeing (socio-economic, physical, emotional and spiritual health) and Christian values of faith community members.

• Do a contextual and congregational analysis to identify the main issues related to the holistic well-being of faith community members. This question requires that the Learner first understand the congregation’s context, for instance, English or Afrikaans, Income group or social status, Charismatic or Reformed etc. Keeping the context in mind, the Learner must now identify issues related to holistic wellbeing. For instance, a lower-income contextual congregation could struggle with poverty, food shortages etc.

• Compile a report listing the issues that require attention in the faith community and consult the faith community leaders on the findings as part of the analysis. This requires that the Learner list all the issues identified as per the previous analysis. Make an appointment with leaders of the faith community and discuss these issues with them. 

Part two: Prepare programmes and present or conduct interventions to cultivate pro- and reactive life skills and spiritual disciplines.

• Plan a programme aimed at nurturing pro-active and reactive (coping) life skills and spiritual disciplines/practices in accordance with outcomes of an analysis done. The students must use the guidelines to discuss proactive and reactive coping skills (discussed in Section 3 of Module 9 as the basis for developing the program. 
• Prepare and deliver at least two sermons related to selected identified needs. Prepare two short sermons of at least 1500 words, each addressing the needs identified in the analysis. For instance, given it’s a community of farmers desperately in need of rain. As a result, due to no rain, they are under financial strain and have lost all hope that God can supply their needs. Prepare a message of hope to inspire them to trust in God as their provider etc. 
• Prepare and conduct at least two supervised teaching sessions with different interest groups related to a selection of identified needs. Organize with your evaluator/mentor to arrange two meetings (where they are present) where you can present these sermons/teachings. It could be small groups/youth / elderly / cell groups or any other teaching session o your choice. 
• Conduct at least three supervised counselling sessions related to the identified needs. Coordinate with the help of your evaluator/mentor/pastor three counselling sessions with individuals struggling with these issues. Make sure that your supervisor is present. Counselling sessions must be at least 1 hour long. 

Part three: Prepare and present programmes and interventions to nurture a Christian value system

• Plan a programme or process aimed at nurturing the values and virtues in the faith community in accordance with the outcomes of the study that was conducted. The core values (grounded on faith, love and hope) must be considered when nurturing these values. See Module 9, Section 5 for information. 
• Identify in the plan the most effective (age and culturally appropriate) ways the nurturing of the values and virtues (i.e. preaching, teaching, study groups, mentoring, counselling, drama and storytelling, printed media, electronic and social media, etc.) Depending on the group you aim to nurture, identify how you would like to conduct these teachings. For instance, if it is a youth group, you could consider using more creative ways like role-playing or interactive methods. In contrast, for a traditional elderly group, teaching or preaching may work better.
• Address one of the identified value or virtue issues or themes through an appropriate medium, and evaluate its effect on the knowledge, attitude, and behaviour of participants. The Learner must now focus on one of the values or virtues identified and decide how they want to address that virtue. For instance, if you have chosen to address hopelessness, discuss the medium through which you would like to do that (teaching, small groups, interaction with each other, motivational speech etc.). Secondly, evaluate the effect it had on the people attending the (group, lecture, sermon teaching etc.) 

The Learner must submit the following supporting evidence for assessment to their facilitator. 

1. SE0101- Write an analysis identifying the main issues related to the holistic well-being of the faith community members  (300-500 words).
2. SE0201 Develop and write down a programme plan that integrates the most effective (age and culturally appropriate) ways for the nurturing the life skills and disciplines/practices (e.g., preaching, teaching, small groups, mentoring, counselling, drama and storytelling, printed media, electronic and social media, etc.  The program must be specific, specify the age and social groups you are targeting (youth/ elderly etc. ) as well as the virtues (love, hope tec.) and methods you choose(teaching, small groups, role-play etc.) to use to address the needs. The program in total must at least be two pages long. 
3. SE0202 – Evaluate the impact of the sermons (what was the message, was it applicable, and what were the responses of a selection of persons who heard the sermon?) The evaluator/mentor needs to ask at least three respondents who attended the sermons/teachings and give the Learner a mark out of 10 based on their findings. See evaluation to be completed by the evaluator/ mentor. 
4. SE0203- Evaluate the outcome (what was the content and is it applicable) of the teaching. The evaluator/mentor must complete an evaluation to evaluate the quality of the Learner’s sermons/teachings. See the evaluation form to be completed by the evaluator/mentor. 
5. SE0204 – Give a verbatim report on the proceedings of a counselling session and lessons learnt in terms of proactive and reactive coping skills. The student must give a verbatim report to the evaluator on the counselling proceedings and what he/she learnt out of the process. The evaluator/mentor must give the student a mark between 1 and 10 based on their verbatim report. See evaluation sheet to be completed by evaluator/mentor.
6. SE0301 – Planned programme or process aimed at nurturing the values and virtues in the faith community in accordance with the identified outcomes. Write down in 300 to 500 words what methods you would use to keep on nurturing the faith community in accordance with identified outcomes. For instance, follow up sermons/teaching every three months, keeping regular contact with congregation members or joining small group sessions etc.) 
7. SE0302 – Report on how the value and related virtue was addressed by utilizing at least two modes or ways (e.g., preaching, teaching, study groups, mentoring, counselling, role-play, drama and storytelling, printed media, electronic and social media, etc.). The student must choose two of the above modes and write a report of 200 words each to report on how the virtues were addressed. 

Explanatory notes for Evaluator/pastor/mentor

Thank you for your willingness to guide, grow and teach this Learner in their workplace experience. Please evaluate the student according to this form. After that, submit the evaluation form as part of the student’s supporting evidence (SE) that will contribute to their statement of results.  

Give the student a mark between 1 (low)and 10 (high)on the below