Now I'm finally getting around to writing something about the content of the current module and also finishing the last one. I have probably mentioned the latter in particular before. Finally, I passed with VG, the feedback was round and I have to say, even though I was sceptical at the beginning, especially because of Foucault, in the end I enjoyed it and took away a lot. I found it interesting how different mechanisms can be explained through the theories of Turner and Foucault. While in my first paper I concentrated on the basic security system and analysed how social responsibility for poor people and educational measures such as sanctions can be explained in the basic security system, I then concentrated more on one of my favourite fields. As I had reported in a few posts, it was about "Negligence & Health Disparity of Profoundly Disabled Individuals in Health-Promotion Approaches". If I could do my BA thesis again, this would definitely be a favourite topic.

What I like very much (even if I sometimes really grumble about the study) is the freedom to set priorities in the papers. Even if the assignment requires a reference to one's own professional profile, it is still open enough that one can be creative. Often, it seems, when I read one or the other blog, look around in a competitor forum or talk/think to one or the other APOLLIAN, this part of a degree is filled with anxiety. "Help, how do I formulate my own research question." Of course, this is now a Master's degree and at least after a successfully completed Bachelor's degree one should be able to do that to some extent. But what do I do when I'm faced with a problem like this at the beginning of my studies, when I have to write my first term paper? My tip is to stay calm. In principle, the recipe is relatively simple. I might have a rough overall topic, stumble across a problem or uncover it while simply reading some literature across. I sort it out, narrow it down and discover that one aspect, for example, is repeatedly criticised. I put my finger on it. Of course, you then have to see if the topic is too big, i.e. narrow it down. Just ask yourself what interests you so much that you are prepared not just to look at it in passing, but to look at it first with glasses, then with a magnifying glass and perhaps also with a microscope. And then? Yes, then just start. A lot of things come out when you write.

The feedback at the end of this module motivated me and at that point I was sure that I had turned the corner and had arrived in this system that was so messed up for me. Well, and then came the next module. What sounded super interesting on paper first brought me to the brink of insanity. Simply because I had a total blockade in transferring the contents to Germany and my professional practice. Maybe someone is wondering why this is always a topic in the study programme. It's because we also have to do a certain number of practical hours. An internship is not necessarily easy in this setting and so there must be other ways to do the VFU. With us, this is ensured through constant reflection and networking with the personal professional and practical everyday life. A theory that is not applied in everyday life remains a theory.

The module entitled "FV8015 - Knowledge Development in Multi-Professional Work Places. A total of 5 exams have to be taken. The first, "Describe your Organisation", is more of a formal introduction that is not graded, and the second is an activity control, where you actively signal that you are active in the course and want to continue. 

Examination 1 is built around the "essay" (well, if a few hundred pages is still an essay ;) ) by Andrew Abbott (1988): The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. Abbott analyses professionalisation mechanisms and puts professionalisation theories established at the time of writing to the test. In the end, the task was to describe how professions develop. That was actually not so easy for me. Not because it wasn't in the book, but because I didn't feel it was so straight forward according to a "five" point plan. But I was also totally blocked inside. The last few weeks have been very upsetting personally, so I was just through it, and especially emotionally, and a current medication setting has knocked me out. I'll be glad when the dosage phase is over in mid-January. Of course, this also affects my performance in my studies, when there's simply nothing left over after a day's work to invest in it and still have to read texts that you just don't read. Studying doesn't mean reading, it means reading, understanding, internalising, transferring, discussing, reflecting.  But back to the task! The second task served mainly to explain which criteria Abbott discusses that lead to a strong profession developing and becoming socially anchored. That was actually easier for me. The last task was my biggest problem, namely the transfer to my field of activity. At least it was before I started writing. I had actually had such a good cry here that it then came easily to me. But whether it's what the professor wants, well, I'll find out later.

As I found out, I hadn't exactly reported that I hadn't made the deadline. Yes, that's right, the technique. I had written directly to the professor and also attached my document (even though it was an old working version). Which was actually great (it's not necessarily usual outside of office and university hours), I already got a message this morning that he had changed the settings a bit and that I could submit the document. We'll see whether it counts as a late submissen or not. 

But I don't care. At first I was a bit disappointed yesterday, because even if I study for fun, I still want to get a good degree. But you only have to pass 2/3 of the graded exams with VG to pass the course overall. So I'll try to finish the other exams during normal office hours, so that it will hopefully fit in the end. (Okay, it still has to be in terms of content).

Examination 2 is about the work by O'Connor/Netting (2009) Organization Practice: A Guide to Understanding Human Service Organizations. I will report on this in the near future. Because as the status bar reveals, this is also the next exam, which is due in January. Until then, I will use next week and the week after to read and then especially the days off to write. But I have to plan cleverly, because I'm going home for the New Year and my father has no internet and a mobile phone network, so we don't even need to discuss 5G, because it would already be progress if there was 3G ;) .

So, I guess that's the last info on this module. What is all course literature

• Abbott (1988) System of Professions Essay on the Division of Expert Labour (book, 452 pages)
• O'Connor/ Netting (2009) Organization Practice: A Guide to Understanding Human Service Organizations (book, 464 pages)
• Bozart et al. (2013) The Integration of Health Services (Research Report, 15 pages)
• Abrahamson et al. (2009) An Evaluation of Family Centres in Region Västra Götland, Swerden (Report Summery, 8 pages)
• Kodner/ Spreuwenberg (2002) Integrated Care. Meaning, logic, application, and implications (discussion paper, 6 pages)
• Tolbert (1990) Review of the book The System of Professions An Essay o the Division of expert Labor (paper, 5 pages)
• Abrahamson (n.d.) Uncovering tensions among frontline workers in an intersectoral organisation: a mutual exploration in a Swedish family centre (paper, 12 pages)

The citation style for this module is the Vancouver Referencing Guide. This was completely foreign to me until now, but you get used to it. We have a variation because, due to the fact that Abbott doesn't only have two pages, we use page numbers for citations, which would otherwise only be the case with direct citations.

Yes I think that would be it. By the way, there will be a new blog that I am setting up. I know that I have some readers who already get tips here but are too shy to ask some things themselves. That's why I'll also be blogging about the APOLLON mentoring programme, my experiences and also individual topics and questions, tips and tricks related to studying. Have a great weekend. For now, I'm not going to do anything at all, but knit a round. Because I still have a baby blanket here, which should be finished slowly, otherwise the child can walk before I'm even close to being finished.