Educational realities of future social workers’ training

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Educational realities of future social workers' training

O. B. Varava, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences,

Senior Lecturer at the Department of Social Work and Rehabilitation National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine



ОСВІТНІ РЕАЛІЇ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ ПІДГОТОВКИ МАЙБУТНІХ СОЦІАЛЬНИХ ПРАЦІВНИКІВ

Варава О. Б.

Анотація

У статті здійснено аналіз освітніх реалій та перспектив підготовки майбутніх соціальних працівників. Встановлено, що чисельні заклади соціальної сфери потребують дедалі більше сучасних фахівців різного профілю і рівнів підготовки, здатних враховувати і опиратися на економічні та соціальні реформи, ефективно діяти в умовах розвитку суспільства, вміло вивчати й застосовувати перевірений життям вітчизняний і зарубіжний досвід соціальної роботи, враховувати динаміку і наслідки процесів глобалізації. На основі узагальнення та систематизації наукових розвідок резюмовано, що в кожній країні навчання соціальній роботі базується на власній концептуальній моделі. В процесі визначення моделі підготовки соціальних працівників в Україні необхідно враховувати і опиратися на економічні та соціальні реформи, адже власне вони впливають і вирішальним чином впливатимуть на сутність соціальної і соціально- педагогічної діяльності в майбутньому і на систему вимог, що висуватимуться до соціальних працівників. Здійснено аналіз зарубіжного досвіду фахового навчання майбутніх соціальних працівників. Резюмовано, що лише в Європі функціонує понад 420 закладів освіти, де можна здобути освіту зі спеціальності «Соціальна робота» з обов'язковим вивченням основ соціального проектування доступного середовища. Управління системою соціальної освіти в Європі, як правило, централізоване. Підсумовано, що сучасний соціальний працівник - це фахівець у галузі соціальної інженерії і технології, котрий ґрунтовно володіє правовими, моральними і психологічними особливостями життєдіяльності людей. Нині гостро постала проблема підготовки соціальних працівників рефлексивного типу, тобто таких, котрі не лише зможуть застосовувати теорію на практиці, а й аналізувати, оцінювати власну практику, критично переосмислювати набуті знання й уміння, а також неперервно саморозвиватись і вдосконалюватися в напрямі розширення знань, умінь, навичок проєктування доступного середовища надання необхідної соціальної допомоги.

Ключові слова: соціальна робота, підготовка, соціальні працівники, здобувачі освіти, доступне середовище.



Abstract

educational worker training

The article analyzes the educational realities and prospects of future social workers training. It is established that numerous social-related institutions need the increasing number of up-to-date multidisciplinary experts with different training levels that can consider and rely on economic and social reforms, effectively operate under the conditions of society development, skillfully study and apply the life-tested native and foreign experience of social work, take into account the dynamics and consequences of globalization. On the basis of generalization and systematization of scientific research, it was summarized that social work training in each country is based on its own conceptual model. In the process of determining the model of social workers' training in Ukraine, it is necessary to consider and rely on economic and social reforms, because they influence and will decisively influence on the essence of social and socio-pedagogical activity in the future and on the system of requirements for social workers. The analysis of foreign experience of future social workers' professional training is carried out. It is summarized that in Europe alone there are more than 420 institutions of education where one can get an education majoring in social work with the obligatory learning of the basics of social design of the accessible environment. The management of the social education system in Europe is usually centralized. It is concluded that an up-to-date social worker is viewed as an expert in the field of social engineering and technology, who has a thorough knowledge of the legal, moral and psychological features of human life. Currently, the issue of training reflective social workers has become acute. They should not only be able to apply the theory in practice but also to analyze and evaluate their own practice, critically reinterpret the acquired knowledge and skills, as well as continuously self-develop and progress by expanding their knowledge, skills, abilities to design an accessible environment for providing necessary social assistance.

Keywords: social work, training, social workers, education receivers, accessible environment.

Introduction

With the acquisition of independence, Ukrainian society is in a state of constant transformational processes. The society, its values, vision of its own development and attitude to its members are changing. This, for its part, creates new requirements for representatives of socionomic professions, that involve direct communication in the process of professional activity, and, like a barometer, reflect social policy and the level of state development, in particular, level of education as a training institution for modern level experts. The profession of social worker undoubtedly belongs to such ones.

The peculiarity and at the same time the complexity of organization of social work in society is that it is the embodiment of subject-subject relations and always unfolds in the system “human-human”. The person is the most difficult object to study, too subtle and changeable material to be completely and successfully

typologised. Representatives of

socionomic specialties have to identify specific approaches to the organization of optimal interpersonal interaction.

Today, society is developing in the conditions and under the influence of global processes in politics, economics, health care, ecology, civil society formation, large-scale natural disasters. Global social processes and related consequences, like

unemployment, alcoholism, drug addiction; HIV infection, Ebola fever, COVID-19, rise in the crime rate; population ageing; terrorism;

consequences of man-made and natural disasters (such as the so-called Post-Chernobyl) require the combined efforts not only from governments, but also from social workers, whose goal is to help people in difficulty. All this predicts the growth of need for social workers, who are able to act in the new social conditions, consider social reforms and life-proven domestic and foreign experience of social work in their professional activities. Obviously, there is an increase in the number and need for a new quality of social workers, aimed at ensuring the public sector of the social sphere that constantly expands, differentiates and becomes more complex. The experience of developed Western countries also convinces in the prospects of the non-governmental, amateur, group and individual forms of assistance to socially vulnerable groups.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. Peculiarities of training and formation of readiness for professional activity of future social workers were covered in publications of foreign authors (E. Kholostov,M. Dowell, M. Firsov, F. Parslow,S. Ramon, S. Shardlow, etc.) and in works of domestic scientists (V. Andrushchenko, T. Logvinenko,S. Arkhipova, A. Goriliy, I. Zvereva,Kapska, L. Tyuptya and O. Tyuptya,M. Lukashevych, L. Topchiy,Melnychuk, V. Polishchuk, I. Prygara,T. Semigina, Y. Schwalb, etc.). In the published literature sources there is an increased attention of researchers to the most important aspects of social workers' training.

The study and comprehension of foreign experience in social workers' training (in particular, the experience of the United States, Canada, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, France) are reflected in the dissertations: N. Mykytenko,Vinnikova, N. Vydyshko, O. Olkhovych, N. Haiduk, N. Sobchak, O. Pichkar, O. Zagayko, T. Logvinenko,Slozanska, G. Leschuk, A. Kulikova and others. The social worker's working process with different population groups is reflected in the scientific papers of S. Surgova, L. Gorban, R. Kozubovsky, M. Didyk, Y. Ryabova, A. Prykhodko, and others. The scientific findings of O. Ursol, G. Myasoid, O. Povidaychyk were aimed at forming the professional culture of future experts. However, despite the substantial amount of scientific studies, the professional activity of a social worker keeps being a relatively flexible scientific and practical construct. The dynamics of modern society development is reflected not only collaterally. To a certain extent this dynamics forms the construct. Apart from the influence of globalization and purely national peculiarities as for understanding the essence of social work in Ukraine and the model of an expert, there is still a tangible demand for enriching this field with the international expertise. Therefore, at the present stage of society development, there is a demand for finding new priorities in the training of specialists in the social sphere. These aspects have determined the relevance of our study.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the educational realities, directions and prospects of professional training of future social workers, taking into consideration the international experience.

Methods. Theoretical and methodological analysis, comparative method, systematization of scientific sources, generalization.



Results

The training of a social worker in each country presupposes the existence of a certain conceptual model of such expert, which, in turn, is based on the state social policy and the constants of its socio-economic development. Social reforms affect the requirements for social workers. Since the dynamic development of the state is a continuous process, it is natural to constantly review the functions of a social worker. In addition, the profession of a social worker is relatively young and is still in its formative period.

Social work, as a specific type of activity, is legalized by state normative documents, including the Law of Ukraine “On Social Services”, “On General Principles of State Youth Policy in Ukraine”, “On Social Work with Children and Youth” [3, p. 3].

The analysis of the foreign experience of future social workers' professional training is important for updating the domestic system in this field. Now in Europe alone, there are more than 420 institutions, where one can get a degree in Social Work. The management of the social education system in Europe is usually centralized. The content of education and its certification is determined by the Ministries of Education and Health (Sweden, France). In the United States, there is an instruction for the development of curriculum for social workers' training that stipulates certain independence for educational

institutions. It was formulated by the Council on Social Work Education entitled “Education Policy and Accreditation Standards”.

The analysis of scientific literature [4; 6; 7] made it possible to identify a variety of approaches and models of training for future social

workers in different countries. For

instance, in England, Sweden, Estonia,

Finland, and the United States the

training of social work experts is carried out mainly by universities, where students undergo pre-professional training and professional training. In the United States, the pre-professional training involves studying of a cycle of disciplines that provide general education background, while

professional training implies that a student together with a personal counselor creates an individual curriculum, which allows to rationally manage the time, choose desirable disciplines and the correct sequence of learning them.

In the Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, and Poland, both university and non-university types of training are used, combining training in private and public educational institutions together with constant cooperation with social agencies. On the contrary, in Austria, Germany and France the training of future specialists is ongoing and allencompassing. It takes place outside the university education system. Professional training of social workers in Germany is based on the idea of practice-oriented learning with the emphasis on the practical component of training. In France, much of the social workers' training courses are concentrated in regional institutes of social work (Instituts Regionals du Travail Social - IRTS), that develop models and forms of activity, undertake retraining and advanced professional training, contribute to the development of scientific research in a professional social environment. The training of social experts in Finland is closely

interrelated with the increased academic approach in the curricula.

It should be noted that practical training plays an important role in the training of social work specialists in foreign educational institutions. For example, in the United States, each junior student must spend at least 400 hours of practice under the guidance of qualified professionals, and each senior student - at least 900 hours [4, p. 87]. The entire educational process in educational institutions that conduct training for social workers is based on cooperation and partnership with social agencies and on a contractual form of learning (a fee paid basis). In the United Kingdom, the practical training of social workers is carried out both in the educational institution and directly in the workplace, where teachermentors or institution staff members are attached to students. In France, the special attention is given to the direct practical training of social workers, on average, it is 40 % of the total duration of training. Whereas in Ukraine these numbers are much lower.

A characteristic feature of scientific research in the field of social work is the integration of their subject matter and categorical apparatus with the achievements of psychological science.

Nowadays, the model of a social worker is based on such psychological by its origin categories as “social intelligence” and “emotional

intelligence”, that require from this specialist such professional traits as psychological readiness; situational orientation; ability to modulate the

situation and his impact on it; involvement; analytical thinking skills (the so-called reflexive type of specialist, who can analyze, evaluate and critically rethink his own practice and acquired competencies, as well as self-develop); awareness of the situation and ways of professional behavior in it; knowledge and competencies allowing to cope successfully with different clients' life situations; ability to predict the nature of client behavior (social engineering skills); ability to be empathic, use various communication techniques, etc.

Some researchers focus their attention on such components of social worker's readiness for professional activity as “cultural intelligence” and “social cross-cultural intelligence”, which implies: the ability to interact with clients in an intercultural space (for example, work with immigrants, refugees, relocated persons);

participation in international experiencesharing events (conferences,

workshops, seminars for social workers); organization and training of volunteers with a view to involve them in international volunteering programs, etc.).

However, “cross-cultural

intelligence” is a tool that can be used by social worker not just in inter-ethnic relations, but also when arranging work with different population groups within the country, inasmuch as such communication sometimes involves, for example, knowledge of youth subcultures, awareness of corporate culture features of certain institutions that require the involvement of social sphere professionals, such as hospices, psycho-neurological boarding houses and other socio-medical establishments. When preparing a future social worker, especially for work in the field of medical and social assistance, it is necessary to take care of his personal cultural background and values orientation in relation to such important philosophical categories as “quality of life”, “attitude towards death and dying” (including attitude in different cultures); “philosophy of disability”, “philosophy of dependence”, “philosophy of otherness”, “selfconcept”, “respect for your own and other people's personal boundaries”, attitude to other humanitarian values.

Adherence to the humanitarian vector in the training of future social workers becomes even more important in the context of the so-called “artificial intelligence”, the gradual integration of technical devices in society. While future social workers, as well as other representatives of socionomic

professions, acquire knowledge as provided by the educational program, it is important not just to show the capabilities of technics, particularly information and communication

technologies, in improving their professional activities, but also to emphasize the alternativity,

effectiveness and indispensability of human interventions in situations of social interaction. We believe that this aspect will become increasingly important during the training of social services specialists.

The educational and professional program “Social and psychological

rehabilitation” for higher education receivers of the second (master's) level (specialty “Social work”) should include such new educational components (disciplines) as “Pre-medical training” and “Physical and medical

rehabilitation”.

As we know, the psychological, medical, communicative and other professional aspects of social workers' preparation for the work in the emergency zones and consequences of the emergency situations, remain not entirely actualized.

Despite the feasibility of transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches deepening to specialists' training, there is a need to differentiate the responsibilities of different services representatives involved in the elimination of the consequences of man-made disasters, especially during the acute period of disasters. In particular, there is a need for creating the concept of social services performance, widely discussed in the community and adopted at the legislative level; development of standards (standards of operational procedures, checklists, step-by-step algorithms) of social worker's

performance in providing assistance to the population; development of

standards for intersectoral cooperation of specialists in emergency situations, which should also be the subject of wide discussion for scientists and practitioners.

Analyzing the concept of allencompassing training of social workers, L. Tyuptya notes that the main purpose of future social workers'

training is to equip them with deep socio-economic, scientific and

professional knowledge, practical skills and abilities of diagnosis, forecasting, organization, management,

coordination, correction, rehabilitation, developing personal attitude to knowledge, formation of value orientations, spiritual needs, high moral qualities, the ability to constant knowledge update, professional

mobility, creative solution of

professional problems [5, p. 67].

Melnychuk points to the need for organizational legal and scientific- methodological support for the social workers' training that would correspond to the realities and dynamism of public life in the XXI century [2, p. 97].



Conclusions and perspectives

Ensuring the students' readiness for highly qualified professional social work is possible provided that the system of national higher education responds dynamically and adequately to social challenges of globalization and purely national nature. The quality of future social workers' training can be achieved by: 1) ensuring the unity of practical, theoretical and scientific components of the social work development and the balanced unity of these components in the model of a future social worker;

ensuring the humanitarian

development of the industry in the context of educational process technologicalization and the life of society at large; 3) providing a transdisciplinary approach to the educational process and future professional activity; providing in the educational content a successful

combination of special knowledge in terms of social work with congruent semantic components of other fields of knowledge, like pedagogy, psychology, management, medicine, law, etc.; 4) clear definition of the functionality and range of social workers' activities in the context of transdisciplinary approach to the specialist's

competencies; 5) formation of “social intelligence”, “emotional intelligence” and social thinking necessary for professional self-development of future specialists; 6) continuous enrichment of the national experience of specialists' training by studying the international experience of such training.

The prospects for further scientific research are seen in the theoretical justification of innovative approaches to updating the system of future social workers' professional training.



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