ОРГАНІЗАЦІЙНІ ФОРМИ ПРОФЕСІЙНОГО НАВЧАННЯ ПРАЦІВНИКІВ У ГАЛУЗІ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ РОБОТИ В УКРАЇНІ

Abstract

Organizing professional training of the workers for social work practice and providing social services is poorly studied aspect of professional training for adults in Ukraine. This article presents the results of the desk study focused on systematic analysis of documents that define the particularities of organization of professional training of the workers in the field of social work. Two directions of professional social work training were identified: 1) advanced qualification training that suggests that a person takes professional educational courses with certain frequency on certain positions and receives approved certification document; 2) preservice, on-job training of the workers that is focused on developing professional competences the workers need to perform their functions. The categories of the workers for professional training, their rights and conditions for receiving a certain type of professional training were defined. The list of entities operating in advanced competence and/or qualification development for social work practice and providing social services, key providers of professional training services, their organizational forms, their subordination and authority were identified. Also, criteria and requirements for educational programs that are used for professional training were defined. It was observed that there is a big number of professional training providers that are responsible for development and implementing programs of advanced competence and/or qualification development and at the same time there is a lack of relevant available programs for workers in the field of social work. At the time when majority of workers do not have basic professional qualification in the field of social work and need forming and developing professional competencies necessary for effective work based on best practices, the actual providers of educational services position themselves as entities of advanced qualification training and still do not offer programs that are needed by practitioners. It was detected that legislative regulations of advanced professional competence or qualification training of the social workers need improvement: functions and powers coordination of entities of professional training, implementation of procedures of training needs assessment, developing the content of educational programs and providing the mechanisms of funding of training. Separate attention needs to be paid to reviewing the priorities in the work of professional training provides to increase the access of the social workers to regular preservice, on-job training for performing their on-job functions that correspond to the training needs of those specialists.