Cases as a Means of Formation of Students’ Reflexive and Analytical Experience

Abstract

Background: Pedagogical press often observes a gap between the theoretical and practical components of the professional education. Theoretical skills of future social work experts finds no back up in the reflective and analytical observational experience, which partly explains their unreadiness for qualified professional reactions. Phenomenological and existential methodology laid in the basis of the educational process stimulates the development of integrated interactive multimedia educational technologies (and in particular, technologies named in contemporary educational theory and practice as 'Case-study'), aimed at forming a professional reflexive and analytical experience of the future professionals of social services and institutions, the development of their subjectivity, creative individuality, adaptive abilities, etc. Methods: During the analysis of ways of ensuring internal connection between theory and practice in the reflective and analytical activity of the future social work experts, we used the typology and modelling method ensuring the formation of taxonomic concepts of the studied objects, their characteristics, relationships, attitudes and behavioral patterns. In addition, during the development of interactive multimedia educational technology a system-structural method was used. This method allowed considering the studied phenomena as a dynamic total integrity interacting with other socio-cultural phenomena. Findings: The study has revealed the capacity of the case-study interactive educational technology in the context of reflective and analytical experience development and increase in the level of professional preparedness of students, the future social experts, to the professional problems solving; the capacity of interactive educational technology of integrated media education in terms of the reflective and analytical experience development, proficiency improvement and formation of a professional and humanistic attitude of students, the future social experts; the overall structure of the cognitive schemes of social situations and cases as a basis for the formation and development of intentional and dialogical, reflective and analytical experience of students in the educational process. Applications/Improvements: Our didactic research support (in the form of interactive technology of integrated education) improves the development of methodological and substantive bases of the educational process in the system of social and socio-pedagogical education.