GLOBAL MODALITIES FOR SOCIAL WORKERS: WILL UKRAINIAN EDUCATION USE THE MOMENTUM TO CHANGE?

Abstract

The study outlines the current global priorities and standards of social work, which are formed, approved and further promoted by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). This study was undertaken with regard to the concept of ‘person-in-environment ’and context of social work, as well as human rights framework. The analysis demonstrate all recent global standards adopted by IFSW and IASSW are based on such principles as collectivism, addressing the structural causes of social problems, and building up the research and academic strengths of the profession. Despite the neoliberal turn within the socioeconomic context (manifestating in marketisation, consumerisation and managerialisation) and professional debates on knowledge indigenization, the key global priorities of social work as a profession include the following idealistic expectations: professional promoting social and economic justice, preventing conditions that restrict human rights, eradicating poverty and improving the quality of life of all people. The specific applications are drawn for Ukrainian social work education in order to support social workers in viewing their clients not from a needs-based standpoint, but through the lens of promotion of human rights and social solidarity.