PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL WORK SPECIALISTS AS A GUARANTEE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY SOCIAL WORK

Abstract

Modern conditions of human existence and life in the world in general and in Ukraine, in particular, are woven from crisis phenomena, which a person/family is not always able to cope with on their own, requiring social support from social work specialists. In order to achieve an effective result of professional activity, a modern specialist in social work must possess professional competences and be knowledgeable about modern work methods, including with vulnerable categories of the population, which will contribute to improving the quality of social services in the community. Professional development of social work specialists should be aimed at their effective response to the social challenges of today. Sothe goal of the study is: 1) to find out the key advantages of the competence approach to the implementation of the modern educational process of improving the qualifications of social work specialists: 2) to analyze the results of the training programs for improving the qualifications of specialists implemented at the Dnipro National University named after Oles Honchar in the aspect of further their deployment of social work in the community. Achieving the specified goal will contribute to the search for effective methods and technologies of modern social work with individuals/families in difficult life circumstances; foster families and family-type children's homes. A comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional and competency-based approaches to learning revealed the advantages of the latter: flexibility, creativity, focus on achieving learning outcomes that will be further implemented in social work in the community, independence, and testing the acquired knowledge in practice. Currently, it should be noted that there is a need to improve the qualifications of social work specialists by obtaining a certificate, which confirms the frequent appeals-requests of potential listeners who need to receive such an educational service. Due to a lack of finances, they are unable to undergo advanced training at the expense of individuals, and state funding for this need is currently suspended. In the future, this research is: a theoretical basis for the development of new training programs for improving the qualifications of social work specialists, as well as practically acquired experience, which is important for the further implementation of trainings for improving the qualifications of social work specialists.