Discipline “Social Work With Youth.” Practical Classes as a Tool for Awareness

Abstract

The article describes practical classes in the discipline “Social Work with Youth” for students majoring in 231 “Social Work” of the educational and professional programme “Social and Youth Work” of the first (Bachelor’s) level of higher education at the Dnipro University of Technology directly in professional institutions and establishments specialising in this field, based on the concept of dual education. Since social work with youth involves interacting with and providing assistance to socially vulnerable groups of the population, such activities require specialists to have not only a high level of professional theoretical knowledge, but also practical skills and the ability to apply them. The current higher education system in Ukraine does not provide applicants with the relevant knowledge and skills required by employers. The study notes that in order to overcome the skills gap in the labour market, cooperation between higher education institutions and employers is necessary, and the best approach to enable students to acquire sustainable practical skills in their speciality is to conduct practical classes directly in professional institutions using a dual form of education. The authors note that for future social workers, practical classes in specialised institutions are particularly important given the sensitivity of this profession and the frequent need to interact with people who find themselves in difficult life circumstances. This form of practical training complies with the current regulatory requirements for training specialists in the field of social work, and the regularity of practical training in the dual form of education ensures better formation, consolidation and deepening of professional competencies of students as future specialists, which is not always possible to achieve in the case of “classroom” practical training.