Socialinių darbuotojų / socialinių pedagogų rengimas Lietuvoje
| Author |
|---|
Giedraitienė, Elvyra |
Rupšienė, Liudmila |
| Date | Volume | Start Page | End Page |
|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 83 | 64 | 73 |
Straipsnyje siekiama atskleisti, kaip Lietuvoje sekėsi spręsti socialinių darbuotojų / socialinių pedagogų profesijų integralumo problemą, socialinių darbuotojų / socialinių pedagogų rengimo reglamentavimo problemą, socialinių darbuotojų / socialinių pedagogų rengimo mokyklų tinklo susikūrimo ir plėtros problemas.Išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą, dokumentus ir remdamosi savo patirtimi autorės konstatuoja, kad socialinių darbuotojų / socialinių pedagogų rengimo pradžia ir tobulinimas vyko socialinės reformos, socialinių paslaugų infrastruktūros bei teisinės bazės formavimosi kontekste. Po daugelio diskusijų šiuo metu įsitvirtino nuostata, kad socialinis darbuotojas ir socialinis pedagogas yra integralios ir viena kitą papildančios profesijos. Socialinių profesijų specialistų rengimo reglamentavimas padėjo pereiti nuo stichiško ir beveik nevaldomo prie labiau suderinto ir sistemiškai valdomo. Salyje susikūrė ir sustiprėjo socialinių darbuotojų / socialinių pedagogų rengimo tinklas, apimantis įvairius šalies regionus. Specialistų rengimas vyksta pagal universitetines ir neuniversitetines studijų programas socialinio darbo ir edukologijos studijų kryptyse. Pastarasis laikmetis kelia naujas aktualias problemas: socialinių darbuotojų pasiūlos / paklausos disbalansas, konkurencija ir bendradarbiavimas, studentų motyvacija, aukštos kvalifikacijos dėstytojų stoka, praktikos (ypač universitetuose) trukmė ir kokybė
Social - economic changes that took place in Lithuania after independence had been proclaimed, as well as social problems that surfaced in Lithuania at the time, caused the necessity of the training of social professions. Although the professions are rather old, Lithuanian higher and post -secondary schools (which later were reformed into colleges of non-university higher education) did not have any experience in the training of this type of specialists. That was a challenge for the system of higher education: to find the optimum model of training qualified social workers and social pedagogues who would meet the need of a changing civil activeness-oriented society for that type of specialists. A rather spontaneous process of drafting the study programmes in social work and social pedagogy started, inspired by enterprising scholars with substantial experience in the field of human socialization and with a good understanding of the significance of social professions for that time and for the future. The aim of this article is to disclose the peculiarities of the training of social workers / social pedagogues in Lithuania. To achieve the aim, the following aspects shall be analyzed in the report: the problem of integrity of the profession of social worker/ social pedagogue; regulations of the training of social workers/ social pedagogues; the network and development of the network of schools that train social workers/ social pedagogues; problems and prospects of the training of social workers / social pedagogues in the context of establishment and enhancement of civil society.Today in Lithuania one could state that social pedagogy and social work are two integral professions that supplement each other; the focus of discussions is not the practical activities of these social professions, but rather their academic and scientific status. The regulation of the training of social workers / social pedagogues was a gradual process, and it has not finished yet. It is a positive fact that currently the activities of social workers / social pedagogues are regulated by a number of documents that reflect general academic and practical agreements and bring order into the train- ing of specialists. The regulation of the training of social work specialists facilitated the transition from a spontaneous and nearly uncontrollable process to a more coordinated and systematically governed training of social workers / social pedagogues. One can state that in the period of 1991-2006, a network of the training of social workers / social pedagogues in Lithuania has formed. At present, the said specialists are trained in seven universities and eight colleges in different regions of the country, thus, study programmes are easily accessible to the people in different parts of the country and meet the need for specialists of social professions of all the regions of Lithuania. Most of the named higher schools train both social workers and social pedagogues. Specialists are trained both in the university and non-university type study programmes in the fields of social work and educology. Some problems in the training of social workers / social pedagogues were identified. The training of social professions calls for greater attention to the regulation of the demand and supply issue on the part of the Ministry of Education and Science and the Labour Exchange. As one form of cooperation, the establishment of the Association of Schools of Social Work can be named. The absence of such an organization in Lithuania impeded the communication and cooperation on the national and international levels. Currently, the cooperation is mainly based on personal contacts and joint projects. As one of the problems in the training of specialists of social professions, the deficit of practice in the university curricula should be named. Another topical problem in the training of social workers / social pedagogues that has to be solved is student motivation that influences their studies, the mastery of knowledge and skills, and the quality of future professional activity. Our study programmes get increasingly more students who do not intend to stay in the field of social work and are merely interested in getting a university degree. So far, the problem of the shortage of highly qualified academic staff, and especially of scholars able to act as research advisors, has remained topical.