TRAINING OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN THE INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF A UNIVERSITY: CONCEPTUAL IDEAS AND INNOVATION MECHANISMS

Abstract

The study presents a reflection of the problem of innovation training of future social workers in Ukraine in the context of forming the innovative educational environment of higher educational institutions. Changes in the system of social workers training are characterized, frames of adding and widening their realization by conceptual ideas and mechanisms as to education in the field of social work are outlined. There is presented the multi-vector type of educational evolution in the field of social education that provides co-existence, development and interaction of conceptions, statements and views, different by their ideas as to the theoretical-methodological base of social workers training. Solving the problem of functioning of the innovative educational environment of social workers training provides a purpose-oriented preparation to elaboration and implementation of social work innovations, based on ideas of pedagogical innovation, competence-oriented and project teaching, social partnership. This process is specially organized, purpose-oriented, dynamic, which socio-pedagogical conditions are realized in the common activity of teaching subjects due to integration of innovative possibilities of the educational environment and personal potential of a specialist, support of students’ ideas and initiatives, introduction of the method of situational modeling of social situations, provision of teaching subjects’ interaction as a special type of social partnership of state institutions and public organizations. Such social workers training provides orientation on general scientific principles (system, open, variation, complex ones), concrete-scientific principles of organizing the educational environment (subjective activity, innovation, reflection, integration of the content of educational and other types of activity, principle of social partnership as realization of interaction between social institutions, organization of studio training). It has been proved, that renovation of social workers training as a process of purpose-oriented support of the innovative content of environment possibilities corresponds to the characteristics (practice-orientation, polyfunctionality, openness, innovativeness) and may be provided by organization-managerial, scientific-methodological, activity-practical mechanisms.