Professional Training of Future Social Workers for R&D Activities

The article describes the conditions, forms, and methods of optimizing researchactivities of future social workers in the Ukrainian society in unstable times. Itaimsto offer a methodical model to develop research skills in future social workers andexperimentally verify the system of training them for research activities. The researchhypothesis is that one can discover more effective forms and methods of researchactivities due to the reasonable changes in educational conditions and the considerationof current trends in social work, which will lead to qualitative and quantitativeresults. Research methods are theoretical (generalization, comparison, pedagogicalmodelling) and practical (diagnostics, formation). The formative stage of the researchprovided a logical sequence of three stages: initial (1-2 courses); basic (3-4 courses);professional (1-2 courses of master's level). Experimental diagnostics involved the useof standardized methods, questionnaires, tests, expert evaluation. The total number ofEG students was 118 people, the total number of CG students -121. The analysis of theresults shows that at the end of the experiment the level of readiness of future socialworkers for R&D in the experimental sample is much higher than in the control. Thenumber of students with a high level of readiness for R&D in the experimental sampleincreased by 16.9% and is 24.6% (in the control sample this figure is 13.2%). Theeffectiveness of the developed system of professional training of future social workersfor R&D is ensured by the implementation of certain pedagogical conditions: theformation of motivation for R&D involvement of first-year students; providing researchcontent of disciplines of fundamental, professional and practical training of socialworkers; use of differentiated learning technology in the process of research trainingof masters of social work; use of ICT (information and communicationtechnologies).