Implementation of an Integrated Approach in the Formation of Communicative and Speech Competence of Future Social Workers

Background and aim of study:

Fundamental changes taking place in the system of education and science of Ukraine, public demands and needs of the labor market in training competent professionals capable of socio-political and economic transformations, require finding effective ways of training students, future social workers in higher education institutions. Their professional development should focus on the integration of knowledge acquired in the process of theoretical learning into practical activities. The purpose of the article is to highlight the peculiarities of the introduction of an integrated approach in the process of forming the communicative and speech competence of students – future social workers in higher education institutions. It is important for a student, future social worker to acquire systematic knowledge of various fields of sciences in order to provide qualified assistance to the client and a positive solution to the problem.

Results:

In order to form communicative and speech competence in students majoring in specialty 231 “Social Work” we analyzed curricula and programs of the academic courses “Fundamentals of interpersonal communication”, “Introduction to the specialty”, “Ukrainian language (for professional purposes)”, “Fundamentals of conflicts and partnership” and found that none of them provides for the formation of communicative and speech competence of students, future social workers. With this purpose, topics aimed at its formation were introduced into the content of the curricula. Thus, when studying the discipline “Ukrainian language (for professional purposes)” the topic “Communicative-speech competence of a social worker” was introduced. In the class, students identified the main professional factors that contribute to the professional competence of a social worker, named words associated with the concept of “communicative competence”, created word clouds using the Word It Out service, which helped to better memorize terminological concepts. The introduction of the topic “Communicative speech activity in the professional activity of a social worker” in the course “General Psychology” was aimed at consolidating the key concepts (activity, professional activity, speech activity, communicative speech activity) and identifying levels of understanding. During the lecture, students discussed the questions: “Why is activity considered a human form of activity?”, “How do you understand the concept of speech activity?” “What is communicative and speech activity?” “Is speech related to activities?” In the process of studying the discipline “General Psychology” the topic “Management of emotions and feelings in the activities of a social worker” was introduced. The cards of psychological techniques “Manage yourself”, developed by I. Matiykiv, were used at the lesson. The use of metaphorical maps contributed to the development of students’ ability to express themselves freely, correctly formulate their thoughts, develop logical thinking, relieve emotional tension, manage emotions and feelings. The course “Social Psychology” included the topic: “The essence of the communicative-speech process”. The lecture was introduced as debates. The questions for discussion were “Do you agree with the idea: Manipulation is a fine art, it should be applied, either professionally or do not apply it at all, if the skills of manipulative influence are insufficiently developed”. On the slide, the students were shown three main approaches to interpersonal manipulation (as a negative socio-psychological phenomenon of interpersonal interaction, which has a destructive effect on the individual; as a positive socio-psychological phenomenon of social interaction, which allows to move from rough forms and coercion to softer ways of manipulating the personality; positive assessment as a necessary means of protection). The task was to model dialogue and act out each manipulative influence. In the process of performing the tasks by students, considerable attention was paid to the communicative- speech aspect, the ability to carry out various types of interpersonal interaction, to use the means of speech expression, to adhere to speech-ethical principles.

Conclusion:

We attempt to conclude that the need to implement an integrated approach is in increasing the students’ educational and cognitive abilities, mastering the ways of perceiving material based on a combination of individual concepts into a single whole, which allows to understand how socio-pedagogical, psychological and linguistic academic disciplines are interconnected.

DOI and UDC:

UDC: 378:364-43[316.77+81’233]-044.247 DOI: 10.26697/ijes.2020.2.3

Information about the authors:

Berezovska Liudmyla Ivanivna – Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Pedagogy and Social Work, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. Research interests: education and training, social pedagogy, culture of communication, communicative competence, modern educational learning technologies; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3032-7261.