Social Work at Universities in the Context of the Required Practical Skills from the Perspective of Profession Zuzana Truhlářová, Jana Levická, Jana Marie Havigerová, Karel Myška (CZ)

Presentation outline Introduction Research objective Methods Description of the research sample Summary Conclusion

Introduction University education in social work in the Czech Republic was suspended for 40 years. Restored in practical competencesIn accordance with Bologna process there is an emphasis in the acquisition of practical competences during university study.

Basic practical competences (Havrdová, 1999) 1.Develop efficient communication 2.Be well informed and plan the procedures 3.Support and encourage self-sufficiency 4.Intervene and provide services 5.Contribute to the actitivity of the organization 6.Proffessional growth

Research objective Ascertain the competences which are considered important by the social workers themselves from the perspective of practice and in the context of their professional preparation for practice.

Secondary objectives Ascertain the individual competences which the social workers believe to be the most important ones in the framework of their professional practise - Develop efficient communication, Be well informed and plan procedures, Support and encourage self-sufficiency, Intervene and provide services, Contribute to the activity of the organization, Professional growth.

Research methods Questionnaire (both open and closed questions) questionnaire turned in to a web obtained data processed using the software NCSS, MS Excel 2010 and LimeSurvey. Questionnaire reliability – Cronbachovo alfa 0,97

Description of the research sample Social workers in professional practice s sent 1350 questionnaires returned full filled in 59,3 %return rate

Respondents type of provided services Social care services47%675 Social prevention services16%229 Social counselling8%109 State administration and self-government12%169 Other2%31 No answer15%209

Respondents length of practice 0-2 years16% years20% years20% years14% and more years16%228 No answer15%210

Method respondents assessed individual competences needed for basic activities: the importance of the given competence on the scale 1-4 N=1350

Results Cumulative scores for each competency

Develop efficient communication The competence to provide the space for the expression of clients´views3878 The knowledge of the rules of communication with clients (communication techniques)3860 The ability to solve conflicts efficiently3799 The ability to provide emotional support3794 The skill of team communication3778 The skill of efficient usage of verbal and non-verbal communication3636 The ability fo communicate with various client groups3594 The knowledge of the rules of directive and non-directive communication3322

To be well informed and plan the procedures I To know the rules of confidentiality and protection of personal data3748 The skill to assess the life situation of the client3696 The ability to react to the changes of the clients´requirements in a flexible way3668 Good knowledge of the legislation connected with social work3660 To be able to plan the providing of services based on the clients´needs (individual planning)3655 To know the particularities of providing services depending on the undesirable situation of the clients, his/her health state and disabilities3575

To be well informed and plan the procedures II The skill of obtaining information from various sources and have a good control of it3516 The skill to keep the necessary documentation3482 To be well informed about the area of connections between individual social services (health system, education, legal advice)3467 The skill of processing information from various sources3428 The ability to process documentation using ICT including specialized software (systems)2954

Support and encourage self- sufficiency The ability to explain the rights, duties and the ways of applying them to the clients3536 The ability to make the clients understand the consequences of their decisions3519 The ability to encourage the clients´s self-sufficiency depending on their capabilities and possibilities3518 The ability to help the client to get rid off the dependence on a social service3354 The ability to teach the clients to identify and express their abilities and strong points3330

Intervention and providing of services To know the legislative framework of providing the given service3469 The ability to formulate, enforce and propagate the rights of the users3430 The ability to deal with the risks connected with the service3429 The ability to apply the individual standards in practice3401 To be well informed about the Standards of social services quality3376 The ability to refer the clients to a specific service3365 The ability to find potential clients of social services (screening)2950 The skill of strategic planning of a service on regional level2885

Contribute to the activity of the organization Knowledge of the ethical code of social workers3484 Be well informed about the internal rules of the organization3415 Understand the structure and the goals of the organization3409 The ability to identify oneself with the culture of the organization3245 To be well informed in the system of state administration and self-governemt3013 To know the available funds of the organization and the possibilities of using them2918 To be well informed in the systems of grants supporting social services2785 To know the possibilities of multisource funding2764

Professional growth To be able to organize one´s work and reach the given objective in time 3421 To know the risks of the profession and to be able to eliminate them (health risks, burn out syndrome etc.) 3369 To be able to identify the stereotypes and prejudices with negative impact on the work with clients and overcome them 3359 To know professional qualities needed for the work in social services, incl. duties in the area of further education 3208 To know the rules and aims of supervision as an important part of personal and professional growth 3091 To be well informed about the offer of qualification and further education 2935

The comparison of the importance of the individaul competences To be able to organize one´s work and reach the given objective in time3421 To know the risks of the profession and to be able to eliminate them (health risks, burn out syndrome etc.)3369 To be able to identify the stereotypes and prejudices with negative impact on the work with clients and overcome them3359 To know professional qualities needed for the work in social services, incl. duties in the area of further education3208 To know the rules and aims of supervision as an important part of personal and professional growth3091 To be well informed about the offer of qualification and further education2935

Results Everything is important communication skillsMost important are communication skills Recommendations for education  Emphasize personal and social training  Focus on the development of communication skills, mainly the basic rules of communication and the ability to listen and manage the interview with the clients

Recommendations for education Elaborate an offer of courses permitting the acquisition of good knowledge from the fields of law and legislation and the ability to work with relevant legislative documents and react to the changes in legislative practice. Improve the development of manager skill focused on one´s own person (e.g. Organization of one´s own time), incl. perspective of the team.

CZ.1.07/2.3.00/ Zuzana TRUHLÁŘOVÁ Janka LEVICKÁ Jana Marie HAVIGEROVÁ Karel MYŠKA