Department of Social Pedagogy and Social Work
The Department of Social Pedagogy and Social Work was established as a unit of Psychological and Pedagogical Faculty of Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University in August 2000 in order to provide high quality professional training for students, to maximize the needs of students for obtaining professional knowledge and skills. The main tasks of the Department are: preparation of specialists of different levels of qualification (Bachelor, Master, Doctor of Philosophy) at the appropriate scientific and pedagogical level, in accordance with industry standards of higher education; formation of new perspective scientific and applied competences that provide opportunities for employment and labor mobility of graduates in the domestic and international labor markets. The Department guarantees students high level of professional training; creation of necessary conditions for each student to reveal their abilities and talents (participation in research works, student scientific problem solving groups, scientific and scientific-practical conferences, all-Ukrainian competitions, olympiads).
The teaching staff of the Department provides a high level of theoretical, applied and practical training of specialists in the specialties: 231 Social work (EPP “Social work” (first (bachelor’s) degree); EPP “Social administration in the community” (second (master’s) degree); EPP “Social work” (third (educational and scientific) degree); 011 Educational, pedagogical sciences (EPP “Social pedagogy” (second (master's) degree)); 028 Management of socio-cultural activity (EPP “Management of socio-cultural activity” (first (bachelor’s) degree)); 016 Special Education (EPP “Logopedics. Special Psychology” (first (bachelor’s degree), EPP “Inclusive Education” (second (master’s degree). Postgraduate study in the specialty 231 Social work functions at the department.
The Department employs: 6 Doctors of Sciences, Professors (Polishchuk V.A., Oleksiuk N.S., Soroka O.V., Petryshyn L.Y., Kalaur S.M., Slozanska H.I., Parfanovych I.I.); 3 PhDs, Associate Professors (Hlavatska O.L., Horishna O.V., Leshchuk H.V.); 3 PhDs, Lecturers (Vodiana O.V., Oliinyk H.M., Turchyn I.V); laboratory assistant (Vasylak O.S.). Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor Polishchuk V.A. is the Head of the Department of Social Pedagogy and Social Work.
Under the supervision of the Department lecturers (Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor Polishchuk V.A., Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor Kalaur S.M., Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor Oleksiuk N.S.) over 20 dissertations for the degrees of Doctors and Candidates of Sciences have been defended. The Department carries out the dissertation researches of 10 graduate students. The Department is the organizer of the annual International and All-Ukrainian scientific-practical conferences “Social Work and Social Pedagogy: Challenges of the Present” (responsible - Doctor of Science, Professor Slozanska H.I.,) and co-organizer of numerous national and regional scientific-practical forums seminars and conferences.
Since 2014, the Department has been publishing the international peer-reviewed journal “Social Work & Education”.
From the beginning of its creation, the Department has become a real center of innovative technologies of social, social-pedagogical and socio-cultural activity in Ukraine. The staff of the Department is constantly working on improving the educational process. The educational process is based on the principles of student-centered personality-oriented learning and on the basis of competent, systemic, integrative approaches and aims at developing practical skills and skills in deepening the special and professional competences necessary for future professional activity.
More than 50 normative and selective courses are taught by lecturers of the Department. For effective preparation of future specialists to work with different categories of citizens, lecturers of the Department have developed electronic versions of all academic disciplines, teaching aids, textbooks, video presentations. Lecturers of the Department (Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor Oleksiuk N.S., Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor Slozanska H.I., Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor Soroka O.V., Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor Kalaur S.M., PhD in Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor Horishna N. M., etc.) conduct training seminars for students and teachers of higher education institutions, as well as for specialists in the social sphere.
The Department has developed and successfully implemented a system of practical training for future specialists, which included different types of practices. The lecturers of the Department have concluded more than 100 agreements on cooperation with educational institutions, state and non-governmental institutions and organizations of social and socio-cultural orientation, which enables future specialists to undergo practical training in the conditions as close as possible to the realities of today.
The Department has a Socio-psychological and Medical Scientific and Practical Center (head – Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor Parfanovych I.I.) and Volunteer and Social Initiatives Club of Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University (head – PhD in Psychological Science, Lecturer Vodiana O.V.).
Lecturers of the Department provide advanced training of specialists in the specialties: “Social Pedagogy”, “Social Work” and “Inclusive Education” at the Center for Postgraduate Education of Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University.
Lecturers conduct classes and advise students of the Ukraine Small Academy of Sciences.
The Department of Social Pedagogy and Social Work is always ready for partnership with all interested people and institutions.
