The Ministry of Welfare organized the first summer school for teachers and students of social work study programmes at higher education institutions "Social Work in Diverse Communities" from 9 to 11 August in Tīnūži, Ogre Municipality, as part of the project "Professional and Modern Development of Social Work".
"Our project promotes the development of social work practitioners, as well as social work lecturers and students in a collaborative way. Learning and working together is the essence of community social work, which is about helping community members to achieve a higher level of well-being, to increase their self-organization skills, and to take responsibility for their own actions and the environment', says project leader Agnese Bīdermane.
Community social work is relevant because social problems in society cannot be solved by working individually with a client. Community social work, as an example of structural social work, aims both to tackle the root causes of problems at a local level and to change human relations in the community for the better – towards respect, humanity, mutual support and cooperation.
The aim of the summer school was to introduce the methodology of "Community Social Work" and to experience and learn the methods of community social work in practice, so that the acquired knowledge and skills could be used in the development of the specialization "Community Social Worker" in the social work study programmes of Latvian universities.
On the first day of the summer school, the participants got acquainted with the theoretical framework of the methodology Social work in the community" and the experience of community social workers in Daugavpils, Ādaži and Cēsis. The second day was dedicated to learning about the Finnish situation of community social work.
Establishing a relationship of trust before solving a problem and going to clients rather than waiting for clients in a comfortable social service office were the key messages of Finnish guest speakers Joonas Kiviranta and Eeva-Mari Miettinen from Tampere University and Parkanmaa Municipality when describing the daily life of a community social worker. The guest speakers provided both the methodological and ethical underpinnings of community social work and spoke candidly about the practice sites and methods: community counsellors – experts by experience, which resonates in Latvia with Roma mediators and refugee mentors; community social work centres, where social workers act as social innovators – in a specific place and time, working with residents to model the solutions they need and attract funding to implement them: collaboration is ongoing between the state, municipal, NGO sectors - working in the interests of local residents. Other methods include day activity centres, which are freely accessible to everyone, and, perhaps most importantly, outreach social work or street work: to help, you have to meet and be met in a comfortable and familiar environment.
As impressed as the charismatic guest speakers were, the highlight of the second day was different: the participants’ own symbolic journey to the clients, covering several kilometres, getting to know the residents of the Turbas neighborhood and learning about their life stories and problems, their relations with the municipality. After completing the task, the participants returned bright, happy and inspired: courage is there, dignity is there, entrepreneurship is there, and stepping out of their comfort zone has not weakened them but, on the contrary, strengthened them. The evening was full of movement and fun – under the guidance of Inta and Indra, the participants danced seated and then moved in all directions of the sky.
The third day was entirely up to the participants: following the Finnish guest speakers’ assignments, 4 problem-solving activities were carried out using community social work methods. The approach "senior to senior" was developed to overcome the loneliness of seniors, the development and improvement of parenting skills of young mothers living in social risk conditions was dedicated to promoting the well-being of children and strengthening the overall quality of life of young parents, the work with young people at risk of social exclusion in the community was planned as an interdisciplinary support camp with a follow-up – a personalized service offer to its participants. In particular, ideas to address the low international mobility of Latvian social work students and the lack of international experience for the social work student community stood out: the introduction of a new format - short-term mobility for skills training.
"It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I conclude that the target has been met and exceeded. Resources have been accumulated for social work practice, for the design of the community of social workers, and for the development of the curricula in terms of content and methods I am particularly pleased that the participants of the summer school chose themselves to stay connected and saw in each other the resources to implement community social work in the municipalities they represent. Now we need an answer from the management of municipalities and social services – do we need a community social worker or not. There is only one answer: we do!" says Liesma Ose, Senior Project Expert.
Information about the summer school: liesma.ose@lm.gov.lv
Presentations:
The summer school was organized in the framework of the European Union Cohesion Policy Programme 2021-2027 under the European Social Fund Plus Action 4.3.5.4 project "Development of professional and modern social work".
The aim of the project "Development of professional and modern social work" is to improve the quality of social work as a profession and as a branch of human science and to facilitate access to social services that meet people’s current needs by investing in the professional development of social work professionals and improving the quality of social work studies.