‘Ears to the Soul’: A volunteer programme based on the principles of service-learning as an alternative to the professional practice of student social work placement during the pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/RIDAS2020.10.4Keywords:
Service-learning, professional practice, social work, COVID-19Abstract
The aim of the paper is to present an example of professional practice in the form of a programme based on the principles of service-learning in the period of crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in social work education at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. The practical training of social work students is an integral part of their education and is focused on the development of those competencies that can only be developed through direct work with target groups. As it was not possible to complete the placement in the field at the time of the pandemic, it was necessary to look for new opportunities to meet the objectives of the placement. The ‘Ears to the Soul’ volunteer programme was created in response to the pandemic situation and its main goal was to help overcome people's feelings of loneliness by creating student-client contacts and providing regular telephone support. The programme was built on the principles of service-learning. The evaluation of the programme has shown that it can meaningfully meet the needs of target groups and has considerable potential as a form of education in social work.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors submitting to this journal are in agreement with the following terms:
- Authors keep the authorship rights and give the journal the right of first publication.
- Submissions will be published according to Aquesta obra està sota una llicència internacional Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 which enables to share the work with third parties, as long as authorship is acknowledged, the first publication in this journal and the licence terms.