The Faculty of Psychology, Social Work and Special Education is one of the first structural units created at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University. During the development of the University, the Faculty changed its name (Institute of Psychology and Social Pedagogy (2008-2013). Institute of Human Sciences (2013-2022)), however, the internal structure and activities of the University remained intact, which provided an opportunity for effective development.
Today, the Faculty provides training of specialists in three specialties (053 Psychology, 231 Social Work, 016 Special Education), which include 17 educational programs (7 for the first (bachelor's), 8 for the second (master's), 2 for the third (educational and scientific) higher education levels); has a contingent of more than a thousand students and more than 80 employees, 80% of whom have scientific degrees of doctor and candidate of sciences and academic titles of associate professor and professor.
The Faculty has its own unique traditions and practices in ensuring the quality of education, such as: practical training centers (the first were created in 2008 (scientific and methodological center of social and psychological training) and in 2014 (Logotrainer)), of which there are currently 6 and each of which functions effectively, ensuring the implementation of the University's New Educational Strategy and practical training of students; unique educational programs in Ukraine (Monitoring and evaluation of social programs, Interventions in autism), which have "exemplary" accreditation; the first and only one bachelor's program in Ukraine with "exemplary" accreditation - "Speech Therapy"; indisputable authority and popularity among entrants - during the last two years, all specialties of the Faculty occupy 1-3 positions among higher education institutions of Ukraine in terms of the number of applications submitted by entrants; a large number of academic mobility programs for students in HEIs in Europe and the world (in recent years, about 10 different countries and universities); the vast majority of teachers-practitioners in their field from among the teaching staff of the Faculty; strong scientific potential, which is confirmed by a large number of publications by employees in foreign journals (Scopus, Web of Science), internships in higher education institutions of Europe and the world, won grants and projects in various countries of Europe and the world as a whole.
During the last year, 4 research projects were implemented at the Faculty:
- The international project "Developing Career Guidance Counseling for Ukraine" with the support of TFK Ukraine Program 2023 together with Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) (Finland, Haamenlina) - Klishevych N., Pavliuk R., Lytvynenko O., Serhieienkova O., Tsiuman T.
- "Interprofessional and Family – Professional Collaboration in Early Childhood Education and Care" (2021-2023), an international research project led by S. Alisauskiene, Natallia B. Hanssen, D. Kairiene Vytautas of Magnus University Education Academy, Educational Research Institute (Lithuania). Project participants: Martynchuk O., Skrypnyk T., Babych N.
- "Support of preschool children, families, teachers to increase the potential of psychosocial support and ensure safe, high-quality preschool education in Ukraine" (March 2022 - May 2024) with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund in Ukraine (UNICEF). Project participants: Naida Yu., Zaierkova N.
- Programs to support educational reforms in Ukraine "Democratization of preschool education" (November 2021 - October 2024) with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway and the Vergeland European Center. Project participants Naida Yu., N. Zaierkova, Fedorenko O.
2 students of the Faculty participated in the international student academic mobility (Erasmus+ program) during the autumn semester: at the University of Ostrava (Czech Republic) - Yaryna Khyzhnyak, Viktoriia Lopachuk, students of the 3rd year of majoring in "Social Work".
Representatives of the teaching staff of the Faculty also participated in academic mobility.
Lytvynenko O. Conducting research: "Food behavior of people forced to leave Ukraine due to the war." Universität Bayreuth. Faculty of life sciences: food, nutrition and health. Prof. Dr. Laura M. König. Junior Professor of Public Health Nutrition, University of Bayreuth (15.06.2022-14.06.2023).
Muzychenko I., Klishevych N., Martynchuk O., Skrypnyk T. - participation in the Erasmus+ international internship at M. Grzegozhevska Academy of Special Pedagogy, Poland (04/24/2023 to 04/28/2023).
Stoliarchuk O., Kalishchuk S. - participation in the international scientific and pedagogical internship program "Peculiarities of continuous education of specialists in pedagogy and psychology" in Klaipeda, Republic of Lithuania (May 29, 2023 to July 9, 2023 in the field of knowledge "Psychology").
Sapiga S. - participation in the international WeAct Forum in Krakow from June 8 to 14, 2023.
Denysiuk O., Liakh T., Spirina T. - participation in the academic mobility program on the topic: "Building the potential of higher education institutions of Ukraine and Moldova in 2023" for teachers of higher education institutions within the framework of the project "UNI-Paths: Innovations in education for Ukraine" (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic, Ostrava).
Shved O. - studying and teaching at the Inter-University Center for Advanced Studies Dubrovnik (Croatia, Dubrovnik) at the seminar "School of Social Work in Theory and Practice" from September 11 to 16, 2023.
During 2023, the Faculty held the following international events:
- From September 11 to 16, 2023, Shved O. was invited to the Inter-University Center for Advanced Studies Dubrovnik for the seminar "School of Social Work in Theory and Practice", where she conducted training at the Inter-University Center for Advanced Studies Dubrovnik of research in Dubrovnik (Croatia), which was attended by 52 students: undergraduate students, masters, postgraduate students and teachers from Slovenia, France, Serbia, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, Croatia and our representative from Ukraine.
- On 09.10.2023, Shved O., at the invitation of a colleague from Great Britain, namely Professor Shulamit Ramon of the University of Hartfordshire (Professor of Social Inclusion and Well-being of the Department of Allied Medical Professions, Midwifery and Social Work) held a class for applicants for the specialty 231 Social Work in university of Great Britain.
- March 8, 2023 - a meeting of the International Association of Schools of Social Work, which was dedicated to International Women's Day and the position of women in the world. The representative of our university - Shved O. talked about the situation with sexual violence against women, which was committed by the russian occupiers during the Ukrainian-Russian war in Ukraine.
- Speech at the International Conference "Challenges in speech-language pathology - processes of diagnosis and therapy" with a report on the topic: "Interdisciplinary approach in orthodontic treatment with speech therapy as a key to stable results (clinical case report)" (03.12.2023, Medytska A., Babych N.)
- Participants of the working group of international cooperation with the Academy of Applied Sciences named after Stefan Batory in Skjerniewice (Poland) and conducting the study "Influence of personal resources of teachers (spiritual values and spiritual feelings) on their performance of professional activities" - Kalischuk S., Serhieienkova O.
- The teachers of the department of special and inclusive education (Martynchuk, O. Skrypnyk T., Babych N.) on the initiative of Natalia Bogdanovych-Hanssen, head of the master's program in speech therapy at the Nord University (Norway), participated in the international research project "Interprofessional and family-professional cooperation in education and care for young children" (2021-2023). The result of this scientific collaboration was the monograph Family-Professional Collaboration for Inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care / Edited by S. Ališauskienė, N. Bahdanovich Hanssen, D. Kairienė. Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2023.
