Directions in professional development for social workers working with immigrants in a lifelong learning context

Abstract

The article aims to reveal the areas of professional development that should be improved for social workers working with immigrants in Lithuania. Qualitative research strategy was used, including semistructured interview, to investigate the professional experiences of social workers who work with immigrants. The research sample included six social workers. The results of this research revealed that social workers who work with immigrants have a need to develop multicultural competencies, which is related to the need for multilingual and intercultural communication skills for social workers and other professionals working in the migration sector. The study revealed that social workers who work with immigrants have the need to improve self-regulation skills associated with emotions to enhance their capacity to handle problematic situations in the “here and now", and to develop the capacity for reflection. The research results detailed the needs of social workers who work with immigrants and the need for improved professional development to solve the problems of work in this area. The means chosen by social workers to address problems are related to the development of professional competencies, including learning by acquiring theoretical knowledge and practical experience of working with immigrants, as well as suggesting improvements in social work degree programs in higher education and institutions that organize lifelong learning and can address the specificity of social work with immigrants.