Inclusive Youth and Community Work

The course prepares you to be able to adequately respond to changes in children’s, youth and community work. The boundaries between open youth work and other realms of practice, such as child and youth welfare and school social work, are becoming more permeable. This also raises the qualification requirements in the various fields. Youth work, for example, increasingly includes learning and homework assistance, help with job search and educational counselling.

In addition to counselling services, special attention is paid to diversity, specifically to gender, generation and migration-specific support offers. These new requirements have to be taken into account when it comes to project development and managerial tasks.

Training objectives and key areas

The Master Certificate Programme introduces the challenges of and changes to children’s, youth and community work and covers its theoretical and practical aspects. When it comes to working with young people and families it is essential to provide a relational space, to jointly develop meaningful and active leisure activities and to offer counselling for all areas of life, including education, relationship issues and life crises. This requires specific skills and methods, which are imparted in four module clusters:

Cluster 1 – Practical work methods

Cluster 1 covers the methods for establishing relationship work, social and case management, creative techniques for resolving crises and conflicts, and methodology in individual, group and community work. The focus within social management is on concept development, project management and practical tools for managing and shaping everyday working life.

Cluster 2 – Youth issues

The focus of Cluster 2 is on topics that are relevant to the everyday life of the target group. You will be provided with an overview of all legal aspects relevant to the age group and the care responsibilities. You will also look into the framework conditions of schooling and vocational training as well as social media, digitalisation, family crises, gender and identities.

Cluster 3 – Theory and practice

Cluster 3 teaches you aspects of psychology, pedagogy and sociology as well as the use of reflection and supervision techniques in practice. In this cluster, the focus is on your own practical activity and you as a person: self-reflection helps develop a professional attitude in dealing with the target group and your own role.

Cluster 4 – INJUG laboratory

Cluster 4 covers competences in scientific work and empirical social research, the use of digital learning environments as well as writing and presenting a scientific project.

Skills and competencies

The Master Certificate Programme provides targeted training in the following fields:

• Communication skills when dealing with
  • children and young people
  • families of origin, patchwork and foster families and their environment
  • project partners
  • funding providers
• Counselling skills
• Ability to implement target and development plans and to document cases
• Ability to establish interdisciplinary collaborations and to cooperate in networks
• Diversity skills
• Management skills
• Ability to develop and carry out projects, events and workshops
• Reflective skills – intervision, supervision and self-reflection
• Leadership skills
• Legal knowledge and referral skills where required

This course provides you with basic and in-depth knowledge of methodology, specialist topics and reflective work. You will also learn how to plan and write academic studies and papers. In your Master’s thesis you will explore a real-life empirical question and present the results in accordance with social science standards.