PREPARING YOUTH WORKERS FOR WORK WITH VETERANS: THEORETICAL GROUNDS AND ANALYSIS OF UKRAINIAN SPECIALISED TRAINING EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Summary

Introduction. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine makes the preparation of youth workers for work with veterans a systemic pedagogical requirement. With over 1.5 million veterans projected to need reintegration support, most of them young people aged 18–35, youth workers are de facto already part of the reintegration ecosystem. Yet no theoretically grounded model of such preparation exists in Ukrainian pedagogical scholarship.

Purpose. To theoretically ground the content and structure of specialised competency of youth workers for work with veterans; to analyse the Ukrainian Training of Trainers (ToT) "Youth Work with Veterans" of the "Youth Worker" Programme; to propose a conceptual model of systemic preparation on the basis of formal and non-formal education integration.

Methods. Theoretical analysis and synthesis of Ukrainian and international scientific sources; comparative analysis of Ukrainian and international training practices; programme analysis of the ToT "Youth Work with Veterans" by parameters of audience, modules, pedagogy and expected outcomes; conceptual modelling. Theoretical framework: SAMHSA's trauma-informed practice concept (2014), Pometun's and Ovcharuk's competency approach (2004), and Schön's reflective practice theory (1983).

Results. Four dimensions of veteran specificity as a youth work target group are identified and theoretically grounded: traumatic experience, transformed identity, distinct axiology, and hypervigilance/distrust, each with corresponding competency requirements. The specialised competency is conceptualised as a three-level structure: knowledge, skills, and reflexive stance  with the third level being most decisive and most dependent on reflective non-formal pedagogy. The "Youth Worker" Programme's ToT is analysed as a methodologically mature precedent: its four-module structure addresses all three competency levels; the mandatory supervised practice implements Schön's reflective practice principle. Itʼs systemic limitation: absence of normative recognition in the National Qualifications Framework is identified. A four-level conceptual preparation model is proposed: basic formal (university module), specialised non-formal (training), trainer (ToT + supervision), and systemic (NQF integration).

Originality. The article provides the first theoretically grounded model for systemic preparation of Ukrainian youth workers for work with veterans, combining trauma-informed practice theory, competency approach, and reflective pedagogy  and offering the first scholarly analysis of the ToT "Youth Work with Veterans" as a pedagogical precedent.

Conclusion. Preparation of youth workers for work with veterans is a legitimate and urgent pedagogical problem. The existing ToT is a valuable non-formal resource that must be integrated with formal training and the NQF to achieve sustainable systemic impact. The four-level model provides a roadmap for this integration.