Since Winter Semester 2010/11 the Counselling Research Section has joined with our cooperating partner youth-life-line/AKL e.V. to offer a model practical course for BA students in educational science, running parallel to the regular BA course.

It works like this: in the fourth semester of study, the regular block practical seminar foreseen in the curriculum is replaced by a continuous practical course in the sub-discipline of online counselling – ‘continuous’, in this context, means spread over the entire period of study. This enables commencement of independent casework at a very early date.

This pilot project is our response to the fact that practical courses in the area of social-pedagogical counselling consist, for the most part, only of administrative tasks or (albeit rarely) participant observation of counselling processes. Independent casework – in our opinion, a core component in training up counselling skills – is only possible in exceptional cases.

Since 2004, our cooperating partner has offered low-threshold counselling for adolescents and young adults undergoing life crises or showing suicidal tendencies. Counselling is done by email and chat, and is handled by trained peer counsellors. Currently signed up for this pilot project are seven students from two yearly intakes. The pilot project is supported at every stage by experts; as a result, we will be able to form a more realistic estimate of the pros and cons of this novel approach to practical training, conceived as a useful adjunct to the new modularized courses of study.
 

Advantages of taking this parallel practical course:

• 60 hours of basic counselling training in a workshop setting
• Independent casework in email counselling
• Ongoing supervision and advanced training in a workshop setting
• More breathing space for study planning (takes effect in the 4th semester, when the block practical course is scheduled)
• Ongoing support by the Institute of Educational Science within the compass of a parallel colloquium – working in a small group (instead of two block practical seminars in the 3rd or 4th semester)

Prerequisites for participating in the parallel practical course:

• Begin in the 1st semester (this will allow you to space the coursework across the entire course of studies). Information and selection criteria will be announced in a special lecture "Einführung in den Studienschwerpunkt Sozialpädagogik" (BA M2).
• You will need to be ready to spend 4-6 hours a week in the workshop (even during the semester breaks). The workshop is situated only 5 minutes (on foot) from the Institute of Educational Science, so coordinating with the BA-study plan won’t be a problem.
• You should be no older than 25 years of age – this will comply with the peer approach favoured by the workshop.