This bachelor project is dedicated to the topic of user participation in the training of Social Workers. It is about involving persons who make use or have made use of social services and can therefore contribute their resulting knowledge from first-hand experience to teaching. User participation is a demand within the framework of the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training (IFSW). In the Austrian context, the involvement of users in teaching is rarely implemented, and the associated research is sparse (see Omann/Zwehl 2022).

In the course of this bachelor project, students and service users will jointly create a space where user participation can be facilitated and tested. Based on these experiences and exchange, the involved parties will develop recommendations for potential formats of user participation in the teaching of Social Work in general and at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in particular. Apart from these recommendations, another objective of the bachelor project is to generate knowledge and experience on the topic of user participation. In this way, students develop a greater awareness of the topics of inclusion and participation. From an empowerment perspective, service users co-design the training of Social Workers, which can result in a sense of self-efficacy.

The project pursues the approach of Collaborative Action Research and integrates participatory methods by means of co-teaching on the one hand and applied research on the other.