IMPLEMENTATION OF SERVICE LEARNING AND "LIVING LIBRARIES" CONCEPTS AS A KEEPING OF STUDENTS IN CAREER EDUCATION OF SOCIAL PEDAGOGY THROUGH DISTANCE TEACHING DURING THE PANDEMIC COVID-19 PERIOD K. Liberčanová Trnavská Univerzita (SLOVAKIA) Abstract The limitations resulting from the pandemic situation have significantly affected the practical training of students in preparation for the profession. And not only in the practical training of students of teaching, but also in social pedagogy. The career preparation of these students requires standard internships in educational facilities. The previous form of practice during the pandemic was limited. Therefore, the teaching of practical courses provided by the faculty during the introduction of pandemic measures takes place mainly in a distance form, which led the teachers themselves to find new alternatives which, despite the unfavorable situation, would continue to allow students effective study and practical preparation for the future profession. This is realized through the experimental use of service learning projects and a "living library" of social educators, whose implementation in higher education seems to us to be a relatively effective teaching strategy, as it has helped to keep students in career education. Keywords: career training, keeping students engaged, social pedagogy, distance learning, practical training, living library, storytelling, service learning projects. 1 INTRODUCTION The contribution focuses on practical training for the profession of social educator at the Faculty of Education, University of Trnava, Slovakia [1]. The pandemic situation caused by the COVID-19 virus had a significant impact on teaching and research into the practical training of social educators. The massive anti-pandemic measures in the country over the last two years have fundamentally affected the overall nature of the teaching of students at the pre/graduate level. It was necessary to choose alternative procedures which would continue to enable students to prepare for the future profession of social educator. It involved using innovative concepts of service learning and living libraries in a distance form of teaching in courses of an applied and practical nature. During the COVID-19 pandemic, no university suspended teaching in Slovakia, but the vast majority of teaching had to be conducted in a distance form. The same applies to the teaching of students assisting in a profession such as social educators. We have explored alternatives in teaching subjects of an applied and practical nature that prepare students for the exercise of their profession. These were the Social Pedagogy courses for social educators (from now on PPPSP), Social Pedagogy Methods 2 (from now on MSP2) and Continuous Practice 3 (from now on PP3) in the Master’s degree in full and part- time forms of study. All the courses mentioned are either seminars/tutorials or direct socio-educational work in the facilities where professional competencies are acquired. Those subjects were taught during the summer semester of 2021, i.e., in a situation where, due to the quarantine measures, there was a suspension of the face-to-face learning in universities and a restriction on the carrying out professional teaching practice in facilities where it was standard until the pandemic [2]. During the period of the pandemic measures, institutions, facilities and organizations (schools, school education and training facilities, school counselling facilities, special educational facilities, police prevention units, juvenile detention facilities, non-profit organizations and civic associations providing socio-educational services) ceased to provide their services on a face-to-face basis or under very strict quarantine conditions. Thus students had significantly limited opportunities to carry out education practice and acquire the professional competencies necessary for their future profession. This didactically challenging situation has been going on for two academic years with short breaks, and it was, therefore, necessary to ensure, in the long term, practical preparation at about the same level as in the pre-pandemic situation. Practical training ran counter to standard limits of distance learning (lack of personal contact, disruptions during transmission, digital truancy), while allowing opportunities that Proceedings of EDULEARN22 Conference 4th-6th July 2022, Palma, Mallorca, Spain ISBN: 978-84-09-42484-9 8697