Barriers in education of social clients

Barriers in education of social clients

Introduction

A person's image of themselves and self-perception, that is, the image of one’s own person (self-image), in many ways influences which needs and goals are connected to one’s self-esteem and to the motives of personal development and self-realization of that person.

This also applies to the influence on the educational needs of social clients and likewise to the goals of social client education. The efforts of educational social workers as social educators of adults, as well as other professionals involved in education (upbringing and teaching) of social clients, should be focused both on increasing the self-confidence of social clients and on reducing the high self-criticism of social clients when talking about the prospects of personal and social development of social clients.

Adults usually express greater or lesser concern that they may need to learn and master something in adulthood. However, the main tool and at the same time the method of educational social assistance is precisely the learning of people during the educational process, namely the educational and upbringing process. If it is even slightly possible, social clients have to learn and master new things that they need. Otherwise they cannot achieve a change in their personal social conditions and their own life situation. Educational social workers are to help social clients in overcoming their own barriers to learning and education. G. D´hertefelt (2000), a Dutch author, identified barriers to adult education as follows:

Informational barriers concern: overcoming the lack and inaccessibility of appropriate information, overcoming passivity in searching for information, supporting interest and attention to information about adult education.

Situational barriers concern: overcoming lack of time, organizing the daily rhythm, overcoming lack of resources for education, personal family conditions, working conditions, spatial conditions, possibilities for participation in adult education. Institutional barriers concern: overcoming inappropriate and unsuitable forms of education, educational contents, inadequate educational activities offered, overcoming shortcomings in organizing adult education.

Psychological barriers concern: overcoming subjective psychological obstacles in education, for example fear of educational activity, fear of the group, overcoming fear of failure, fear of reduced ability to learn, overcoming fear of the adult educator’s personality (educator and teacher), fear of the style of leading educational activity, of disrespect toward oneself, of not respecting the autonomy and experiences of the adult person during the educational activity.

The role of the educational social worker

In removing psychological barriers in adult education, the adult educator has a genuinely important role; in educational social work this is the educational social worker. According to M. Tennant (1990, p. 106) and, in our view, similarly according to the educational social worker, it is expected that they will competently:

• help adult persons understand and accept their role as a person who is learning;
• support and encourage individuals to recognize their unique learning style and also their style of knowing;
• use various approaches in adult education that support and facilitate the learning process of adults;
• create such an educational environment and atmosphere in the group that supports creativity and differing adult learning styles;
• create such conditions that support cooperation, where adults learn from each other.

Recruiting social clients for their own education

Informing and persuading social clients is always a targeted process, that is, external motivation that is triggered by important information about education addressed to specific social clients. The information should be important to the social client—it should have personal meaning for them. The client processes information in their own way because the acquisition of experiences and the way information is processed and used is personally unique. That is, social clients have their own strategies for processing information. The information-processing strategy concerns the selection, categorization, and interpretation of information. The strategy of individual processing and use of information forms the background for personal assessment of reality, situation, problem, and also the personally unique perception and understanding of reality. A social client forms a certain conception-image of a given reality, given situation, given problem. (M. Machalová, 2013.)

The “cognitive style” or “learning style” of a social client expresses how the social client receives, processes, and organizes information. Educational social workers and other adult educators need to realize that people have different cognitive styles.

Respect for the uniqueness of cognitive style should be reflected in an individual approach to adult education (upbringing and learning) and to the learning of adult people. M. Nakonečný (1997) points out that learning processes are more important than teaching techniques and also emphasizes that people have strengths and weaknesses in learning. Adults who are learning must be respected in that they learn differently, in their own unique way.

Cognitive learning styles of adult persons

D. Kolb and R. Fry defined cognitive styles in adult persons, which we present from M. Tennant’s publication (1990, pp. 103–104):

Situational triggers to education and learning of social clients

The arousal of educational needs depends on the level of theoretical and practical knowledge of adults and on their educational situation and educational environment.

The strongest triggers for arousing educational needs are goal-related topics actually present in the situation in which the adult person is situated, or which they follow indirectly (for example, they watch a lecture, a discussion on television or radio, have a sympathetic educator—i.e., a lecturer or advisor at some educational event, are satisfied with the content of a specific educational activity, appreciate new approaches in the educational process, look forward to the presence of other people in the educational group, are motivated by creative and spontaneous educational activity, and so on).

The more educational stimuli there are in a given situation and the more interesting they are to the adult person, the more educational needs are evoked in them (this can be a need for personal prestige, a need for curiosity, a need to gain personal advantage, and the like).

The greater the complexity of the educational environment (in terms of quantity and diversity of educational stimuli), the more an adult person has the opportunity to satisfy more educational needs at once, and the more new educational needs are evoked.

If the educational environment is poor in learning stimuli (for example, there is a lack of educational stimuli), fewer educational needs will be activated in people. A lack of schools or their difficult accessibility, lack and inaccessibility of libraries and books and other educational stimuli, together with a lack of opportunities to educate themselves, results in low motivation of people to learn and to receive education. In such a case, the potential for educational needs in people and their strong motivation to educate and learn can act as compensation. (Krech - Crutchfield - Ballachey, 1968, p.111-112.)

We consider the externally induced arousal of educational needs through the educational environment as one of the priorities in recruiting clients in educational social work. In educational activities and events, social clients receive social help by allowing them to satisfy several of the needs listed below, and above all their need for self-realization. Specifically, these are the needs of social clients (M. Machalová, 2014):

• curiosity need (to be informed, to know),
• need to associate (to be in the presence of other people),
• need for altruism (to help others),
• need for power (to control others, the situation, circumstances),
• need for prestige (to be respected and recognized),
• need for appreciation (to be competent, highly valued),
• need for self-realization (to do what one is capable of, naturally gifted, talented in, in accordance with one’s personality traits).

We add only that an educational social environment rich in interpersonal relationships, social communication, and educational stimuli motivates adult social clients to learn and educate themselves, and thereby also to develop their own ability to live.

In conclusion

Why is it useful to engage in recruiting social clients for their own education? Through education, educational social work provides clients with help in shaping their own personality and in achieving psychosocial development, as well as help in fulfilling the meaning of their life. The experience of life meaning is connected to the need for one’s own identity (the feeling of uniqueness and meaningfulness of life), to the need for belonging (the experience of social and interpersonal relationships), to the need to create (ideas, relationships, things), and to the need for the integrity of one’s own personality (which derives from the experience of satisfaction from the fact that life has its order, meaning, and continuity).

Author: Prof. PhDr. Mária Machalová, CSc. Literature:

D´HERTEFELT, G. 2000. A Question of Choices (A reference framework and tools for target group policy within basic education). In: Faceletten 17, VOCB, Brussels 2000. KRECH, D. – CRUTCHFIELD,R.S. – BALLACHEY, E.L. 1968. Človek v spoločnosti. vyd. SAV, Bratislava. MACHALOVÁ,M. 2013. Preventívna sociálna práca - Edukačná paradigma v sociálnej práci. Prešovská univerzita, Prešov. MACHALOVÁ,M. 2014. Edukačná sociálna práca. Prešovská univerzita, Prešov. NAKONEČNÝ, M.1997. Psychologie osobnosti. Academia, Praha. TENNANT, M. 1990. Psychology and Adult Learning. Routladge, London and New York.