Concept of educational social work – justification © 1 Concept of educational social work - the reasoning © 2 The concept of educational social work as an innovative component in the system of social work as a social science, a field of study and social help is the result of our long-term theoretical as well as practical pedagogical work, research, and also our firm belief that

  • spiritual poverty leads to material poverty, therefore it is essential for social work to demonstrate its identity as a science, a field of study and practical work also by projecting its social benefit in promoting people’s social self-help in order to increase their social and psychological maturity and responsibility for their own lives;
  • social work should be efficient and real (not only proclaimed) support for social health, that is, support for social communication and social relations that strengthen social and mental integration and adaptation of people in their life environment and this must be verifiable and supported by instruments available to social work;
  • the primary aim of social work does not consist of treating social problems and social pathology, but it is to be a real, not only proclaimed, social development program for supporting the cultivation of an individual’s social and personal potential.

Holistic approach

The concept of educational social work is based on a holistic approach to the understanding of the individual, the social environment and their mutual dynamic relationship; a systematic approach to understanding one’s development as an individual system within the social environment and educational systems; a humanistic approach to understanding the content and importance of education as a mode of social help, guidance to self-help and development of individual potential. The concept therefore represents an intersection of educational and counselling paradigms of social work.

The educational social work concept is justified by the current living conditions of people in today’s postmodern age. We consider it crucial to point out the mutual social determination of a person and society and thus to emphasize the reciprocal respect and responsibility of individuals, groups of people and society as a whole. What happens to one person is both a private and a public matter. It is not enough to offer people one-time social help. It is desirable to educate people and guide them toward self-awareness and social self-help with the aim of strengthening their individual potential. The reason is clear: it is with people that we must search for meaning in life and the source of change in life. Only then can they work through life’s challenges and use their gifts and talents.

The justification of the educational social work concept

The answers to these questions are the basis of opening a scientific discussion for reflecting our professional opinion and examining the scientific and practical reality of educational social work as an area of knowledge.

What is social work? A simplified answer could be: the science, research and practice concerning social life in focus on an individual on the micro level of social life; in social groups and communities on the mezzo level; and on the macro level in social wholes (nation, state).

What makes the subject of social work as a science specific? What makes its theoretical reflection in the social life of people specific?
The adjective “social” appears in the subjects of several sciences, e.g. social philosophy, social anthropology, social science sociology, social psychology, social pedagogy, social andragogy, social medicine, social biology, and others.
This means that the only difference between all the above-mentioned sciences with “social” in their name is their science problem. The science problem is the center of scientific and research interest of a particular science.

Social problem

A scientific problem in social work is a social problem—of an individual, social groups or social communities. A social problem is more or less complex. In general, it requires a complex solution, since the same social problem is a matter of an individual, but also of a specific social group in which that person lives and of the wider society in which they are citizens. That means social problems always have more than one dimension (they are multidimensional). The following dimensions of a social problem may be mentioned: the dimension of spiritual and psychological experience, the dimension of social inclusion and exclusion, the dimension of various human activities—work, hobbies; the dimension of social roles—roles in family, at workplaces, in informal circles of friends, neighbours and community groups, roles in public life, roles in formal groups at school, at work, in interest groups, and in political parties; the dimension of health, the cultural dimension, and others.

Determination of social problem

The social problem, as the focus of scientific, research and practical interest in social work, has different causes (determinants) and different natures (aspects) in different people. Even if it appears to be the same problem, it is not. For example, unemployment brings very different social problems for each unemployed person. When speaking about an individual or group social problem, the causes and the person or group that is the subject of a social problem must be carefully considered. Different determination of the problem means different aspects of that social problem.

Every social problem is usually caused by several determinants. If we take into account that a specific person—a social client—is a unity of spiritual, psychological, somatic and social aspects of human existence, then their potential social problem is always a problem of the “whole person.” A social problem such as unemployment can be presented not only as a change in or loss of financial income but also as family disagreements, worsened health, mental disorders, and deterioration in spiritual and emotional balance. One of the causes of social problems may be a person’s personal, health, age or educational handicap.

An individual social problem is at the same time a spiritual and philosophical problem of a specific person, since it concerns their life values. Simultaneously, it is a health problem, because it concerns a threat to life, and also a psychological problem, as it involves one’s psyche, behaviour and actions.

Subject of the social work science

Taking into account the nature of a social problem, we assume that the subject of social work science has more dimensions. It can be understood as a highly complex subject and to a certain extent as an umbrella subject of social work science, research and practice. The subject of social work can be defined as follows:

  • A. The theoretical and methodological dimension of social work as an empirical science.
  • B. The methodological dimension of social work, that is, the implementation of theory and method.
  • C. The practical dimension of social work.

The theoretical frame of a social problem ↔ research and practical method ↔ implementation in practice (implementation of theoretical knowledge in social work practice in the form of social help)

And vice-versa: The implementation in practice (social help) ↔ research and practical method ↔ scientific reflection on a social problem (implementation of empirical knowledge in social work theory) Theoretical knowledge of social work brought to a specific implementation of social help and the empirical knowledge that follows from social help, when put into the frame of theoretical knowledge, lead us to understand that the helping process in social work involves several professionals from social work as well as professionals from other scientific fields and helping professions.

The aim and potential of social work

All of them are united on the basis of the main aim of social work, which is to provide preventive and rehabilitative social help to people in material and social need. Therefore it is questionable and even counterproductive to expect social help to be provided solely by workers with a degree in social work.
Providing social help involves social workers as well as professionals specialized in other important fields essential for the provision of different forms of social help: legal social help, medical and health social help, psychological social help, spiritual social help, educational social help, and others.

This fact is a result of social work as a science and practice. As already mentioned, the subject of social work is multidisciplinary and is defined by interdisciplinary intersections. (For example, educational social work is an intersection of social work and social education knowledge.) The subject of social work is characterized by transdisciplinarity, so it reaches beyond the sciences that enter social work and from which social work emerged.

Social work has its own theoretical, methodological and praxeological scientific potential. It should be noted that, as part of the ongoing process of the emancipation of social work as a science, a field of study and social practice, social work also uses adapted methods of other sciences: political science, economics, sociology, spiritual studies, philosophy, psychology, culturology, medicine, law and other sciences concerning people and society.

Current context of social work Modernization
What can the modernization of society mean for social work or educational social work as a science and a field of study?
Modernization is a process taking place while traditional and new coexist side by side. People need to adapt to life conditions with far-reaching changes very quickly. “Modernization means an ambivalent process of permanent change with pros and cons. Life offers people many more options for personal, professional and social development than ever before. However, these options are both opportunities and limitations. On the one hand they represent increased freedom and self-determination, on the other hand the decline of certainties and the need to find one’s own way outside traditional models of work, family, relationships and communication.” (E. Gruber, 2001, p. 14–23.) (translated by the author)

P. Ondrejkovič draws attention to the theory of hyperreality (after Baudrillard, 2006. In: P. Ondrejkovič, 2008, p. 32). Hyperreality is defined as “the agony of solid relationships, the agony of the real and rational” and the advent of the age of simulation, “for example the ‘hyperreality’ of a dream world in Las Vegas or the invention of a fruit juice containing an extract from non-existent fruits.” (translated by the author)

People face the phenomena of modernization: expanded rationalization; significant pluralization; ongoing individualization; disappearing boundaries between work, job and education; loosening manners and behaviour that have functioned on the basis of tradition and social norms; unification in the social and cultural field; people’s need to constantly search for their place in the world and in their environment; changes in interpersonal relationships. (Z. Baumann, 2002. In: M. Sycha, 2012, p. 26.)

Knowledge society
The initiative called the European path to an information society (established in 1994) brings ideas on how to prepare citizens for the new age. The task is to guide citizens toward accepting changes that are part of the development of the information society (knowledge society).
Education is regarded as a key factor in creating a “European model” of society. It should also support social inclusion and enhance people’s personal competencies and personal development in relation to their life roles. The starting point is the strong conviction that lifelong learning and education play a key role in the lives of individuals and society.

The education of adults3 is becoming an important part of life for populations facing “the complexity of the world and being held captive by the power of the financial world, the world of science and technology, and the world of mass media.” (J. Lefort, 1997, p. 37.) (translated by the author)

It is especially important to consider whether the educational process really does what its name suggests. Education is a synonym for formation and differs from training and one-sided indoctrination by the degree of refinement that appears in the level of freedom of one’s moral consciousness, awareness of the social consequences of one’s motives, and knowledge of what beliefs, benefit and beauty, interpersonal relations, life and its humanization are for. (Š. Švec, 1995, p. 72.)

Conclusion

Talking about the purpose of the concept of educational social work, we must also emphasize understanding change in today’s social reality. New principles of scientific reasoning and practical action are discussed within a postmodern paradigm: “order and chaos are complementary, the observer defines the observed through observation; each value is historically limited; contradictions and contingency cannot be eliminated.” (J. Bělohradský, 2002. In: M. Sycha, 2012, p. 26.) (translated by the author)

It is obvious that people cannot respond actively to every social change; they must set priorities and decide which changes they consider important and focus on those. It is necessary to increase people’s ability to adapt to social transformations at both the level of the individual and the social unit. (M. Sycha, 2012, p. 28.) And from the perspective of educational social work, this is the main reason and purpose of today’s social education of people.

Author: Prof. PhDr. Mária Machalová, PhD.

1The concept of Educational social work the author of this article published in these monographs: MACHALOVÁ, Maria. 2013. Preventívna sociálna práca - Edukačná paradigma v sociálnej práci. (Preventive social work – Educational paradigm in social work.) Prešov: Prešovská univerzita, 2013. MACHALOVÁ, Maria.2014. Edukačná sociálna práca. (Educational social work.) Prešov: Prešovská univerzita, 2014. 2The concept of Educational social work the author of this article published in these monographs: MACHALOVÁ, Maria. 2013. Preventívna sociálna práca - Edukačná paradigma v sociálnej práci. (Preventive social work – Educational paradigm in social work.) Prešov: Prešovská univerzita, 2013. MACHALOVÁ, Maria.2014. Edukačná sociálna práca. (Educational social work.) Prešov: Prešovská univerzita, 2014. 3From our point of view, the term education of adults includes adult education and educational counselling for adults. When speaking about adult education, we mean instruction, education and educational counselling for adults. Education must go hand in hand with instruction and vice versa. For us, the term education of adults combines three educational realities: instruction, education and counselling as means of helping adults learn how to learn, engage in lifelong learning and learn how to prepare themselves to cope with stressful life situations.