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 a result of our long-time theoretical as well as practical pedagogical work, research, and our firm belief that:

  • spiritual poverty results in 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 demonstrating its social benefit in promoting social self-help so that people may enhance their social and mental maturity and responsibility for their own life;
  • social work should be an efficient and real (not only proclaimed) support of social health, in other words support for social communication and social relations that enhance social and mental integration and adaptation of people in their life environment, which is both provable and supported by tools available to social work;
  • the primary aim of social work does not consist of treating social problems and social pathology, but is supposed to be a real, not only proclaimed, social development program to support the cultivation of one’s social and individual potential.

The concept of educational social work is based on a holistic approach to understanding an 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 way of social help, guidance to self-help, and development of one’s potential. The concept thus represents an intersection of educational and counselling paradigms of social work.

It is a reflection of how social work is diversified and how subsystems are created. One of them is the subsystem of educational social work. The theoretical and practical anatomy of educational social work is created on the basis of the social function of adult education. The diversification happens as a result of a high variability and multicausality of social events, situations, and problems in society.

Educational social work enters the social work system in the following way:

  • The theory of educational social work as a subsystem of social work as a science.
  • Methodology and methodics of educational social work as a subsystem of social work research.
  • Practical activity of educational social work as a subsystem of social work practice.

Educational social work is presented by participating in solving social events and problems of people in stages of their identification, prevention, solution, and the assessment of the efficiency of the solution. Educational social work comes in different forms:

  • Preventive educational social work – as specialized support of primary prevention (social education, awareness)
  • Socializing and resocializing educational social work – as professional support of secondary prevention (social education, educational social counselling, sociotherapy).
  • Rehabilitative educational social work – as professional tertiary prevention support (social after-care, self-help groups and activities)

The algorithm of the implementation of educational social work: indication ↔ prevention ↔ suggestions of solution ↔ intervention ↔ assessment of people’s social problem solutions, through targeted activities and within lifelong social education and lifelong educational social counselling is, in our view, one of the thought processes used in creating a theoretical background forming a basis for the creation of educational programmes focused on potential and actual clients of social help and social services. From the individual point of view, the content and tools of social help within the scope of educational social work are related to the fact that people’s life has a social aspect and requires them to adapt constantly through learning. This should be stimulated by educational social programmes. The influence of social education (education, instruction, counselling) in social help and social services cannot be ignored, as any form of solving material or social needs represents an intervention into the social and mental adaptation of people as well as the integrity of the social client’s personality. The use of educational tools is usually an experiment aimed at correcting and changing the client’s personal attitude toward their life situation, social event, and social problem. From the social point of view, education is a systematic help to people. Education has also always played a key role in the socialization, personalization, and enculturation of people.

Educational influence, instruction, and counselling strive to achieve spiritual, mental, psychological and social maturity of people, i.e., to achieve an individual level of one’s rational, emotional, value and social competences and maturity.

Author: Prof. PhDr. MÁRIA MACHALOVÁ, PhD. Bibliography

MACHALOVÁ,MÁRIA. 2013. Preventívna sociálna práca - Edukačná paradigma v sociálnej práci (Preventive social work – Educational paradigm in social work.) Prešov : Prešovská univerzita, 2013. 272 p. ISBN 978-80-555-0932-7.

MACHALOVÁ,MÁRIA. 2014. Edukačná sociálna práca. (Educational social work.) Prešov: Prešovská univerzita, 2014. 326 p. ISBN 978-80-555-1118-4.

MACHALOVÁ, MÁRIA. 2012, 2013. Preventívna edukačná sociálna práca. – študijný program vysokoškolského štúdia. (Preventive educational social work – university study programme.) Pravoslávna bohoslovecká fakulta, Prešovská univerzita, Prešov.