Pedagogues and Social Workers - Challenges of Collaboration
European Scientific Journal February 2018 /SPECIAL/ edition ISSN: 1857 - 7881 (Print) e
Pedagogues and Social Workers - Challenges of Collaboration
0 Maja Ljubetić, PhD Anita Mandarić Vukušić, PhD Katarina Pezo, graduand Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Pedagogy, University of Split , Croatia
In their work, pedagogues and social workers respond to many pedagogical and social challenges that children and/or their families face. In order to successfully address these challenges, it is necessary to achieve a quality collaboration between the school and the social welfare centre. Seeking an answer to the question of quality of the collaboration, three research questions were asked in this research. The answer was reached using a semi-structured interview. The results showed that research participants assessed the following as important: collaboration (they also offered suggestions on how it could be improved), their own education and training, personality traits and personal views of “helpers”, the need to harmonise legislation and to employ social workers in schools as members of professional counselling services.
Quality; pedagogue; social worker; collaboration
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Ricijaš, 2011). These types of behaviour of children and young people, and
their parents as well, are becoming a more common socio-pedagogical
challenge which socially responsible actors (institutions and individuals) are
trying to address. In addition to these, we might say "more contemporary
challenges", the "traditional" ones, such as school stress, academic failure,
peer and family violence, aggressiveness, juvenile delinquency, etc., are still
of topical interest. It seems that today it is really hard to grow up, but is even
more difficult to raise children. Every day professionals (kindergarten
teachers, primary-school teachers, pedagogues, psychologists, etc.) and social
workers meet, raise and educate children and young people who have failed to
find effective strategies to face these (and other) challenges and try to help
them find a way out of sometimes almost dead-end life situations. The final
outcome of these efforts is uncertain, but when families and professionals
(pedagogues and social workers) manage to build a quality collaborative or
partnership relationship and join their forces, it is very likely that they will
help children and the young to successfully overcome the challenges they face
in life. This paper focuses on the research of the quality of collaboration
between primary schools and social welfare centres in order to reveal the
critical points of that collaboration and to offer possible solutions.
Pedagogue’s role and tasks in the contemporary school curriculum
Contemporary school is aware of its limitations, but is trying to keep
up with new knowledge on education in line with humanistic values (spiritual,
ethical, and moral ones) and developmental curriculum and thus actualises the
need to change the entire school system to "suit the pupils". School, as a
fundamental educational institution of particular social interest must follow
social change and respond to the challenges that the contemporary world
brings
(Giesecke, 1993; Stoll and Fink, 2000)
, but what makes these schools
successful are their clear focus, high expectations, effective leadership, quality
collaboration and communication, compliance with standards, monitoring of
learning and teaching, professional development, stimulating learning
environment, and family and community involvement in its activities
(Shannon and Bylsma, 2007)
. Good collaboration and communication on the
one hand, and family and community involvement in school’s activities on the
other are extremely important aspects especially for those pupils who are at
risk (poor / neglected pupils), and come from a deprived environment
(Edmonds, 1979, quoted in Marsh, 1994)
. Providing support for each child
depends mostly on how much the school community is focused on individuals,
how much it acknowledges contemporary knowledge and resources and how
much it is directed to the quality collaboration of all participants of the
educational process
(Crandall et al., 1983, quoted in Marsh 1994; Berman and
McLaughlin, 1997)
. Various experts are included in creating the curriculum
in particular, pedagogical employees in schools, but at the practical level of
implementation, in addition to teachers, pedagogues (and other professional
staff, if the school has them) play a special role. The role of the pedagogue in
achieving collaboration between all the factors of the educational process,
both within and outside the institution, stands out in particular. Pedagogue is
one of the members of the professional counselling service whose job requires
that he/she connects different knowledge and skills and collaborates with other
experts in order to find the best solutions to specific situations and challenges.
He knows the pedagogical theory and practice, and is therefore (...truncated)