The Field of Social Education: What is Social Education?
Social education is an educational discipline focused on studying the environment people live in and the strategies used to activate and support them. It is a dynamic field, constantly changing in response to societal shifts driven by technological progress, globalisation, and the rise of social issues and pathologies, which the society must address if it wishes to remain democratic.
Social education tackles issues from three main areas; first is diagnostics of the environment where the individual lives, second is the effort to minimize the threat the environment presents, and third is the application of methods to prevent and compensate for this threat's impact.
As Milan Přadka noted in 1993, "More so than any other educational discipline, the objectives of social education change with changes in the society at a specific location during a specific time."
Some believe that social education has the potential to become as influential as philosophy was in the 18th century (Radim Šíp, 2018).
"Social education can activate, support, and motivate towards a meaningful life." Lenka Gulová, (2022)
Target Groups and Scope
Social education addresses a broad spectrum of the population, including children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. The field’s work is focused on two main groups:
- Mainstream population: A significant part of the effort here is linked to leisure time and value education.
- Socially disadvantaged individuals and groups (which includes):
- Children and adolescents in unstimulating, high-risk environments.
- Migrants, ethnic minorities, and asylum seekers.
- Certain families (incomplete families, single parents, families with more children).
- Individuals and groups suffering from social pathologies (poverty, unemployment, alcoholism, violence, bullying, divorce), often including marginalized groups segregated by their life situation.
- Some elderly people and singles.
The Social Educator's Role
A social educator is a professional who organises and coordinates the education and activation process, encouraging target groups to pursue their optimal personal development. This work typically occurs during leisure time but can also take place at school, in the family, or other settings. The core goal is to support individuals and groups through everyday life and challenging situations.
The social educator’s work involves:
- Education during leisure time.
- Mastery of an array of meaningful leisure-time activities.
- Activities performed with individuals, groups, or communities.
- Counselling.
- Diagnostics and analysis.
- Re-education and re-socialisation.
- Fieldwork and community work.
A social educator must possess extensive knowledge in social sciences and expertise in social education, along with skills in social communication, diagnostics, and problem-solving. They must be empathetic, creative, and capable of designing tailored projects.
Social Education and School
A major contemporary topic in the field is inclusion, which extends beyond schools and concerns the whole of society. The school is viewed as a unique social environment that reflects major characteristics of society. The popular model, supported by the Department of Social Education, is "school as a community." Keywords connected with inclusion are open school/society, culture of respect, work with otherness, and human dignity at school and in society.
Teaching Principles
The department's teaching methodology is heavily influenced by the principles of constructivism, emphasizing various forms of group learning, such as:
- Flipped classroom
- Learning in the circle
- Cooperative learning
- Experiential reflective learning
- Field trips and internships
Studies Offered
The study programs aim to educate mature, highly educated professionals whose knowledge, skills, and personal qualities meet the requirements of the helping professions and working with people in the 21st century. Training is built on university courses covering theoretical concepts and methodological background, and leads students to acquire first-hand experience and practical skills. Research and basic data analysis are key components.
Bachelor´s degree (Bc., three years, 180 ECTS)
- Social Education and Leisure (full-time/ part-time) – the language of instruction is Czech
- Child and Youth Afterschool Education (part-time) – the language of instruction is Czech
- Education for Diversity and Inclusion (full-time) – the language of instruction is English
Master´s degree (Mgr., two years, 120 ECTS):
- Social Education and Leisure (full-time/ part-time) – the language of instruction is Czech
Doctoral degree (Ph.D., four years)
- School and Social Education - the language of instruction is Czech or English
Additional courses
- Teacher´s assistant (1 semester) – the language of instruction is Czech
- Leisure Pedagogue (2 semesters) – the language of instruction is Czech
- Child and Youth Afterschool Education (2 semesters) – the language of instruction is Czech
The goal of this programme is to prepare students for scientific work in the field of education. The key point is individual academic training, in particular, improving the students' expertise in the field and their command of research methodology, with a focus on their dissertations.
A successful graduate can:
- Recall in-depth knowledge of the field's basic disciplines and convey it to fellow experts via academic discourse.
- Design projects, carry out research in education and social education, and evaluate their results.
- Be proficient in investigating a given issue using a suitable methodology.
- Teach students about the most recent findings in the field.
- Present the results of his or her research to the scientific community; i.e. publish in peer-reviewed journals, monographs, or speak at conferences.
- Collaborate with experts from other academic institutions, whether locally or internationally.
The Department of Social Education at Masaryk University (MU)
The Department of Social Education at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University, has a history of developing academic training in the field of Social education:
- 1998: Development of the full-time bachelor's degree programme in Social Education.
- 2002: Founding of the Department of Social Education.
- 2008: Expanding to a master's study programme in Social Education.
- 2016: Receiving accreditation for its own doctoral study programme in Social Education (Ph.D.).
- 2016: Obtaining accreditation for double-subject bachelor's programmes in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Studies:
- Social Education and Social Work
- Social Education and Environmental Studies
- 2018: accreditation of bachelor's degree programme in Social Education and Leisure with a concentration on entrepreneurship
- 2023: accreditation of bachelor's degree programme Education for Diversity and Inclusion (language of instruction is English)