Capítulo XIV. Social pedagogy in eastern europe: countries: childhood, interculturality and peace

• Author: Miriam Niklová, Dana Hanesová, Lenka Rov?anová
• Profession: Faculty of Education Matej Bel University, Slovakia
• Pages: 213-234

CAPÍTULO XIV

SOCIAL PEDAGOGY IN EASTERN EUROPE: COUNTRIES:

CHILDHOOD, INTERCULTURALITY AND PEACE

Miriam Niklová, Dana Hanesová, Lenka Rovňanová

Faculty of Education Matej Bel University, Slovakia

1. INTRODUCTION

 e nature of social pedagogy implies its mission, and that is to intervene in

the creation of a sustainable global social environment.  is mission encompasses

the full range of socially relevant goals of social pedagogy. When we talk about the

role of social pedagogy in times of war crisis, two goals are particularly important:

 e  rst is the promotion and development of young people’s social participation,

their interculturality, tolerance and peaceful attitude.  e second is the role of social

pedagogues to promote the adaptability of children of immigrants - to create their

social “safety nets” (Liberčanová, 2020). Social educators must join with teachers

and all professionals in school teams to guide children to acquire global skills and

competencies that will enable them to blossom during their childhood in such

an educational environment that is both safe and empowering to cope with the

challenges of today’s turbulent social times.

What is the speci c role of social pedagogy in the current socio-political context

of the four selected countries of the former Eastern Bloc - particularly in Slovakia,

the country of the authors of this chapter, situated in close proximity to Ukraine,

a country a ected by war?  e answer to this question presented in this chapter

is divided into two parts. In the  rst, the authors shed light on the overall view of

the evolving role of social pedagogy in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and

Poland. Based on the current development of social pedagogy in these countries,

the second part of the chapter sheds light on its role in a very speci c war situation

and the necessity of educating children to intercultural awareness, the ability to

critically evaluate and confront this di cult challenge threatening the prosperous

development of childhood.

M N, D H, L R

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2. SOCIAL PEDAGOGY AND THE ROLE OF SOCIAL PEDAGOGUES IN

VISEGRAD COUNTRIES

2.1. Social pe dagogy in Slovakia

 e problems in de ning the subject of social pedagogy in Slovakia are similar

to those in countries where social pedagogy has been developed for much longer,

e.g., Germany, Poland and elsewhere.  e situation in de ning the subject of social

pedagogy in Slovakia is also ambiguous and problematic, which is reflected in

the di erent understanding of this discipline by representatives of Slovak social

pedagogy.  e common denominator of these approaches is the linking of social

and educational aspects and the emphasis on its preventive dimension, especially

concerning children and youth.  e foundations of Slovak social pedagogy were

laid by O. Baláž in the 1970s. Before 1989, social pedagogy was not developed or

taught at Slovak universities as part of the  eld of pedagogy, and the profession of

social pedagogue did not exist either. Socially pathological phenomena in children

and youth did not represent a serious educational and social problem, and socially

undesirable phenomena, such as unemployment, homelessness, begging and the like,

were practically non-existent or tabooed under socialism. A er 1989, in connection

with the increase of socially pathological and socially undesirable phenomena in

society, there was also a social need for the development of helping professions and

sciences that dealt with them, especially social pedagogy and social work (Hroncová

et al., 2020).

The Section of Social Pedagogy, founded in 2003 at the Slovak Pedagogical

Society of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, plays a signi cant part in the

development of social pedagogy under the leadership of Z. Bakošová. Z. Bakošová

is a representative of social pedagogy as life help (1994, p. 10), who considers social

pedagogy as a borderline discipline between pedagogy and sociology (1994). It

examines the relations between the social environment and education, forms

of social-social help and care for children, youth and adults, i.e. human beings

in a social environment. The role of social pedagogy should be to find optimal

forms of helping a person in their life trajectory in di erent environments, create

educationally valuable stimuli, and compensate for de ciencies. At the same time,

social pedagogy aims to transform people and society through education. It is a

process of nurturing, care, and protection directed towards the integration and

stabilisation of the personality.  e place of social pedagogy should be wherever

the family and school have lost their function (Bakošová, 2008).  e new paradigm

of social pedagogy is considered by Z. Bakošová (2008) in the direction of help -

self-help - education - social, personal, pro-social education and education to be

someone and to succeed in life.