Future Social Educators Research Articles

Educational-Cognitive Barriers in the Preparation of Future Social Pedagogues for the Prevention of Social Dependencies

Educational-Cognitive Barriers in the Preparation of Future Social Pedagogues for the Prevention of Social Dependencies

Teoretyczne i praktyczne podstawy kształcenia pedagogów społecznych do pracy z młodzieżowymi stowarzyszeniami na Ukrainie

The article deals with the problem of professional training of future social educators and teachers to work with members of the children's public associations. Studies in which the author highlight various aspects of training of future social educators for their professional activities are analyzed. Principles and components of professional training of specialists of this profile to work with children's public organizations in Ukraine are defined. The criteria and indicators of readiness of social teacher to work with children's public associations are described and educational functions which are specific to children's unions are defined. Conceptual framework of methodology for future social educators to work with children's public associations as a factor of their professional development is presented.

Professional Identity Level of Social Pedagogy Students in the Context of Career Decisions

Abstract The concept of professional identity involves professional suitability, training, professional choice, professional image, professional plan, career awareness and motivation. Students of social pedagogy as future professionals have their self-conception which depends on the level of professional identity the students have achieved: diffuse identity, self-determination without debate, moratorium and the identity achieved. Each level reflects the identity of a certain combination of investigation and resolution of the undertaking. However, professional identity is not only an objectively perceived phenomenon; every subjective perception leads to one’s own career in the context of human evolution, social life, economic conditions, learning experience. Professional identity, which has been understood as professional roles, is one of the most important factors of career success and satisfaction. It is based on personal characteristics, values and experience. The profession of social pedagogues is specific, because they work with people and, in particular, socially sensitive. Therefore, the students of social pedagogy must have the inclination to work with people. Social pedagogues are responsible for social well-being and, therefore, career decisions of students in social pedagogy must be self-directed and adequate. Thus, the higher education professionals providing career guidance, mentors and teachers should recognize whether these programs are relevant to young people at an early stage of the professional identity. Future social pedagogues must also understand the characteristics of the formation of professional identity of a social pedagogue. Therefore, this article addresses the following research questions: what career decisions were taken when choosing studies in social pedagogy? How and what appropriate level of professional identity was reached during the period of studies at university?

Influencia de las prácticas en el desarrollo de la identidad profesional de los estudiantes de educación social

The Social Education Degree placement for the National University for Distance Education (UNED) allows students to experience and reflect upon the labour situation. Its influence on the development of the student professional identity is an important subject for both placement tutors and teachers. The study combines the search for and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data to assess the influence of the Professional Placement III course, the students’ first contact with the real business world, on the development of their professional identity. Throughout the research it has been possible to determine an emerging concept in the professional identity of students before the start of the placement, which changes and consolidates depending on their experience within the placement programme; these results are similar to those obtained in research relating to other professions similar to Social Education (Pontes, Ariza & Del Rey, 2010). Therefore, it can be stated that this course is an important variable that especially influences the development of the professional identities of future social educators.

ВОЛОНТЕРСКАЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ И ЕЕ РОЛЬ В ЛИЧНОСТНО-ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОМ РАЗВИТИИ БУДУЩИХ СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ ПЕДАГОГОВ

The formation of modern youth takes place in very difficult conditions of old values destruction and of new social relation forming. Being the most promising part of any society, young people are extremely sensitive and experience many social changes and their consequences. The article discusses the possibility of volunteer activity for the students of Social Pedagogy in the education process. The essence of volunteering is revealed, the current state of volunteerism in Russia is characterized. The main subject of the research is the role of volunteer activity in personal and professional development of future social educators. Based on the literature analysis, the characteristics of volunteering as a social and pedagogical phenomenon that has beneficial effects on social and professional formation of the student’s personality are identified. The author presents the main areas and professionally significant results of cooperation between the Centre of Young People’s Social Initiatives called “Voluntary choice!” and its main social partners. The validity and reliability of the results are ensured by the optimal choice of methodological basis, by relying on the main propositions and achievements of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, and by integral approach to the studied problem. The results can be used in the academic staff activities as well as for public organizations and associations.

Achievement Motivation and General Motivational Tendencies of Social Pedagogy Students

<p>This article introduces readers to the level of motivation of Social Pedagogy students within the context of this discipline in the Czech Republic. Herein it poses a number of topical questions, especially in relation to the manner of future social pedagogues’ preparation, selection of applicants, and their chances in the labor market. Equally it takes account of the elementary methods of measuring achievement motivation. In the empirical part the design of the research is proposed and the findings are presented. The primary aim of the research was to determine the level of achievement motivation of Social Pedagogy students at undergraduate preparation and their motivational tendencies. The secondary aim was to observe change dynamics in the level of achievement motivation and its individual components during university studies. The tests of LMI Achievement Motivation Questionnaire and MMG Multi-Motive Grid were used to obtain the results. In the conclusion of the work, the authors ask the question of how meaningful the contemporary approach of Social Pedagogy as a subject in the Czech Republic is; and they propose potential innovations. Moreover, research findings which have also shown prospective areas of students’ development can provide useful suggestions for pedagogues who research Social Pedagogy or educate future Social Pedagogues.</p>

Engaging Students in Autobiographical Critiqueas a Social Justice Tool: Narratives of Deconstructingand Reconstructing Meritocracy and PrivilegeWith Preservice Teachers

This self-study involves instructors of a Social Justice in Education course at a large university who engaged preservice teacher education students with assignments intended to solicit their critical self-reflection and to facilitate an awareness of themselves as sociocultural beings. Our work responds to the continued need to involve preservice teachers in experiences that foster critical consciousness and cognizance of their own socialization. For the assignments, students were first asked to describe key moments in their educational experience in the form of a multimedia submission and reflection. After a semester of critical discussions and readings, students were then asked to revisit their initial projects and critique those using course concepts. In addition, they were prompted to include plans for themselves as future social justice educators. In this article, we analyze those student submissions, and we find that many reached new conclusions about social justice topics such as race and gender, critiqued personal and social artifacts, and recognized the connections between privilege and meritocracy. Despite the limitations in class size and structure, we affirm the potential value of a multistage autobiography assignment. We also explore instances of student resistance, wherein students avoided the assigned task and our requirement for self-reflection. We conclude by offering implications for teacher education and posit considerations for future adaptions of the assignment, including the necessity to engage students in opportunities to take social action and to move beyond critique.

ПРАКТИЧНА ПІДГОТОВКА МАЙБУТНЬОГО СОЦІАЛЬНОГО ПЕДАГОГА З ВИКОРИСТАННЯМ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНИХ І КОМУНІКАЦІЙНИХ ТЕХНОЛОГІЙ

In article the structure and the content of practical preparation of the future social pedagogues in Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University at the educational levels “bachelor”, “specialist”, “master”, is analyzed, prospects of wide use of information and communication technologies at all stages of the organization of different types of practice are proved.

Knowledge the future social educators about 2.0 tools

Hoy las capacidades formativas y profesionales del educador social se han visto modificadas por la incorporaciA³n de las TIC a estos Ambitos. Presentamos a continuaciA³n el estudio realizado sobre el conocimiento que poseen los estudiantes de EducaciA³n Social de la Universidad Pablo de Olavide sobre las herramientas Web 2.0 que mas se emplean hoy. Como resultados principales destacar que estos tienen un conocimiento elevado de las redes sociales frente a wikis que las desconocen, no existiendo diferencias en torno al sexo, pero si al curso academico cursado, siendo los estudiantes de primer ano los que mas herramientas conocen.

University e-Portfolios as a New Higher Education Teaching Method. The Development of a Multimedia Educational Material (MEM)

The new European university context requires a methodological and evaluative shift towards active didactic, socio-constructive and investigative perspectives that are student-centred. This study describes the learning setting, the results and the conclusions of an innovative practical exercise carried out by first-year students on two different degree courses at an Andalusian university, using e-portfolios set up for group work and implemented through an edublog. The study's main aim is to establish the most significant achievements, problems and evidence that emerge from this didactic group project. The project includes the design and implementation of a multimedia educational material (MEM), and involves the students in didactic planning and self-assessment processes. The conclusions show that the e-portfolio is a didactic method that fully integrates teaching, learning and assessment into a continuum by allowing students to work together didactically on such aspects. This methodological alternative also greatly helps the lecturer in his/her understanding of the students' learning processes, the working methods of his/her classes, the problems associated with team working, the information sources that students use, and the tutoring and learning-assessment processes. Lastly, the e-portfolio enables the future social educators' levels of didactic comprehension and professional-competency acquisition to be gauged.

Expression of Social Responsibility in Professional Expectations of Future Social Pedagogues

The issue of social responsibility as a component of sustainable development is currently considered in social, cultural and science spheres. University studies should educate future professionals able to solve global problems and understand them in the context of other fields, as well as be professional generalists, active and creative in multicultural communities. The article presents the results of the survey of future social pedagogues studying at Kaunas University of Technology and Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ss.77.3.2767

The Role of Emotion in Democratic Dialogue: A Self Study

This study contributes to existing scholarship on democratic education by focusing explicitly on the affective dynamics of teaching with and for discussion. More specifically, the purpose of this research is to critically analyze the first author’s efforts to address the role of emotion in democratic dialogue within the context of classroom-based discussions and the work of preparing future social studies educators for their role as discussion facilitators. We found that despite the instructor’s stated goals and her efforts to teach about the constructive role of emotion in learning to communicate across difference, overall, students continued to judge dispassionate and disembodied speech acts as appropriate, while expressions of anger, frustration, or exaspe-ration were judged inappropriate. More specifically, if a female student spoke with anger or frustration during class discussions, her concerns, ideas, and questions tended to be ridiculed, ignored, or dismissed, while the same emotional rule did not apply to male students. If our intent is to facilitate communication across difference, we must actively attend to the ways in which social hierarchies inform discussion by carefully considering how emotional expression and experiences are positioned.