Social pedagogue

Description

Social pedagogues provide care, support, and education to children and young persons with different backgrounds or capabilities. They develop educational processes for young persons to be in charge of their own experiences, using a multi-disciplinary approach set to the learning experience. Social pedagogues contribute to the individuals’ learning, welfare, and societal inclusion, and put an emphasis on building self-reliance.

Social pedagogues include in their practice the contributions of family members and other relevant professionals to the task of educating children and young people.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to social pedagogue:

social pedagogy practitioner
community educator
social outreach worker
community education practitioner
socio-cultural animator
practitioner in social pedagogy
social work pedagogue
community social pedagogue
social pedagogue cultural animation
social pedagogy project worker
qualified social pedagogue
cultural animator
social pedagogy team worker
social educator

Minimum qualifications

Master’s degree is generally required to work as social pedagogue. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Social pedagogue is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Social pedagogue career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to social pedagogue.

sexual violence counsellor
bereavement counsellor
drug and alcohol addiction counsellor
family planning counsellor
marriage counsellor

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of social pedagogue. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of social pedagogue with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of social pedagogue.

Counselling methods: Counselling techniques used in different settings and with various groups and individuals, especially concerning methods of supervision and mediation in the counselling process.
Legal requirements in the social sector: The prescribed legislative and regulatory requirements in the social sector.
Supervision of persons: The act of directing one individual or a group of individuals in a certain activity.
Social sciences: The development and characteristics of sociological, anthropological, psychological, political, and social policy theories.
Social pedagogy: Discipline combining the theory and practice of both education and care, seen from a holistic perspective.
Health education: The factors affecting health and of the educational approach to assisting people to make healthy life choices.
Adolescent psychological development: Understand the developments and the development needs of children and young persons, observing the behaviour and the attachment relationships in order to detect developmental delay.
Pedagogy: The discipline that concerns the theory and practice of education including the various instructional methods for educating individuals or groups.
Psychology: The human behaviour and performance with individual differences in ability, personality, interests, learning, and motivation.
Social justice: The development and principles of human rights and social justice and the way they should be applied on a case by case basis.
Psychological theories: The historical development of counselling and psychological theories, as well as the perspectives, applications, and interviewing and counselling strategies.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of social pedagogue.

Employ pedagogic strategies to facilitate creative engagement: Communicate to others on devising and facilitating creative processes through the use of a range of tasks and activities appropriate to the target group.
Assess the development of youth: Evaluate the different aspects of development needs of children and young people.
Apply quality standards in social services: Apply quality stardards in social services while upholding social work values and principles.
Empower individuals, families and groups: Empower individuals, families and groups towards healthy lifestyles and self-care.
Support the positiveness of youths: Help children and young people to assess their social, emotional and identity needs and to develop a positive self image, enhance their self esteem and improve their self reliance.
Deliver social services in diverse cultural communities: Deliver services which are mindful of different cultural and language traditions, showing respect and validation for communities and being consistent with policies regarding human rights and equality and diversity.
Demonstrate leadership in social service cases: Take the lead in the practical handling of social work cases and activities.
Communicate professionally with colleagues in other fields: Communicate professionally and cooperate with members of the other professions in the health and social services sector.
Follow health and safety precautions in social care practices: Ensure hygienic work practice, respecting the safety of the environment at day care, residential care settings and care at home.
Promote social change: Promote changes in relationships between individuals, families, groups, organisations and communities by taking into consideration and coping with unpredictable changes, at the micro, macro and mezzo level.
Prepare youths for adulthood: Work with children and young people to identify the skills and abilities they will need to become effective citizens and adults and to prepare them for independence.
Support children who have experienced trauma: Support children who have experienced trauma, identifying their needs and working in ways that promote their rights, inclusion and well being.
Apply person-centred care: Treat individuals as partners in planning, developing and assessing care, to make sure it is appropriate for their needs. Put them and their caregivers at the heart of all decisions.
Conduct educational activities: Plan, perform and supervise educational activities for a variety of audiences, such as for school children, university students, specialist groups, or members of the public.
Assess social service users’ situation: Assess the social situation of service users situation balancing curiosity and respect in the dialogue, considering their families, organisations and communities and the associated risks and identifying the needs and resources, in order to meet physical, emotional and social needs.
Support social service users to live at home: Support social service users to develop their own personal resources and work with them to access additional resources, services and facilities.
Promote the safeguarding of young people: Understand safeguarding and what should be done in cases of actual or potential harm or abuse.
Relate empathetically: Recognise, understand and share emotions and insights experienced by another.
Listen actively: Give attention to what other people say, patiently understand points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times; able to listen carefully the needs of customers, clients, passengers, service users or others, and provide solutions accordingly.
Manage social crisis: Identify, respond and motivate individuals in social crisis situations, in a timely manner, making use of all resources.
Support children’s wellbeing: Provide an environment that supports and values children and helps them to manage their own feelings and relationships with others.
Apply holistic approach within social services: Consider the social service user in any situation, recognising the connections between micro-dimension, meso-dimension, and macro-dimension of social problems, social development and social policies.
Communicate with youth: Use verbal and non-verbal communication and communicate through writing, electronic means, or drawing. Adapt your communication to children and young people`s age, needs, characteristics, abilities, preferences, and culture.
Apply socially just working principles: Work in accordance with management and organisational principles and values focusing on human rights and social justice.
Maintain records of work with service users: Maintain accurate, concise, up-to-date and timely records of the work with service users while complying with legislation and policies related to privacy and security.
Report on social development: Report results and conclusions on society’s social development in an intelligible way, presenting these orally and in written form to a range of audiences from non-experts to experts.
Undertake continuous professional development in social work: Undertake continuous professional development (CPD) to continuously update and develop knowledge, skills and competences within one`s scope of practice in social work.
Communicate with social service users: Use verbal, non-verbal, written, and electronic communication. Pay attention to the specific social service users’ needs, characteristics, abilities, preferences, age, developmental stage, and culture.
Cooperate at inter-professional level: Cooperate with people in other sectors in relation to social service work.
Accept own accountability: Accept accountability for one`s own professional activities and recognise the limits of one`s own scope of practice and competencies.
Manage stress in organisation: Cope with sources of stress and cross-pressure in one’s own professional life, such as occupational, managerial, institutional and personal stress, and help others do the same so as to promote the well-being of your colleagues and avoid burn-out.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of social pedagogue. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Social mediation: The non-violent way of resolving and preventing social conflicts between two parties through the use of a neutral third party who organises and mediates discussions between the two conflicting parties in order to find a solution or compromise that suits both parties.
Theatre pedagogy: Discipline combining theatrical means with educational elements in order to enforce learning, creativity and social awareness.
Children’s physical development: Recognise and describe the development, observing the following criteria: weight, length, and head size, nutritional requirements, renal function, hormonal influences on development, response to stress, and infection.
Community education: Programs targeting the social development and learning of individuals in their own community, through a variety of formal or informal education methods.
Disability care: The specific methods and practices used in providing care to people with physical, intellectual and learning disabilities.
Disability types: The nature and types of disabilities affecting the human beings such as physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional or developmental and the specific needs and access requirements of disabled people.
Special needs education: The teaching methods, equipment and settings used to support students with special needs in achieving succes in school or community.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of social pedagogue. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Communicate on the youth’s well-being: Communicate on the youth’s behaviour and welfare with parents, schools and other people in charge of the youth’s upbringing and education.
Apply foreign languages in social services: Communicate with social service users and social services providers in foreign languages, according to their needs.
Handle conflicts: Mediate in conflicts and tense situations by acting between parties, such as service users, important others like families, and institutions, striving to effect an agreement, reconciliate, and resolve problems.
Assist children with special needs in education settings: Assist children with special needs, identifying their needs, modifying classroom equipment to accommodate them and helping them participate in school activities.
Communicate by use of interpretation in social services: Communicate through the help of an interpreter to facilitate verbal communication and cultural mediation.
Support the development of sport activities in education: Support sport and physical activity in an education context. Analyse the educational community in which the sport organisation will be working, establish effective working relationships with key stakeholders in that community and enable the educational community, through professional advice and expertise, to establish and sustain opportunities for participation and progression for children and young people.

ISCO group and title

2635 – Social work and counselling professionals

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Social pedagogue – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022