The main function is to see the child: who are social pedagogues and what are they working on
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The profession of social pedagogue appeared in the world only thirty years ago. In Ukraine, every pedagogical university prepares such specialists for schools, out-of-school educational institutions, social care services and other institutions that work with minor children, but the profession itself has not yet gained popularity.
The main function of social pedagogues is to create optimal conditions for the comprehensive development of the child and to protect his rights, as well as to establish relationships between the family, educational institution/space and society.
Every year on the first Sunday of October in Ukraine, the Day of Education Workers is celebrated, therefore, on the occasion of the holiday, “Ukrainian Pravda. Life” decided to ask social teachers about the specifics of their work. Employees of schools and “Education Can’t Wait” projects of UNICEF and Caritas of Ukraine spoke with us.
Great demand for work
“Our main function is to provide socio-pedagogical patronage“, he says Svetlana Oleksienko, an employee of the children’s area at Lypovetskyi Lyceum No. 2 in Vinnytsia region. With a colleague Oksana Melnychuk they conduct extracurricular activities for children of junior and senior school age.
The space is visited by both local children and internally displaced people due to the war, so now the main function of the two social workers is to build a friendly environment.
“Throughout the week, we have art therapy classes, moderate physical activity and game activities. Each age group of children has its own hours and days of the week“, Oksana clarifies.
| The main function of a social pedagogue is to create optimal conditions for the child’s comprehensive development and protection of his rights |
It seems that work is also planned in the children’s centers of Caritas of Ukraine, but they work full time. “In the first half of the day, we have two groups of preschoolers – 3-4 and 5-6 years old, and the second shift is for those who go to school. They are also divided into groups: 7-9, 10-13 and 14-17 years old, – lists Valery Petko, social pedagogue, coordinator of the direction for work with children of Caritas Poltava. – For the younger ones, we have a preschool program according to their age category, and we work with teenagers in several directions: career guidance, self-awareness as individuals, and sex education“.
What developmental classes with preschoolers usually look like, he tells Olga Stakhniva social worker of the project “Education cannot wait” in the village of Obroshine in the Lviv region:
“For fine motor skills, we give sculpting, drawing and applications, there is also the development of writing – calligraphy and spelling of letters and numbers, and at the end there are mobile games and toys. The task of teaching preschoolers everything is not in front of us, but these classes help them feel more confident later in the first grades“.
Valeria and her colleague from Dnipro Samira Neimatovawho previously worked as a social educator at the city’s Day Care Center for HIV-infected children and youth, and now has moved to the children’s project of Caritas Dnipro, says that the demand for work with children is now enormous, as educational institutions work in a limited mode.
“Enrollment in groups of 3-4 and 5-6 years old is filled with us immediately, as soon as registration opens. There are very few kindergartens working now. Some have not opened due to the lack of shelter, some require official employment certificates from both parents, and there are some in which displaced persons still live“, Valeriya Petko from Poltava clarifies.
Samira Neimatova adds that in Dnipro, for example, schools also do not have extended day groups for younger classes and many schools still have distance learning.
Read also: What is it like to work in a Ukrainian kindergarten for UAH 5,680? The story of one teacher
Pedagogical neglect
Social pedagogues say that modern children have problems with communication with peers, learning new educational material and independent living skills.
“First of all, we work on the socialization of children, reducing their level of anxiety and their adaptation in a new community, and only then we give tasks for cognitive development“, – lists Samira Neimatova from Dnipro.
“This is the generation of children who grew up first in COVID-19 and now in war, – explains Valery Petko from Poltava. – They often do not have a common space and leisure time with their peers. The smallest ones sometimes lack even basic household self-care skills. This is all a consequence of the fact that separation from parents does not occur in time, as adults are now afraid to leave children unattended. For example, children would adapt to our classes faster if their parents did not distract them by anxiously looking out the windows“.
Social pedagogues understand that times are really difficult and not all parents are ready to let go of their child and loosen control, so they suggest moms and dads gradually join parent recovery groups, which are conducted by a psychologist in the next room, while the children are engaged in another.
Specialists notice other specifics in children of secondary school age – they are very restless and cannot perceive the same information or take any action for a long time.
“Now there are many active and extraordinary children, I will not call them hyperactive, – says Olga Stakhniv from Obroshina. “Parents bring these children to us and say they don’t know what to do with them.”
The social pedagogue confirms the opinion of her colleagues that it is necessary to systematically work with parents, because sometimes they do not see problematic moments in their children, they are “within themselves”, in this war, thinking about how to survive and what to do next.
“Adults in our country are still not knowledgeable about children’s psychology. There are still many stereotypes and prejudices, efforts to raise comfortable and obedient children. All these “boys don’t cry” and “don’t run, you’re a girl” are still missed by many. Recently, for example, I had a conversation with a mother who was trying to teach her daughter to write with her left hand. Why? Because it is inconvenient for parents“, explains Olga Stakhniv.
Valeria adds that many teenagers do not know basic rules of personal hygiene and sexual safety – parents are either ashamed to talk about it with them, or do not pay due attention to it.
“We understand that this can lead to problems in later life, especially for teenagers, so we talk, for example, about contraception“, the teacher clarifies.
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| In children of secondary school age, specialists notice another specificity – they are very restless and cannot perceive the same information for a long time |
Building a safe and inclusive environment
According to the job description, social teachers of schools create a social passport of the educational institution every year, which contains information about the social categories of children for the purpose of their further social and legal protection. To do this, they can examine the living conditions of the child; to inquire if she has a place to study, a separate bed, seasonal clothes and everything necessary for studying.
If there are questions about the social status of the family or the likelihood of family violence, the social worker should react, submit relevant information to social services or even to the Juvenile Police.
In schools, social pedagogues should also monitor children’s development and recommend parents to get advice from narrow and specialized specialists – speech therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc.
Coordinators of the “Education Can’t Wait” and “Child-Friendly Spaces” projects of Caritas are not obliged to do this.
“But we do it in a purely human way, because it is a manifestation of deviant behavior – visible – says Valery Petko from Poltava. – Sometimes parents do not indicate in the questionnaires about some peculiarities of the child, and then it appears, and they admit that they used to go to specialized classes in their native place, but now they cannot, because there are no places in the resource center or they cannot systematically pay for sessions with a rehabilitation specialist or speech therapist“.
Social pedagogues say that there are now a lot of inclusive children in their projects.
“Not only in Caritas, but in general for children’s projects in the city. We communicate among ourselves with colleagues, – says Samira Neimatova. – Almost every group has several inclusive children of different ages and with different aspects of disability. Sometimes this disability is not diagnosed, but on the face of speech or development delay“.
The state education system tries to ignore such children for as long as possible and refuses to work on their integration into the environment – kindergartens and regular classes of schools, because it requires an individual approach to each and the hiring of additional staff – tutors and assistant educators and teachers. So the children’s centers of charitable foundations and initiatives have now occupied this niche and try to work with everyone who turns to them.
“Seeing the child is the main such function of the teacher. Unfortunately, teachers are sometimes focused on their subject and cannot pay enough attention to the children, who currently have 30-40 people in their classes. We have 10-15 children in our groups, so there is an opportunity to build trusting relationships, pick up and help with things that other adults don’t have time for“, concludes Samira.
Olga Sytnikespecially for UP. Life
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