Professional Conference – Social Educator as a Member of School Counselling Team
8. July 2022On Thursday, 21 April 2022, the Faculty of Humanities at UTB in Zlín hosted a professional meeting entitled The Social Educator as a Member of the School Counselling Team. The aim of the event was to support the implementation of the social educator profession into Act No. 563/2004 Coll. on Educational Staff, as amended, and to continue the long-standing discussion on the necessity of this role in Czech schools.
Social educators in primary schools are often overlooked and have found a place in practice thanks to courageous principals who have discovered the value of social educators within school counselling departments. The professional meeting, held in the auditorium of the U18 educational complex, provided a platform for discussion among representatives from academia, primary school headteachers, social educators, and representatives from the region and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. A heartfelt thank you goes to all participants, as well as to the students of the Social Pedagogy study programme from FHS UTB in Zlín and other Czech universities. The conference was held under the auspices of the Dean of FHS UTB in Zlín, Mgr. Libor Marek, Ph.D., with the opening address delivered by the Chair of the Association of Educators in Social Pedagogy, doc. Mgr. Jakub Hladík, Ph.D. Following this, Roman Petrenko from the Sirius Foundation described the possibilities for social educators to intervene when addressing issues in the school environment. A professional contribution was presented by PhDr. Miroslav Procházka, Ph.D., from the Faculty of Education at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, focusing on the significance and mission of social pedagogy and social educators in practice. The headteacher of Božena Němcová Primary School in Přerov, Mgr. Ilona Bočinská, spoke about the contributions of social educators in managing risk situations at school and their role in primary prevention activities. The morning session concluded with the introduction of the newly established Association of Social Educators by its Chair, Mgr. Jiří Daněk. The afternoon proceedings were divided into two onehour panels. The first panel focused on the education and training of social educators. Leading the panel were academic representatives – doc. PhDr. Dana Knotová, Ph.D., from the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University in Brno, Mgr. Milena Óbrink Hobzová, Ph.D., from the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology at Palacký University in Olomouc, doc. PhDr. Václav Bělík, Ph.D., from the Faculty of Education at the University of Hradec Králové, and doc. Mgr. Jakub Hladík, Ph.D., from FHS UTB in Zlín. The second panel addressed the responsibilities of social educators in primary schools and their role within school counselling teams. Leading the panel were PaedDr. Alena Gajdůšková, Chair of the UTB Board of Trustees and Chair of the Social Affairs Committee of the Zlín Regional Assembly, along with Mgr. Marie Čápová, headteacher of a primary school in Ústí nad Labem, Mgr. Ludmila Altmanová, headteacher of OSMEC Nursery and Primary School in Brno, and social educator Mgr. Jiří Daněk. Both panels featured engaging discussions on the importance of social educators in school counselling teams. The debate also included Mgr. Lukáš Seifert, Deputy Director of the Department of Educational Policy at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, who commented: “The Ministry of Education supports the role of the social educator as a position that maximises the potential of every pupil.” We appreciate the support of the Ministry of Education and the Zlín Region, as well as the efforts of primary school headteachers, the initiatives of the Association of Educators in Social Pedagogy and the Association of Social Educators, the backing of academia, and the motivation of students. We believe that all these efforts will contribute to strengthening the role of social educators in schools and in legislation.