by
Karen Vitler
What
happens if you put representatives of European social education
organisations together for a few days? Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic,
Russian, Swiss, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, and Catalan leaders
or representatives of social pedagogy/social education organizations,
plus two English observers, met in Barcelona in from 8th –10th
October 2003 to discuss and respond to a European Commission Proposal
on the recognition of Professional Qualifications, 2002/0061 (COD),
intended to promote the harmonization of professional qualifications
across the European Union so that, for example, a Social Educator
from Spain might be able to work in Norway or vice versa.
I
was there on behalf of Caring for Children and Sally Bamsey, Head
of the Children’s Residential Care Unit at the National
Children’s Bureau in London, was the other observer from
England. Caring for Children has a particular interest in Social
Education and we were keen to be involved in this project.
This
was something of a landmark meeting as it was the first time that
the leaders of various professional organizations representing
social pedagogues in Europe had met together in this way. Some
of the organizations, for example, from Norway, functioned as
both Professional Associations and as Trade Unions, and represented
both Social Educators and Social Workers in Norway.
Discussion
centred around the level of qualification which was desirable.
There are various levels set out by the European Union. Level
3 corresponds to training at post secondary school level and has
to last at least one year but be less than 3 years. Level 4 corresponds
to training at higher or university level and has to last at least
3 years but less than 4. The conclusion that the Symposium came
to was that Level 4 most accurately reflected the standard of
the majority of social educator courses and provided the best
basis for moving forward. The Symposium plans to reconvene in
March 2004 to promote further cooperation between Social Educator
organizations.
There
was also discussion about the value base of social education.
This was interesting as similar words or concepts have different
meanings in different languages and cultures so this provoked
a lot of discussion. The people providing the simultaneous translation
were superb and really helped to facilitate our discussion.
The
Symposium concluded by producing a Declaration of intention to
continue to work together – to build a European Union that
makes for easy professional mobility, to participate in the common
construction of the European Social Educator’s profession,
to define ethical guidelines common to all Social Educators in
Europe, to work for recognition at Level 4 of specific training
at universities or equivalent institutions, and to define the
set of professional qualifications criteria that provide a suitable
level of competence for the profession.
The
Symposium was held on the outskirts of Barcelona in an ex-seminary,
now used by all kinds of groups for day and residential courses.
It was rather like staying at a large version of the YMCA, with
wonderful gardens, abundant with classical and religious statues,
ponds, terrapins, and superb foliage. It was an ideal location,
far enough away from the centre of Barcelona to avoid noise and
distraction. Most of us did manage to see something of central
Barcelona at the beginning or end of our stay which just goes
to show that you can combine business with pleasure!
