Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2012, Side 105

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 21(1) 2012 105
gUðrún v. stefánsdóttir
The education and role of social pedagogues at a crossroads?
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In the past decade there have been changes in emphasis when it comes to matters
relating to disabled people, calling for reflection and debate on the role of the social
pedagogue. In recent years, three main issues have been in the forefront of these
changes. Firstly, in January 2011 services for disabled people moved from the central
government to municipal level, leading to changes in the work of social pedagogues.
This meant that social pedagogues moved from a highly specialised professional
environment, for instance in sheltered homes for people with intellectual disabilities,
to more general social work for social service centres which now organise services for
disabled people. Secondly, Iceland signed the UN Convention on the right of persons
with disabilities from 2007. Even though the convention has not yet been ratified,
professionals such as social pedagogues need to re-evaluate their work on the basis of
the treaty and their education needs to be adapted. Thirdly, the law regarding disabled
people stipulates that by the end of 2014 personal assistance or user control services
should constitute some of the main forms of support for disabled people.
The main objective of this set of Perspectives' articles is to examine how these
changes affect the education and work of social pedagogues. Guðrún V. Stefánsdóttir,
editor, writes an introduction where she briefly highlights developments in issues
regarding disabled people and the education and work of social pedagogues. The
next article by Friðrik Sigurðsson considers the changes that have taken place in social
services directed towards disabled people and their effect on the role of the social
pedagogue. Helga Baldvinsdóttir Bjargardóttir discusses the human rights of disabled
people and the role of the social pedagogue and, finally, Auður Finnbogadóttir relates
her experience as a social pedagogue in personal assistance services.
The articles reflect a changed emphasis in matters regarding disabled people in
the legal environment relating to the human rights treaty which is based on the
demands of disabled people for increased rights and equality. This calls for a change
in the approach of professionals such as the social pedagogues. The education of
social pedagogues today well reflects the ideology of human rights and the right
to independence where the role of professionals is mainly seen as the removing of
obstacles in the environment to create a system for disabled people to become full
participants in all spheres of society. Furthermore, the role of the social pedagogue is
not least seen as guarding the rights of disabled people. Concepts used in this debate
and in the education of social pedagogues reflect this development. Notions such as
support and personal assistance, protecting rights and rights-based approaches have
replaced concepts that were dominant earlier, such as upbringing, training, minding
and caring. Now it is not considered appropriate to speak of disabled people as clients
as they are increasingly the employers of social pedagogues and other professionals.
The editor hopes that the articles will shed light on the position of education for
social pedagogues and their work and indicate the direction in which they should