Social pedagogy

The degree programme Social Education and Leisure Time prepares a personally developed and trained educator, who will rank with their knowledge, skills and personal qualities as a professional in pedagogical and helping professions working in a care system aimed at children, the youth, adults, elderly and other target groups with specific needs..

This wide range profile is based on specific subjects (disciplines), which by their content, objectives and methods cover not only knowledge-based fields (historical facts and contexts, knowledge of theories and concepts, methodology, etc.) but also lead to development of their own experience and practical skills.

Special emphasis is put on development of theoretical knowledge but also on learning by experience, personal development and on confrontation of theoretical knowledge and students' own and mediated practical experience, gained from simulated situations (games, development activities) and real pedagogical situations (pedagogical and social teaching practice, own research, etc.).

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• The graduate is ready for pedagogical (educational) and socio-pedagogical work with various target groups in the areas of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.
• The graduate is able to prepare, lead and evaluate pedagogical activities (based on personality development) in helping professions, in school and out of school environment, in the area of free time for children, youth and adults, seniors and others.
• The graduate is able to work socio-pedagogically with groups of different target groups across different social environments - children, adults, seniors, ... in normal and risky situations (social exclusion, moral danger, socio-pathological phenomena
• The graduate is able to plan, implement and evaluate research investigations (qualitative and quantitative) with the aim of learning about socio-pedagogical phenomena, evaluating pedagogical programs. To propose adequate methods of prevention.
• The graduate is able to deal with demanding professional situations from a personal-social point of view, to use self-reflection in interacting with clients (different groups from different backgrounds and with different types of social disadvantage)
• The graduate is able to work together in a team (or lead it), choose the environment and target group for the implementation of the project. Create a project and implement it in socio-pedagogical practice.

Social education specialists could find positions in state management:

- ministry of education, youth and physical education (educator, leisure time specialist, methodologist of prevention, advisor for educational and social matters)

- in the field of justice (positions of educators in prisons)

- in the ministry of health care (educator and play therapists in hospital, crisis centres)

- in the field of ministry of social affairs (different positions in in-house treatment)

- the ministry of interior affairs (social specialists in refugee camps, humanitarian services or asylum centres)

- a wide range of job positions is also available in non-profit organizations; humanitarian and charity institutions, civil agencies, foundations, etc.

The total share of practice in the study program is 10%. This concept guarantees students flexibility in meeting the requirements of practice. It is grouped primarily into the following 4 subjects:

- 1st semester: Excursion to professional facilities (mandatory for major, minor and single major) – (14h)

- 3rd semester: Continuous free-time internship (compulsory for major and minor) – (10 days)

- 4th semester: Social internship (mandatory for one major) – (10 days)

- 5th semester: Selection practice (mandatory for one major) – (4 weeks)

In the study program, practice is also linked to other sub-subjects (Social pedagogy in theory and practice, sociological and psychological aspects of social pedagogy, methods of social pedagogy, theoretical concepts of social pedagogy I / II, projecting in social pedagogy I, II.) in the form of creation and realization of specific outputs relayed within various study groups under the direct supervision of lecturers, and therefore in the environment of the so-called "safe study group", whose outputs are subsequently transferred into real practice, e.g. here, for example, a social-pedagogical project, a methodological project within the PVAC, leading a lesson in OSP3, in Game Methodology, etc. Also in specific subjects of partial profiles - drama education, social-activation, experiential pedagogy.

The standard range of a bachelor's thesis is 80,000 to 96,000 characters, including footnotes to the title page, table of contents, bibliography and annotations (i.e. 50-60 standard pages). Students must be able to work with sources, including those in foreign languages, and work critically with professional texts. Bachelor thesis can be theoretical, empirical, pedagogical (project) or methodical (application). Originality, the ability to create one's own professional text, the ability to analyze research data and interpret it in a broader context are assumed. Students choose a topic from the socio-pedagogical field. The student proceeds according to the prescribed standard for the creation of a scientific work at the MU PdF. The ranges of questions for SZZ and other information regarding the standards of scientific work are available from the department's website - http://katedry.ped.muni.cz/socialni-pedagogika/studium/statni-zaverecne-zkousky. The standards for creating a bachelor's thesis were updated in 2022 with more detailed information.

Final theses are also supported at the department in English - the number of which is gradually increasing. BP topics are proposed by individual supervisors within the department's vision, at the same time students have the opportunity to propose their own BP topic. The creation of BP should contain recommendations for educational practice.

After finishing the Bachelor's level of studies, the student can continue in the follow-up Master’s degree programme N7501 Social Pedagogy, Field of Study Social Pedagogy and Leisure Time (full-time or combined studies)