This document discusses key concepts that are shared between education and social work, which the author argues form the core of social pedagogy. Some examples of shared concepts are developing motivation in pupils/clients, perspective shifting, and the role of expectations in educational and therapeutic meetings. The author argues these concepts are especially significant in certain educational settings and constitute the essence of social pedagogy in both academic and practical terms. The document then examines several of these shared concepts in more depth, including the pedagogical meeting, developing motivation, and diagnostic competence.

1. Håkan Jenner
Joint concepts in pedagogy and social work
as the core of social pedagogy
Efforts are made to define the core of social pedagogy. This paper
presents a way to do this by focusing on some concepts and strate-
gies that are important in education as well as in social work.
Developing and maintaining the motivation of pupils and clients,
the necessity of perspective shifting, the role of expectations in edu-
cational and therapeutic meetings are some examples of the links
between the disciplines. In certain educational settings these con-
cepts have a special significance, which may constitute the essence
of social pedagogy – both in academic and practical meaning.
What is social pedagogy? Is it social work with a pedagogical
angle? Is it education focusing on a certain target group? In this
paper I will highlight some concepts that education and social work
have in common. The idea is that these concepts will provide us
with a common platform for discussing social pedagogy as both a
discipline and practical activity. (This paper is a lightly edited ver-
sion of parts of my installation speech as a professor of education
specializing in the care and treatment of drug abusers and adoles-
1
cents at Växjö University. ).
1
The lecture this paper is based on is titled: Det pedagogiska mötet – som erfa-
renhet och kunskapskälla. It can be found in an anthology published by Växjö
University: Installation Växjö universitet 2001. Acta Wexionensia, nr 14/2001.
61

2. Education—a multifaceted discipline
Education can, just as social work, be defined in three different
dimensions: as an academic research discipline, as a subject of study
as part of vocational training, and as a practical activity. (cf. Soydan,
1993). These determinations are not always congruent. Education
as a research discipline can, in part, have different delimitations
and emphases than either education as a major subject or practical
activity. Relationships such as education–social pedagogy, educa-
tion–special education, education–social work, and education–treat-
ment are examples of this. Education as a practical activity — in
the schools and social pedagogical contexts, has many points of
contact—even points in common—with special education, social
work, and psychotherapy. This is not emphasized in quite the same
way when education as a research discipline is explicitly defined. On
the other hand, even as an academic discipline, education has gray
areas bordering on other disciplines insofar as dissertations in edu-
cation are being submitted which most certainly would be accepted
as dissertations in the subject of social work, and vice versa.
As I have hinted here, the scope of education should not be
limited to upbringing and teaching, which are possibly the most
common associations people make with the subject. Using a more
comprehensive definition, the subject can be linked to development
and change in individual, societal, and cultural perspectives — a
theme that has been developed by Fritzell (1999). This means that
pedagogical questions arise in many different situations in which
individuals’ learning and social and cultural processes of integration
make themselves felt. Against this background the pedagogical core
has been formulated as follows: ‘Through pedagogical action—that
aspect of human activity which has to do with the development of
knowledge, norms, and values—a multifaceted weave of relation-
ships is created. There is a great deal of general agreement today
that one of the most central aspects of pedagogical action is com-
munication’ (Fritzén, 1998, p. 18). If communication is viewed as a
central educational concept it can lead us to begin to analyze educa-
tion as a scientific discipline and practical activity, starting with the
concept of ‘the pedagogical meeting’.
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3. The pedagogical meeting
This meeting centers on the teacher or therapist and one or more
pupils or clients. It is influenced in many respects by their relation-
ships, which I will discuss shortly. But it is also partly about the
type of expectations the teacher/therapist has of the pupil/client,
and the levels of trust and confidence that are developed. Or as
Börjeson (2000) has observed: ‘The important thing is not that you
are seen—clients, patients and pupils are always seen – the crucial
thing is how you are seen.’
The meeting also has a pedagogical content. This brings the
parties together and is to a great extent the very point or goal of
the meetings themselves. Whether the content is decided prior to
the meeting or is something jointly created greatly influences the
meeting’s nature. In the context of teaching, it is about whether
knowledge is seen as a pre-packaged product simply to be passed
on to the pupil, or as a process, something that the pupil is actively
involved in creating. In treatment settings, the pre-determined con-
tent leads to preference being given to the therapist’s definitions
of reality, with communication largely being limited to attempts
to influence, a kind of persuasion. Jointly determined content and
processes allows the treatment to become a question of looking at
things from the client’s perspective. The communicative aspect then
becomes an ongoing dialogue with the client, about forging ahead
together.
The meeting is additionally influenced by cultural aspects, in
part by the parties’ day-to-day culture. The multicultural school is
a part of this, but it is also in many respects a middle-class culture
that permeates the schools. When it comes to treatment, this ques-
tion has been brought to a head in an article in which the line of
reasoning starts with the following question: ‘Can a female middle-
class social worker understand a male, working-class alcoholic?’
(Hessle, 1987). I am not talking about insurmountable barriers, but
merely about something that demands attention and discussion so
that good pedagogical meetings may be realized. Another part of
the cultural aspect is the organizational culture. This comprises the
traditions, presuppositions, and limitations, the open and hidden
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4. edicts that are ‘in the air’; controlling the operations and the crite-
ria for internal and external critique, i.e. what your colleagues can
praise you or blame you for. Finally, the meeting is influenced by
the society’s values, expressed in its laws, regulations, and regulatory
documents. More generally, these values are found in the prevalent
attitudes towards different phenomena within a society, for example,
problems in the schools, social problems, and substance abuse.
The science of education is about noticing and attempting to
understand how these different levels of influence are expressed in
the meeting between parties. Social pedagogy doesn’t differ in this
respect from other directions in education, for example, special
education. The difference is the area of application and the special
questions that become relevant as a result. There is much to be said
about the different levels of influence and the links between them,
but I will limit myself here to saying a bit more about the profes-
sional relationship itself.
The professional relationship
In all types of educational practice — but perhaps especially in
teaching those who are often called ‘pupils with special needs’ and
in therapeutic contexts—the type of relationship that is built up is
crucial. The person responsible for creating a fruitful relationship is
the teacher or therapist. With reference to Martin Buber, the idea is
to strive towards ‘I–you relationships’ as opposed to ‘I – it relation-
ships’. It is about seeing the other as a person, not as an object to
be repaired. The client or pupil has problems, but the client/pupil
isn’t the problem.
The professional relationship differs from other interpersonal
contacts in that the teacher or therapist has the advantage; this is
in part based on a position of formal and informal power. It is not
an equal relationship. This is precisely why the teacher’s/therapist’s
actions are of particular importance, and it is important not to
emphasize the pupil’s/client’s position of dependency. In order to
accomplish the desired subject-subject relationship, the practitioner
needs to have developed an attitude that can be described using
concepts such as perspective-shifting, conceptualizing, motivation-
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5. building, diagnostic competence, professional conduct, and ethical
conduct. These concepts overlap somewhat, but for the sake of
clarity they will be described separately below.
Perspective shifting and contextualizing
Perspective shifting here refers to the ability to transcend one’s own
perspective and—as far as possible—see the world through the eyes
of the pupil/client. It is about meeting the other from within his
or her own life circumstances and way of experiencing the world.
‘Irrational’ thoughts and behaviors can be understood if they are
considered against the backdrop of the individual’s present situation
and life history. The teacher or therapist must have a genuine desire
to understand, while at the same time not pretending to understand
more than he or she actually does. The latter is easily seen through
and can be interpreted as insincerity. Although identification and
total understanding are not always possible (or even desirable),
insight and the desire to understand are.
Closely related to perspective shifting is contextualizing, which
refers to seeing the individual in his or her own context. Take, for
example, the child of a substance abuser, or a substance abuser in
a marginal position. The children of substance abusers are often
very loyal to their parents. This means that these children can be
“difficult to reach” while at the same time they ache for contact.
Because of this, the teacher or therapist must proceed carefully and
patiently. Finding oneself in a marginal position, which for exam-
ple someone trying to leave an addict’s lifestyle behind and begin
a ‘normal life’ can experience, is like sitting between two chairs.
This person is living on the margin of two cultures. The difficulties
increase if the individual doesn’t feel like a fully accepted member
of the new group. This can in turn negatively affect the rehabilita-
tion process.
Motivation-building
As a teacher or therapist it is important to understand the effects low
self-esteem and repeated failures can have on a person. It is easy to
classify pupils or clients who are not prepared to ‘commit’ (or who
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6. possibly even reject your attempts to help them) as ‘unmotivated’,
and to complain that they lack the necessary will to change. Focus-
ing on the pupil / client in this way and seeing motivation as an
isolated phenomenon is not so unusual. Motivation is, however, not
a characteristic of the individual, but a result of his or her experi-
ences and the treatment he or she receives. Motivation is a reflection
of the teacher’s/therapist’s interest and commitment, willingness to
relate, and ability to shift perspectives and contextualize.
Rather than complacently deciding that ‘the will to change’ is
lacking, it is vital to analyze the situation based on the pupil’s or
client’s often conflicting motives—to grab hold of the desire that
is actually there and examine which conflicting forces may also be
present. Among other things, motivation depends on
• the goal—if it is within sight and seems possible to achieve,
• the value of achievement — the attractiveness and desirability
of the goal (Why should I bother to learn something I find
completely useless? Ending a career as a substance-abuser means
being lonely without friends!), and
• the likelihood of failure—i.e. the individual’s judgment of his
or her chances to succeed.
The last is not the least important. Attribution research can provide
us with a useful interpretive framework here (Jenner, 1987). This
branch of research is concerned with studying the causal explana-
tions individuals give for their successes and failures and how these
explanations affect subsequent behavior. One of the results of this
research is the finding that highly self-confident individuals tend to
explain success as being the result of talent, hard work, etc., while
failures are attributed to of lack of effort. All of the above are internal
factors. These individuals see themselves as the masters of their own
destiny. On the other hand, individuals low in self-confidence tend
to attribute failure to lack of ability or suchlike (internal factors),
while successes are the result of luck, easy tasks, etc., i.e. external
factors independent of the individual. They see themselves as being
in the hands of fate. Knowledge of the attribution model can help
us better understand pupil and client behaviors, especially when
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7. they seem to view their own lack of ability as the sole cause of their
failures, and are therefore neither able nor willing to take advantage
of the capacities they actually do possess. Important insight can also
be gained from what is known as cognitive psychotherapy, in which
work with attributions is an important component. The approach
and attitude inherent to cognitive psychotherapy can contribute to
the pedagogical discussion.
The teacher’s/therapist’s expectations also play a determining role
when it comes to creating and maintaining the pupil’s/client’s moti-
vation. Since the end of the 1960s there has been extensive educa-
tional research on what is usually termed ‘the Pygmalion effect’. The
concept is used to describe the way expectations can function as
self-fulfilling prophecies. Positive expectations lead to good results,
negative expectations to poor results. The concept originated from
an ancient Greek myth, later used by G. B. Shaw in his drama
‘Pygmalion’. There we meet, as is well known, Eliza, who in spite
of certain skeptics succeeds in transforming herself from a cockney
girl selling flowers on the street to a fine ‘lady of society’; largely
due to professor Higgins’s firm belief in her ability to do so. It is in
this sense that the concept is used—to describe how one person’s
expectations can affect another person’s behavior.
After establishing in the mid-1970s that that the Pygmalion
effect actually does exist, the research has focused on more precisely
describing how expectations are formed and transmitted. One thing
is particularly important to point out regarding this, namely, the
preferential tendency to re-organize information that is contrary to
currently held beliefs rather than changing the beliefs themselves. If
a ‘good’ pupil fails a test, then he or she ‘had a bad day’. If a ‘poor’
student does well, it was also a one-time occurrence, a ‘pure fluke’
perhaps, but not the beginning of a new trend. It has also been
shown that pupil behavior can be viewed as a reflection of teacher
expectations, and vice versa. Pupils holding high expectations of
themselves are often more active during lessons, receiving more
praise from the teacher or more time to answer questions when
they don’t know the answer. Not only do they answer correctly
more frequently, their correct answers are also rewarded more often
than the other students’ answers.
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8. Researchers have above all studied the interaction between
teacher and pupil, but their findings have validity for client-patient
interaction as well (Jenner, 1992). In many respects the same pro-
cesses are involved in the client-patient interaction, which tells us
that these interactions have a lot to learn from each other.
Diagnostic competence
In general, diagnostic competence refers to being able to paint one-
self a picture of the pupil’s / client’s varying circumstances. More
specifically, it is about having the type of knowledge that allows
one to narrow in on what the problem actually is in a problematic
situation. But this doesn’t mean labeling or categorizing, it means
understanding. The diagnostic process becomes a part of what has
been called ‘problem setting’ (Schön, 1983) or freely translated into
Swedish ‘probleminramning’ (problem framing). If a pupil has read-
ing difficulties or a client relapses into substance abuse, you can of
course say that the reading or the abuse itself is the actual problem.
But if you take the total situation into account, the main questions
then become, ‘What is the true nature of the problem?’ and ‘How
can treatment best be organized?’ At this point a special type of
work begins. It involves jointly exploring the often unstable and dif-
ficult-to-understand situation in dialogue with the client, aiming to
help him or her to put experiences into words. Applying technical
rationality leads practitioners to view the problem as more or less
given and search for ready-made solutions—they have their models
and they apply them. But in the above case ‘the process through
which we define the decisions to be taken, the goals to be reached,
the methods which can be chosen’ (Molander, 1993) is emphasized.
In concrete terms it can entail having the pupil or client actively
participate in the evaluation concerning him- or herself. He or she
then becomes more than a mere ‘source of information’. What
is said here also has ethical implications. The pupil/client who is
denied the possibility to participate in evaluation and planning loses
the right to choose.
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9. Professional conduct
This concept comprises the different requirements made of people
in the helping professions. It is discussed by Holm (1987), who
particularly mentions knowledge, self-awareness, and empathy.
Compared to the other two, the knowledge requirement places
the greatest emphasis on theory. It includes not only knowledge
of and proficiency in matters of method, but even familiarity with
psychological defenses, unconscious drives, ambivalent motives, and
unconscious communication. The requirement of self-awareness is,
in practice, about being aware of one’s own feelings and needs, and
being able to deal with these so that they don’t affect the pupil/
client and the decisions made concerning him or her. The third
requirement — empathy — is perhaps the most central. It involves
the ability to get in touch with and understand another person’s
feelings and psychological state. This form of understanding has
both emotional and cognitive components. Experiencing versus
observing, closeness versus distance, and feeling versus analysis are
some conceptual pairs that describe what is involved in empathy.
Included here is the ability to understand what lies behind the
pupil’s/client’s actions, provocations or dependent bearing.
Ethical conduct
As pointed out earlier, the professional relationship is characterized
by inequality. This places demands on teachers and therapists not
to exploit their advantage in an unethical manner. However, this
doesn’t necessarily mean that the unequal—or asymmetric — rela-
tionship is always in itself a bad thing. Drawing from G.H. Mead’s
social psychological theory, Börjeson (2000) believes there is actu-
ally reason to doubt the idea that one should try to achieve the most
equitable situation possible between actors in professional interac-
tions, claiming that ‘the good asymmetrical interaction’ has positive
functions. One of these is that it offers the possibility for the pupil
to ‘identify with the teacher in the sense that the way you see me is
the way I’d like to see myself ’. At the same time there should be a
‘built in movement in the asymmetrical system towards diminished
asymmetry.’
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10. It should also be mentioned that the professional relationship’s
unequal character makes ethical correctives necessary. Unequal rela-
tionships create greater space for unfair treatment and violations
than equal relationships do. Human dignity must therefore always
remain in focus. It can function as an absolute value and point of
orientation for professional action.
But if human dignity is going to have an effect in practice,
teachers/therapists will have to be prepared to reflect on their own
outlook on people. Therapists are often in the habit of asking ques-
tions such as ‘What is this client like?’ and ‘How does this family
function?’ etc. right in front of the client. But as Torold (1973) has
pointed out, ‘the issue of one’s outlook on mankind calls my own
perspective into question: what am I like in my relations with other
people?’ (p. 10). Insight into this issue requires one to be clear about
questions such as: How are people actually supposed to be? What
is a dignified way of living? How do I wish to be treated by others?
How do I wish to treat others myself?
The answers to these questions are not only influenced by the
individual’s attitudes and values. Additional factors in the individu-
al’s surroundings have to be taken into account — not least organi-
zational culture and societal values. If one’s workplace is viewed an
ethical environment, one is forced to discuss the requirements that
have to be satisfied there in order to promote an ethical attitude.
This in turn should lead to an examination of the roles of profes-
sional practitioners in society, the functions they are given within
the social system within which they work and the responsibilities
this entails. Is efficiency and narrow utilitarian thinking supposed
to be in the foreground, or ethics and the protection of clients’
human dignity?
Closing comments
My thought is that social pedagogy is not a particular type of edu-
cation or pedagogy. It is about basic educational theses. In certain
cases it is especially important that these be followed. For children,
adolescents, and adults living in difficult social and emotional
circumstances and without any real support from other directions,
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11. professional efforts and treatment can have particular significance.
In this sense, social pedagogy can be viewed as a branch of edu-
cation that — rather incisively worded — is distinguished by the
fact that it requires more perspective shifting and contextualizing,
motivation building and diagnostic competence, and ethical and
professional conduct (in the conceptual senses I have put forth here)
than other types of education do. The same can be said about spe-
cial education. The difference between social pedagogy and special
education would thus chiefly be the area of application.
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