Social Work Education in Europe: A Retrospective View

Abstract

The introduction of European funding in the 1980s played an important part in the establishment of networks contributing to the learning opportunities of social work students in the latter part of the twentieth century and more recently. While the number of British social work schools participating were in the minority, membership of networks contributed to the growth in knowledge about European frameworks and comparative social work and professional education. This has subsequently became formalised through edited (comparative) texts and research projects. Use of the term ‘social professionals’ highlights both the central importance of ‘the social’ and the diversity of educational and professional awards and occupational groups engaged in this broad field. The experience in networks introduced staff and students alike to different ways of thinking about the roles of the state and the family and of organising work in relation to a range of often similar social problems. British participation was sometimes hindered by language limitations, but European experience introduced new vocabulary such as subsidiarity, social pedagogy and social exclusion. It has also served to illustrate the narrowing of British social work; the high degree of regulation and the dichotomy between education and training evident in the UK.

Keywords:

• European networks
• European context
• European funding
• social pedagogy
• social professionals

Disclosure statement

No funding was received in relation to production of this article and no conflict of interest needs to be declared.

Notes

1. The European Centre for Community Education (ECCE) was initiated in 1985 as a network of individuals from a range of departments in universities across the members of the then European Community. Under the leadership of Professor Friedrich Seibel and with the benefit of a succession of ERASMUS grants to different schools an office was set up in Koblenz (Fachhochschule) and ‘membership’ was expanded. Apart from the range of activities noted in the foregoing text and the development of teaching materials, in 1995 it won a competitive grant to map and evaluate the impact of ERASMUS projects at the point when a new system of funding (SOCRATES) was due to be introduced. SOCRATES shifted funding to ‘thematic networks’ and ECCE collaborated with other pan-European organisations to establish one for the social professions. The ECCE office closed in 2016 and the network formally disbanded.

2. European Journal of Social Work (EJSW) was not the first European journal. A group of social work educators at Brunel University co-operated with a small publisher (Russell House) to produce a quarterly journal, Social Work in Europe, from 1994. The last issue appeared in 1999 and the journal was incorporated into EJSW from 2000.

3. A notable exception was research carried out by Brunel social work educators and French partners (part-funded by national as well as European money) resulting in two important books in the field of comparative child protection (Cooper et al. 1995; Hetherington et al. 1997).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karen Hamilton Lyons

Karen Hamilton Lyons (PhD, CQSW), Emeritus Professor (London Metropolitan University, UK), was previously a social work educator at University of East London. She was a member of a European network for 30 years and represented the UK on the IASSW Board (2000–2004) as well as editing International Social Work (2004–2010). She has contributed to social work programmes in a number of countries beyond Europe and more recently been involved in research about international labour mobility.