Before you understand the essence of the profession, you need to deal with the name itself. It consists of two capacious concepts. By definition, a “teacher” is a person engaged in teaching and upbringing. Simply put, teacher. “Social” in Latin means “public”, that is, associated with society. Now the picture is getting a little clearer. There is a certain connection between the professions of a teacher and a social educator. Both of them are somehow connected with children. But there is also a significant difference. The teacher provides knowledge, brings to the child the scientific experience gained over the years, and the social teacher helps him adapt in society.
Who needs a "special assistant"
Society is rather harsh about unstable personalities, and the child is its most vulnerable part. In the course of growth and development, children have a variety of problems and there must be someone who can solve them. That is why the public or, more correctly, the social responsibilities of the social educator are to help children, first of all, to establish their relations with the outside world. Most often these are children with physical or psychological disabilities: orphans, people with disabilities, law-breakers and representatives of the so-called “risk group”. All of them have a conflict with society, and the social responsibilities of a social educator are to help children overcome this condition and return to normal life. In a difficult situation, each person feels either lost and useless to anyone, or feels anger and hatred for everyone around him. Children feel all this more aggravated. They are categorical, defenseless and do not know how to cope with the vicissitudes of fate. The consequences of this condition can be the most deplorable. This is where we need a man who is able to put everything in its place and make it clear to a small person that you can still change.
What the work is about
The social responsibilities of a social educator are ambiguous and cover a wide range of issues. This requires assistance in a variety of ways:
1) Informational. It is necessary in practice to make clear to the child that the law is able to protect him.
2) Economic. In accordance with existing regulations, help adolescents in need receive the necessary allowances, benefits and compensation.
3) Psychological. If necessary, contribute to the restoration of the microclimate in the family. To make it clear to a small member of society that he is not an “outcast” and that for him not everything is lost.
4) Medical. Real help in caring for sick children.
5) Legal. Help needy teens restore or exercise their rights.
Social responsibilities of a social educator are realized not only in relation to children. He has to work with parents, teachers, law enforcement officers and specialists of social protection bodies.
What you have to do
What should a social educator do?
Job responsibilities eloquently describe all his practical work. First you need a complete analysis of the personality of a teenager, his problems and living conditions. Then comes the turn of useful information. A specialist must tell the child how the state can help him and what services do this. After this, it is necessary to draw up a plan for further action. Sometimes this requires the help of parents, teachers, friends and acquaintances. If the question concerns the sick and needy, then it becomes necessary to contact the appropriate authorities with requests and requirements. But sometimes it is the unhealthy situation in the family that pushes the child to rash and often aggressive actions. Mostly the fault of adults. A social educator should conduct educational
conversations with parents and try to resolve the relationship. Work is not easy, but a possible positive result makes you try and make every effort. The result of the work done can be expressed in one phrase: "The social teacher does everything to resolve the conflict and reconcile the child with society and the surrounding reality."
Responsibilities of a Social Educator
The activity of any teacher, as you know, is aimed at teaching and educating. If we consider the functional responsibilities of the teacher of the social plan, then the main thing is the education of the individual. Recently, such specialists are increasingly appearing in the staff of school workers, orphanages and boarding schools. Every day, being next to the pupils, they study their life and conditions, which sometimes push the children to rash actions. These people defend offended children and are, as it were, intermediaries between them and the world around them. Thanks to their knowledge and professional skills, social educators make efforts to eliminate obstacles to the development of a new personality. They do everything so that the child returns to normal life, and try to create the most convenient conditions for this. The easiest way to isolate a teenager from an adverse environment. But the goal of social educators is not that. They try to change the environment itself and make it suitable for the life of a child.