SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

Recently, there has been an increased interest in “cross-national activities in social work”, including cross-national comparative research in social work and the publication of scientific works (Hämäläinen, 2014, p. 193). While social work is diversely practiced in different countries, its “ideological principles”

are shared among practitioners worldwide, as stipulated in the definition of social work adopted by the International Association of Schools of Social Work [IASSW] and IFSW (Borrmann, Klassen & Spatscheck, 2007, p. 9). Also, social work is described as being “international in scale” due to the fact that

“problems and solutions are no longer located and contained within local or national boundaries” (Anand & Das, 2019, p. 1); therefore, international communication and cross-national comparative research have become increasingly valuable.

In light of the above, there is increased interest in recent years in SSW, which is a specialised working area within the social work profession (Huxtable & Blyth, 2002; Villarreal Sosa, Bamba, Ismayilova & Tan-Wu, 2017, p. 221) and which is, nowadays, practiced in at least 53 countries (Huxtable, 2018). The development of SSW was closely connected with the introduction of compulsory education in Canada (1870s), England (the end of 19th century), and the United States (1918) to eradicate illiteracy and to support children’s education levels (Huxtable & Blyth, 2002; referring to Allen-Meares,

Washington & Welsh, 2000; see also Jarolmen, 2014; Villarreal Sosa et al., 2017).

Despite the introduction of universal education, some children were unable to participate in school because they had to make a contribution to their family’s income or because their family did not understand the benefits of being educated; therefore, officials were needed to support families and to enforce school attendance; examples include school attendance officers in England and visiting teachers in the United States (Huxtable & Blyth, 2002, pp.

8–9), with the latter being qualified social workers that had specific abilities to improve children’s environment (Richmond, 1922, p. 198). Thus, they are considered the “forerunners” of school social workers (Levine & Levine, 1970).

An international definition sees SSW as a practice area within the social work profession whose practitioners are trained to work with school children and to support them in dealing with problems connected to school, family or community; in accordance, SSW collaborates with children, parents, teachers and other school staff; supports children academically, socially and in crisis;

refers them to community agencies; implements preventive programmes and serves as a liaison between a student’s home and school (International Network for School Social Work [INSSW], 2017). Besides this international definition, several national definitions and concepts exist, and even between and within countries, similarities and differences are evident. Thus, while professionals advocate for children, promote their rights and assist them in reaching their full potential, they do so in a context of differences regarding professional titles, the relationship between SSW and social pedagogy, and service providers (Huxtable & Blyth, 2002, pp. 234–238).

In international publications, SSW is discussed as taking on a broad range of professional roles. For example, SSW still exercises its traditional role of supporting children in school enrolment and completion (Huxtable

& Blyth, 2002, pp. 3–4) and fulfils further roles that find their starting point in and have a clear relationship to school-related issues. Thus, its role is to work with children, their families and schools, as well as to help children

“to accomplish tasks, associated with their learning”; based upon, the “role can be flexibly developed from this purpose and these values” (Constable, 2002, p. 4). Since these observations were made, several further roles have

been added. Nowadays, professionals around the globe function as “cultural brokers, advocates, connectors, mediators, counselors and social change agents” (Openshaw, 2008, p. 290); they play a strong role in securing social security, increasing parental involvement, and supporting children in dealing with personal and social problems (Pushkina, 2017). “Ideally”, the roles of SSW

“are broad and flexible” and include not only the problem-solving of issues connected with a student’s learning but also the implementation of preventive services “to address various social and health problems” (Huxtable, Sottie &

Ulziitungalag, 2012, p. 236).

In addition to this great heterogeneity of roles, SSW also fulfils a broad range of tasks; hence, SSW makes a contribution to supporting children in reaching their full academic potential and fulfils several tasks that go beyond processing school-related issues. Thus, while school social workers around the globe “deal with local problems, often with little contact outside of their own school or community”, “children’s problems are similar in all countries, and children are increasingly influenced by global forces that affect not only the economy but also the local culture and even intimate family problems”

(Huxtable & Blyth, 2002, pp. 242–243). For this reason, several scholars clarify that “international professional communication has become valuable” in SSW (Huxtable, 2013, p. 9) and that it enables us “to learn what is being done not next door but continents away” while addressing similar issues (Fisher, 2002, p. vi).

Additionally, in an international context, the working methods used in SSW practice are similar despite cultural differences between countries.

For the most part, these methods include communication between a child’s home and school, individual counselling, teacher consultation, advocacy and collaboration (Huxtable & Blyth, 2002, p. 234). In particular, the assessment and treatment of issues affecting a child’s well-being in an appropriate way are “at the core” of SSW service provision (Openshaw, 2008, p. 6).

To conclude, SSW is social work practiced in school. It is grounded on

“national cultures and educational traditions” (Huxtable, Sottie, & Ulziitungalag, 2012, p. 236) and has “common values, goals, and principles […] that transcend cultural and historical differences and unite the profession” (Huxtable &

Blyth, 2002, p. 234). Therefore, in summary, SSW has, similar to social work,

shared “ideological principles”, but its practice “varies from society to society depending on cultural variables” (Borrmann, Klassen & Spatscheck, 2007, p.

9), wherefore there is great diversity in SSW practice around the globe.