The relationships between social pedagogy, social work and child protection: the case of Estonia

Abstract

This article analyses the context of social work and social pedagogy in Estonia. It also introduces the differences, commonalities and overlap of the two concepts and their teaching. Courses in both disciplines are taught at Tallinn University in the School of Governance, Law and Society. At Tallinn University social work has been taught at three levels (BA, MA and PhD) since 1991; the Master’s in Social Pedagogy and Child Protection started in 2002. As the term ‘social’ encompasses several meanings, it also influences the practice in the social field – an overlap here can be considered to be a positive aspect, because the aim of both social work and social pedagogy is a better life. In Estonia social pedagogy is connected with social work through child protection. This article first presents a short overview of the situation in Estonia. It then introduces the main principles and theoretical backgrounds of the concepts and the education of social work and social pedagogy.