Changes in the educational system.

Stina Johansson

In Sweden there are two academic vocational trainings for social workers: social work education (socionomutbildning) and social care education (social omsorgsutbildning). The first one trains, in general terms, for work at a welfare office, while the other one trains for work with elderly and handicapped people. Even if the borderline is blurred, the struggle is hard between those who want to keep this demarcation and those who want a broader definition of the field of social work.

Recently the Board of Higher Education and the Board of Health and Social Welfare inspected the two educations and suggested their unification. The best from each of them should be kept and the aims of the training should be adapted to the changed demands for professional knowledge in a global society with social work standards built on evidence and quality assurance. A competence raise was suggested for elderly care staff as the demands on their services have become more complex.

The relation between the school of social work and the expectations from labour market on a relevant professional knowledge is vital. The way the occupation presents itself is also important. The more prestigious title “socionom” was suggested. At the universities where the unification already has been tried out some problems have already become obvious. Slowness in adapting to the new system has made the students confused about the value of their education. A hierarchy has emerged, where traditional stuff score higher than the social care-related. Also employers have been ignorant. Also elderly care managers have preferred persons with a traditional training rather than social workers with a broader and relevant competence.

The chances to defend a jurisdiction have partly to do with the strength of the academic society, partly with the strength of the voice from outside claiming relevant competence. In the lobbying for and against the new and unified social worker exam the unbalance in academic competence as a resource for professional success has been obvious. 170 persons trained as traditional social workers have passed their PhD, while the corresponding figure for social care workers is 4. The weak academic belonging, the lack of voice, is clearly related to cutbacks and low priority of social care in practice as well as in research.

Different strategies for protection and change of a knowledge base will be studied. Groups of interest: academics, social workers, employers, trade unions, students.