Social Work and Inclusive Citizenship Education: Perspectives on connecting elements

Main objectives of the Social Work profession include “the empowerment and liberation of people“ (IFSW, 2014). In particular, “social work strategies are aimed at increasing people’s hope, self-esteem and creative potential to confront and challenge oppressive power dynamics and structural sources of injustices“ (ibid.). At the same time, the concept of “Inclusive Citizenship Education“ aims at providing a “didactic perspective on democracy“ which allows “to understand societal transformations as a learning process in which the conditions of living together are renegotiated“ with a special focus on “learning processes of citizens“ (CINC). It is an emancipatory perspective which focuses on the underlying processes of power, exclusion, and inequality that current democratic systems are based on (Kleinschmidt/Lange, 2022, 362). Inclusive Citizenship Education intends to look at the living environment (Lebenswelt) of learners and “make the political aspects of these living environments visible” (ibid., own translation). We think that there are prolific connecting points between Social Work and Inclusive Citizenship Education. Looking at the conceptual base, we will demonstrate parallels to the Capabilities Approach (Nussbaum, 2000), Community organizing Work (Der Veen 2003), and Social Work as a Human Rights Profession (Staub-Bernasconi, 2016). Social Workers in this tradition work with “hard-to-reach groups”. They are in contact with individuals who are underrepresented on the political stage and marginalized in society who do not perceive these aspects as political (Calmbach/Borgstedt, 2012; edited volume Drews, 2009). Also, they are often not reached by citizenship education in schools or non-formal programs. Thus, Social Workers could (and also do) act in their practice as interpreters for political aspects of interest of hard-to-reach groups; they raise awareness and empower their clients to act politically in their own interests. bibliography: Der Veen, Ruud van (2003). Community development as citizen education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 22(6), pp. 580-596. Drews, A. (Ed.) (2009): Politisch nicht mehr erreichbar? Politikverdrossenheit und soziale Milieus, Evangelische Akademie Loccum. Centre for Inclusive Citizenship (2021): The CINC research profile, URL: https://www.cinc.uni-hannover.de/en/cinc/the-cinc-research-profile/ [accessed: May 16, 2022]. Calmbach, M./Borgstedt, S. (2012): »Unsichtbares« Politikprogramm? Themenwelten und politisches Interesse von »bildungsfernen« Jugendlichen. In: Kohl, W./Seibring, A. (Eds.): „Unsichtbares“ Politikprogramm?: Themenwelten und politisches Interesse von „bildungsfernen“ Jugendlichen, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, pp. 43–80. International Federation of Social Workers (2014): Global Definition of Social Work, URL: https://www.ifsw.org/what-is-social-work/global-definition-of-social-work/ [accessed: May 16, 2022]. Kleinschmidt, M., & Lange, D. (2022): Inclusive Citizenship Education. In Beutel, W./Gloe, M./Himmelmann, G./Lange, D./Reinhardt, V. (Eds.), Handbuch Demokratiepädagogik. Wochenschau Verlag, pp. 361-368. Nussbaum, M. C. (2000): Women and Human Development. The Capabilities Approach.. Cambridge University Press. Staub-Bernasconi, S. (2016): Social Work and Human Rights—Linking Two Traditions of Human Rights in Social Work. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work, 1, pp. 40–49.