social work; global neoliberalism; doing social work; being social worker; education

Social work in the Czech Republic is confronted with the impact of globalisation and neoliberalism. This affects not only social work practice but also education. The submitted chapter aims to understand how social workers perceive the position and role of social work (and themselves as social workers) in contemporary society in the social work practice and to make, based on these findings, recommendations for the setting of educational process and goals. To achieve this goal, a qualitative research strategy was chosen. We conducted 10 focus groups with altogether 60 social workers from 2011 to 2017. The data was analysed and arranged into groups using a cluster method based on the thematic overlap. From the data obtained it is obvious that the contemporary practice of social work places high demands on social workers due to an emphasis on efficiency, economisation, and bureaucracy. At the same time, theoretical education is perceived by social workers as being separated from practice. The data obtained shows that the inclusion of a reflexive approach and cross-sectional reinforcement of the social work identity into social work education can strengthen the (perceived) impact of social workers on formation of social work practice compared to the current sense of helplessness. In the paper’s conclusion, we discuss specific implications for the educational process and its objectives.

Social work in the Czech Republic is confronted with the impact of globalisation and neoliberalism. This affects not only social work practice but also education. The submitted chapter aims to understand how social workers perceive the position and role of social work (and themselves as social workers) in contemporary society in the social work practice and to make, based on these findings, recommendations for the setting of educational process and goals. To achieve this goal, a qualitative research strategy was chosen. We conducted 10 focus groups with altogether 60 social workers from 2011 to 2017. The data was analysed and arranged into groups using a cluster method based on the thematic overlap. From the data obtained it is obvious that the contemporary practice of social work places high demands on social workers due to an emphasis on efficiency, economisation, and bureaucracy. At the same time, theoretical education is perceived by social workers as being separated from practice. The data obtained shows that the inclusion of a reflexive approach and cross-sectional reinforcement of the social work identity into social work education can strengthen the (perceived) impact of social workers on formation of social work practice compared to the current sense of helplessness. In the paper’s conclusion, we discuss specific implications for the educational process and its objectives.