In the public, political, and scientific discourse alike, the interest in education has been unbroken for quite some time now. When it comes to Social Work, the discourse on education has resulted in various facets of the term since the 2000s. For Austria, the educational scientist Sting also identifies an “intensification of the educational discourse and the discussion of educational inequalities”, which creates, on the one hand, an understanding of education that goes beyond the formal definition and, on the other hand, education as a term within the meaning of “education in context”.

The question pertaining to the understanding of education, the educational task of Social Work, education as a human right, or the structural conditions for education or educational opportunities are all part of the multifaceted repertoire of the educational discourse.

One relevant dimension of the concept of education in the Social Work discourse is the critical emancipatory dimension which outlines education as a form of empowerment. This understanding is in line with the profession’s self-image of being a human rights profession and with its political identity on the basis of Social Work’s global definition.

In the course, the topic of “educational processes and educational tasks in areas of Social Work activity” is introduced and used as a framework topic for individual research interests. The students can choose to conduct research on questions of different fields of activity (e.g., Social Work in schools, Social Work in work and occupation, consulting contexts, child and youth work) that address, for example, the following aspects:

• Does the institution have an official or unofficial educational task/mission?
• Is the educational task as such fulfilled?
• What is understood as education in the respective field of activity?
• How is the educational task fulfilled and implemented in practice? Which form of education is implied therein?
• Is the claim to empowerment reflected in the official tasks, in mission statements, etc.? And if it is, how so?
• What do I do if my educational task collides with my understanding of the institution / the funding body?

The course provides a framework for contemplating the questions and topics presented here, for defining individual research priorities, and for designing possible methodological approaches.

The objective of the course is to sensitise students for educational work (as a central task of Social Pedagogy) and to assist them in an advisory capacity or to support them with expertise on the topic. We see it as our task to supply the framework conditions and resources for the scientific discussion of a self-chosen topic related to the research focus. The discussion serves not only to acquire scientific competencies and expertise on a topic, but also to encourage students to recognise the educational mission of their future practice, to critically reflect on it, and to demand it where necessary.

For the Social Work discipline in general and for Social Pedagogy in particular, the relevance for addressing this topic also lies in its still low anchoring in the Austrian discourse and the simultaneously high social standing of education and educational processes.