Initial training in social education: a study about teaching profiles

This article reflects on the challenges of academic training in Social Education, as part of an ongoing research on “Social Pedagogy and Socio-Educational Innovation”, framed within a doctoral course in educational sciences. Social Pedagogy is a highly valued academic and professional area in the Portuguese educational panorama, defining itself as a relevant and specific discipline, built on the line of articulation between the areas of education and social solidarity. To this extent, Social Pedagogy functions for social educators as their professional knowledge of reference, being recognized as a vector of professional identity. Based on this observation, we were interested in understanding to what extent and in which way this educational discipline is worked and valued in the scope of initial training and intervention, trying, specifically in this case, to know to what extent it constitutes a necessary qualification to exercise teaching functions in the initial training courses in Social Education currently existing in Portugal. To this end, we chose a methodological strategy based on a qualitative approach, using documentary consultation as a data collection technique in the time from May 2021 to January 2022. Data analysis suggests that the process of academic affirmation of Social Pedagogy is in a phase of consolidation.