The first set of objectives related to our profile discipline - social pedagogy. The subtitle of it is "Social pedagogy - upgrading theory and practice". We still feel that there is a lack of theoretical anchoring of this (relatively new) discipline and teachers should be able to confront our concepts with those in German and Anglo-Saxon settings. Theory is closely linked to practice in our field and only in the interaction does everything make sense for the benefit of the clients, we also sought practical experience for teachers and students at the various workplaces. The second set of objectives with the working title "Pastoral Care - Needs and Ways" is related to the fact that the teaching at our school also includes subjects closely related to spirituality in the helping professions (spiritual care in hospitals, hospices, prisons ...). And the contemporary world is changing rapidly also in the field of religiosity. The ambition of our teachers was not to persist in outdated ideas about pastoral care, but to see how these needs are approached in countries where religious diversity has long been a reality. We also oriented the students to be mindful of this. All this with an outreach to professional public and local communities.
We are JABOK - higher vocational school of social pedagogy and theology. Based on the valid accreditation, the school educates in the three-year study programme in Social Pedagogy and Theology, which is implemented in two focuses: 1) Social Work 2) Special Education. As in the past, when we applied for support from the Erasmus+ programme, we we had in mind the changing, current demands on the profession of social pedagogue. Therefore, we first defined the priorities that the labour market and the contemporary world are now placing on graduates of social schools like us (inclusion of disadvantaged people, participation, multiculturalism, civil society, community work...), we carefully selected suitable foreign partners who have relevant experience, good sound in the field and original methods in working with clients that could be inspiring for implementation in practice in the Czech Republic. We planned the activities for teachers and students in such a way that their benefits would be maximized primarily for the students and their educators, but also for the field organizations and communities in the Czech Republic. The result was a short-term project entitled "Social Pedagogy - Using Diversity for Inclusion and Participation".