Auksė Petruškevičiūtė (Vytautas Magnus University ; Mykolas Romeris University)
The presentation examines the formation and development of socio-pedagogical support in Lithuania after 1990 as a significant dimension of educational transformation in the post-totalitarian period. It acknowledges that the intellectual foundations of social pedagogy in Lithuania predate independence. Earlier ideas were developed within in Lithuanian educational thought, while Juozas Vaitkevičius made important contributions to the conceptual grounding of social pedagogy as a field linking education, social environment, socialisation, and preparation for life in society.
Internationally, socio-pedagogical support is defined and institutionalised in diverse ways, depending on national educational, welfare, and professional traditions.
In Lithuania, however, its meaning has been articulated more explicitly and embedded in the school support system. Socio-pedagogical support in Lithuanian schools began in 2001, initially through separate cases of professional assistance. Over time, these practices developed into a structured national system of support provision. Its relevance was also recognised in the European Commission’s 2013 report on reducing early school leaving, where Lithuania’s use of social pedagogues and multi-professional cooperation in schools was presented among Member State practice examples for addressing early school leavers.
The presentation analyses how the role of the social pedagogue became institutionalised and how support expanded from responses to absenteeism, behavioural difficulties, social risk, and family vulnerability towards prevention, inclusion, child welfare, counselling, social skills development, and intersectoral cooperation.
It argues that socio-pedagogical support reflects a broader movement from control, correction, and individual problem management towards assistance, empowerment, participation, and shared responsibility within the school community.