Variations in school social work

Results from a Hungarian qualitative study

Abstract

Since the introduction of school social work in Hungary in 2018, there has been no comprehensive research on the experience of its implementation. In our exploratory research, we therefore attempted to fill this gap by answering the following questions: i) How do school social workers perceive the working conditions in the schools they work in? ii) What target groups do they serve and what are their activities in a school? iii) How do school social workers perceive their cooperation with colleagues responsible for child wellbeing in the school? As the unit of analysis in our research is schools (not social workers), we were also able to study how school social work practice varies according to the different characteristics of schools.

The 18 schools included in the study were selected by purposive sampling to diversify the sample as much as possible (by type of school provider, number of pupils, socio-economic background, type of municipality and region). Semi-structured (online and telephone) interviews with school social workers were conducted between March and October 2023.

One of the main findings of our research is that the number of institutions and municipalities visited by social workers has a strong influence on the target groups and the service(s) that the social worker can provide in a school. On this basis, we identify three groups of institutions: those that are well, moderately and poorly served by school social work services. The latter group typically includes small rural schools with a large number of disadvantaged pupils, where the need for school social work services would be greatest. This result suggests that there may be a case for rethinking the regulation of school social work services.