conflict & communication online, Vol. 21, No. 2, 2022
www.cco.regener-online.de
ISSN 1618-0747

Dominik Novkovic
Social Work, Education and Child Poverty - Paulo Freire as inspiration for an educative social work with and for poor children

The issues of "educational disadvantages" and "social inequality of opportunity" are interrelated. It is in this context that we must examine the challenges in Social Work. The increasing child poverty rate make it absolutely necessary for Social Work to position themselves as a democratic arena where children of disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds can make claims with authorization.
Paulo Freire´s idea of Critical Education was based on a comprehensive understanding of education which was guided by the assumption that only mature subjects can emancipate themselves from capitalist constraints and inequalities. This potential is also relevant in the context of the resulting difficulties in general that such children must face while growing up.

The author:

Dr. phil. Novkovic, Dominik, Lecturer at the Institutes of Social Work and Philosophy at the University of Kassel and head of department in a child and youth welfare institution, studied sociology and philosophy, doctorate on the topic: pedagogy, society and politics. Heinz-Joachim Heydorn's General Political Pedagogy and its relation to Karl Marx and Marxism, main areas of work: Critical theories of education, theories of social work, critical social work, critical theory and Marxist theory.
Address: Menzelstr. 16, 34121 Kassel
eMail: dominik.novkovic@yahoo.de