Abstract

Social work in schools formed hundreds of years ago. Social work for children is part of the social work service to provide the best support for children in special circumstances, to help protect children, to contribute to the well-being of children and their families. Until now, social work service has presented in almost all of the parts of the world, and has contributed to disabled people supporting service wordwide, which partially improves the life quality, solves social problems and brings about equality and social justice. Develop a model of social work in the kindergarten in order to effectively participate in the protection of children's rights and to support them in learning and in including into the community. However, in Vietnam, it has just started as in a pilot model. The study addresses several theoretical, practical aspects, and requirements to build this model in order to suggest a social work model in the kindergarten that is suitable with the socio-economic context in Vietnam at the present time, and meets the requirements of market economy and international integration.

1. Introduction

Social work for children is part of the social work service, which provides the best support for children in special circumstances, helps to protect children and contributes to the wellbeing of children and their family. Social work in schools came in hundreds of years ago, but in Vietnam it has only really begun to develop experimental models and this is still confusing for the vast majority of people.

There have been a number of studies in the field, including school social work and the development of school social work in some countries (USA, Australia, China, Malaysia, Singapore ...) by Freg, A. (Hatta, ZA Kelly, MS, Berzin, SC, Frey, A., Alvarez, M., Shaffer, G., & O'Brien, K. (2010) ³, Levine, KA, & Zhu Raines, J, C., Stone, S., & Frey, A. (2010) ⁵, SCS (2010) ⁶, Lee, JS (2012) ⁷; Social Work Practice and School Social Work Services by Alen-Meares, P. (2010) ⁸, Kelly, MS, Raines, JC, Stone, S., & Frey, A (2010) ⁹; The role of social workers in school by Harrison, K., & Harrison, R. (2009) ¹⁰; Social work service standards and practices for social workers by To, SM (2006) ¹¹, Barrett, C., Downing, C., Prederick, J., Johannsen, L., & Riseley, D. (2008) ¹², NASW (2012) ¹³, Australian Association of Social Workers (2013) ¹⁴; Guidance on school social work, child disability counseling and parenting skills of NCSS (2007) ¹⁵, SWD (2008) ¹⁶; roles and challenge of school social work by Yamano, N. (2011) ¹⁷; Capacity and Values in the Practice of Joseph Lassner's Social Work Group, Kathleen Powell, Elaine Finnegan (2013) ¹⁸; content and process of social work with the family by Robert Constable, Daniel B. Lee (2015) ¹⁹; Jozefiak T., Kayed NS, Rimehaug T., Wormdal AK, Brubakk AM, Wichsstrom L. (2016) ²⁰ and Bronsard G., Alessandrini M., Fond G, Psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents , Loundou A., Auquier P., Tordjman S., Boyer L. (2016) ²¹ ...

2. Content

Social work is an applied science that enhances human performance, creates social transformations and provides social well-being. Social work science and social work have formed and developed, which has brought significant benefits through the provision of useful services to people. So far, social work has been present in most countries around the world and has been supporting the disadvantaged, contributing to improving the quality of life, solving social problems, bringing about equality and social justice. With these important values, social work has been put into many different areas with different people (children with special circumstances, people with disabilities, the poor, the elderly, women ...), in different social settings (hospitals, courts and especially in schools). With its mission, professional social work activities have been and will be striving, contributing to the goal of building a world of justice, equality and development.

Social work in schools in countries that have come in very early, starting in the West with a social security development, then spreading to Asian countries and Australia. The UK is the first country in Europe to offer social work services in a school system that helps students overcome psychosocial difficulties, maximize their potential and fulfill their potential and effective learning tasks (1871); followed by Canada, Australia (1940), Sweden (1950), Finland and Germany (1960). The school social work model in the United States was developed in the early 1906s, primarily to support students in need of protection so that they can adapt to the school and improve their academic performance, provide service to connect home, school and local community, support the school to implement educational policy in accordance with the changing social environment; adjust school policies, and support literacy programs in US families (starting with schools in New York, Boston and Hartfort). Since the 1980s, school social workers have increasingly played the role of a mental health professional (mental health prevention and treatment) to actively intervene in services for children with disabilities, and take part in thoroughly dealing with poverty, substance abuse and violence. The American Association of School Social Workers affirms that school social work is one of the most important disciplines of social work, which is a tool to motivate a school to achieve academic goals. With their professional knowledge and skills, school social workers affect the children and the school system, helping them to improve their ability to meet their learning tasks through coordinating among the family, school and community. In Asia, school social work has been developed in New Zealand, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong (from the 70s of the 20th century); Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia (from the 1980s and 1990s) ...

Social work in schools in Vietnam: Along with the development of social work in general, school social work has also changed, but has not really received adequate attention of the related authorities. In the course of school development, the complex issues that have arisen are quite serious with regard to students (pressure situations, academic overload, school violence...). However, without the professional help of social workers, this task is assigned to the teachers and the school should not be resolved thoroughly. Along with the development of society, the family structure of Vietnam has many changes. Parents spend too much time on work, so the gap between parents and children is getting bigger, leading to the fact that young children are disturbed or do not receive timely help from their families when encountering difficult issues ²². Models of service delivery in social work centers, early intervention centers and inclusive education for children with disabilities in Vietnamese pre-schools first appeared in Ho Chi Minh City (Local school districts are leading the way in advancing the school counseling model.) There are school counseling centers, however, which are new to psychology rather than social work. The social work center of Thai Nguyen province with the program of "Evaluation of mental development for preschool children" evaluated children and detected children with mental disorders and those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), through which advice on parenting education for parents, and the connection and implementation of therapeutic activities for children with mental disorders and ASD ²³. Danang has successfully implemented three models of social work in the field of mental health care for the community and achieved high effectiveness: i) a "3 in 1" model (since early 2015) with integrated early intervention of mental disorders in schools, support for parenting skills, and social support for families in difficult circumstances, through which screening and detection of children need to intervene early; ii) an independent club model for children with developmental delays; iii) a model for supporting mentally ill people to include into the community ²⁴. In Hanoi, the models of early intervention, inclusive education and care for children with disabilities have been established and developed quite diversifyingly, including Family Club of Autistic Children at Center for Special Education Training and Develpment run by Hanoi National University of Education and National College for Education; The Early Intervention Center at Hoa Sen Kindergarten; Support Centers of Hoa Tra My Kindergarten, High Quality Kindergarten Ngoi Sao Sang, Lam Nhi Private Kindergarten, Myoko Kindergarten, Special Kindergarten ... These models have brought practical benefits in the care and education of children with special needs.

- The necessity of social work in kindergartens

Social work is a highly practical, highly integrated practice that is implemented in accordance with certain principles and methods to support individuals and groups in solving their life problems with items with targets for human well-being and social progress. Social work has grown to become a science, an indispensable profession in modern society, contributing significantly to social welfare, supporting rapid and sustainable development of the country. Social work in kindergarten aims at improving the living environment, study and work in kindergartens, thus creating a safe learning environment for the development of children through the direct work of employees. Social work with subjects related to social issues of children (such as young parents, managers and teachers) is different from other social work in the fact that when dealing with young people, social workers always have the coordination with families and teachers to bring the best effect to the development of children's personality.

Currently, a number of complex social problems have arisen with preschool children (injuries, family violence, sexual abuse, HIV / AIDS, children with disabilities, and the educational environment of the child (discrimination, violence, expectation beyond the child's capacity ...). In order to help these young people learn to integrate well, social workers need to be involved in the connection of therapeutic relationships with their children, contributing significantly to the cohesion of the relationship of the members of the young family to each other, between the child and the therapist to unify the views, create mutual understanding. Those who need help include early childhood teachers who are directly involved in the care and education of children. Due to the special environment in which preschool teachers are always subject to pressure from work, from parental and social pressure, psychological stress, sometimes teachers get frustration. Social workers will be the discoverer, assess the needs of teachers, provide counseling, counseling, connect resources to support teachers, staff and school. ²⁵ From the above issues, there is a pressing need for a social work team to help solve a child's problem, creating a bridge to combine with the family, and to build social institutions in ensuring the safety, physical, emotional and social development, as well as the exercise of children's rights in preschools.

- The directives relating to school social work in Vietnam

The Constitution of 2013 affirms, "The State prioritizes investment and attracts other sources of investment for education, caring for the early childhood education... " (Clause 2, Article 61). The 2005 Education Law regulates the national education system, which clearly defines the educational objective and aims to train the Vietnamese people in comprehensive development (Article 2); recognizes the right of citizens, the responsibility of the State, the family and the whole society in the realization of equality and equity in education so that the disadvantaged people exercise their learning rights and obligations; sets up a healthy and safe educational environment (Article 10, Article 12); affirms the responsibility of the society and the family in universal implementation for children aged five and the conditions for their children to go to school (Article 11); and regulates the content of preschool education to help children develop physically, emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically, forming the first element of personality, prepare children for first grade (Article 22). The Law on Education, the Law on Persons with Disabilities, the Law on Children recognizes that children must be physically, intellectually, mentally, morally and socially developed, without discrimination; claims three levels of child protection: prevention, support, intervention as well as social services provided to children and responsibilities of stakeholders; and recognizes the responsibility of educational institutions, teachers, educational administrators and educational support staff in ensuring the rights of the child. In addition, there are many other legal documents which are the legal basis for the model of social work in kindergartens such as the regulations on inclusive education for the disabled and handicapped Decree No. 23/2006 / QD-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training); Project on development of social work profession in the period 2010-2020 (Decision No. 32/2010 / QD-TTg of the Prime Minister) ²⁶ and the plan for development of social work profession in the education sector in 2017 ... All of the documents above are the direct basis for step by step establishing and developing a model of the epidemiological system of professional social work in all schools across the country, contributing to improving the quality of education and training; developing school social work services to protect children from all forms of abuse and violence, supporting the development of children's ability to solve their own problems; strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration between the Ministry of Education and Training and other ministries and sectors on early childhood care and education.

- In order for the model of social work to develop in the current Vietnamese preschool institutions, three issues should be considered:

(i). Defining the tasks, objectives and operation mechanism, ensuring the adequate supply of human resources and financial resources; focusing on training social work bachelors, bachelors of school psychology; actively addressed as a national program to meet the urgent needs of today's high schools;

(ii). Financial autonomy and staffing in kindergartens on the basis of social mobilization and self-mobilization of resources to raise awareness among school administrators; compiling documents and instructing teachers to build up a staff of social workers, psychological counseling in preschools;

(iii). Relying on social work human resources at the wards / communes to combine social work at each school.

- The model standards to be achieved are:

(i) Meeting the basic needs of the target groups: The social work services in kindergartens need to be diversified, provided to many people, in line with the needs of the groups of employer, meeting the goals of helping the children, young parents, teachers, and preschools; as for preschoolers: it is necessary to detect and control abnormal behaviors (eg, fear, emotional or behavioral disorders, aggression or aggression, non-participation in joint activities, mental retardation, social protection ...), prevention and intervention in the case of abused children (violence, neglect, neglect, sexual assault ...), advocating for the right of children in In case of violation, connecting resources to help children with special circumstances ...; as for early childhood teachers: it is necessary to help identifying cases where children have special needs, coordinated implementation of inclusive education activities, accident prevention, injury, solving stress, psychology of the village body, connect with parents in informing the child's problem and providing family information to the teacher ...; as for managers: it is necessary to help develop policy-based and educational programs based on legal regulations, change community awareness about child education, mobilize community development resources, policy advice, laws related to children; support the problem of public opinion...; as for parents: it is necessary to involve parents in the process of problem solving, access to social services and resources that can assist parents, and to connect families and schools to change awareness, behavior, and bridges between families and schools.

(ii). Having appropriate organizational structure and working procedures: The social work model must be compact and flexible, and capable of carrying out various projects; must be able to connect to a network of social welfare services, social and non-governmental organizations, hospitals, public security organs, courts, child protection and care organizations... with a network of collaborators at the grassroots to promptly detect and provide information on customers.

(iii). Professionalism of social workers in kindergartens: Social workers are important components of the model, so they must be trained in knowledge and skills to address the requirements in the kindergarten; in the training program, there must be a special orientation on social work in kindergartens with access to and practice in preschools.

(iv). Ensuring economic and efficiency: A model to be implemented in practice always has to take into account the economic factors and effective implementation of effective activities (saving on administrative costs, human resources ...);

(v). Adopting appropriate mechanisms and policies: To implement the model of social work in preschools, it is necessary to have mechanisms and policies with a view to creating legal bases for promoting the birth of the model (the general guideline of the Ministry of Education and Training, local and pre-school), so it is necessary to continue communication and advocacy to implement social work in kindergarten (currently Decision No. 327 / QĐ-BGDĐT by the Ministry of Education and Training) to help local leaders and preschools well aware of social work and the role of social work in the implementation of protection, children's education.

- The conditions to ensure the model of social work in preschool

(i). Facilities: To have a model that is both a consultancy and a service to the society, the element of ensuring the operation must be one of the important factors to be taken into account. Depending on the area of service delivery, the essential elements of effective social work services will be different, such as: office, transaction office, intervening room or assist the client; Specific tools and means of work; documents, books, pictures related to the service sector; phones, desks, computers... The financial resources to carry out the activities are also of the factors that need to be taken into account, which can be financed by various sources: service fees, donations...

(ii). Legalization of service activities: In order for formal practice and service delivery to be recognized, and to ensure the legitimacy of transactions, the decision to set up a practice and supply social work services is needed. In addition, the legitimization of establishment and operation of the establishment also create confidence for customers, contributing to enhance the prestige and position of the establishment with society. In fact, the social work service provider is less popular to the public, which affects the number of clients using the service and will inevitably affect the model's survival objective. Therefore, the dissemination of information about the service model to society is essential. The form of information dissemination is diversified, but must be consistent with the specific nature of the service and financial capacity of the establishment.

(iii). Human resources that are capable of implementing social work services: It can be said that human resources are the most important factor that determines the success of the service. Since this is the service delivery model, human resources will be professional social workers, managers. However, in order to ensure the quality of services provided, the establishments must prepare their own and professional forces to regularly carry out professional operations. In the implementation of social work practice, there must always be a dedicated staff with the participation of students practice.

(iv). Coordination between theoretical training and practical application: updating of information on new theoretical and practical techniques in providing services is essential; The practical training model associated with service delivery will be a harmonious combination of theory and practice to ensure efficiency; There is cohesion and complementarity between the training of students in the classroom with the addition and association with the service delivery of the training institution itself.

(v). Building good relationships with many individuals and organizations: In practice, each service provider often cannot independently provide services without having relationships with certain individuals and organizations; There must be coordination and association between social establishments and relevant agencies and organizations in connecting, referring and defending clients. In addition, there should be connection with non-political organizations. In order to mobilize resources, support for experience and new technical training in social work.

This is the most ideal model in which kindergartens establish a social work office with a payroll of at least two professional staff employed and paid from the state budget or from school funds or the school signed a labor contract for a definite term. They operate under the management of the preschool, based on the national program of social work development in schools. Advantages of the model is to ensure high professionalism; clear location of social workers in kindergarten; the child will receive the best and most effective intervention, assistance. The difficulty of the model is the need to have mechanisms from the state management agencies, the coordination of preschool, high costs and increases staffing.

Therefore, it is necessary to have specific regulations on staffing social workers in kindergartens; Specific guidance documents on ethical principles and standards of school social work practice on the basis of learning, reference to common standards of developed countries, countries in the region and have adjustment appropriate to the specific situation of Vietnam; confirms the importance of social work in preschool to all people, especially young parents, teachers and administrators in preschool education; There are studies and assessments of the situation of social work needs in kindergartens from different angles of school social work and development of Vietnamese society.

In the current situation in Vietnam, when the social service delivery system is not really complete both in terms of service scope and capacity to meet the requirements of practice, the measures to develop a model of social work services in preschools include:

Firstly, the model meets the basic needs of target groups: social groups receive social work services are diverse, so there cannot be a basis to meet all needs. Each facility will have to choose one or several needs to meet the specific needs and capabilities of its customers in the following two types: (i). Emergency and short-term services: These are services related to activities (including initial assessment and identification of injuries that need intervention and support), urgent care services to ensure to safely and immediately respond to the needs of the consumer (shelter, food, clothing, blankets, curtains, medications and emergency medical interventions); Services that provide information about social welfare, the law and general knowledge of development (health, rights, duties, and addresses may need to be contacted to resolve the problem. ...); (ii). Long-term services: These are services related to activities that include individual, family, social and community assessments to identify the social issues that customers are experiencing and planning intervention; psychosocial counseling, support and finding appropriate care; advocacy for the protection of rights; connecting other social services, legal support and procedures; Collaborate with professionals (doctors, teachers, police ...) to meet the needs of the audience; Study social welfare issues to develop relevant policies.

Secondly, structuring the organization and its effectively implementing methods: Each service model will have its organizational and operational characteristics that depend on the subject matters, scope, and service area. The model must be lightweight, flexible, capable of carrying out various projects, suitable for social service providers. Facilities need to build a central office and satellite offices to make the service more accessible to customers, information on more widely available services; It is necessary to build a network of collaborators at the grassroots level to promptly detect and provide information on customers; It is possible to connect to a network of social welfare agencies (hospitals, schools, police, courts, agencies of the Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs ...), social organizations and non-governmental organizations.

Thirdly, to build a professional social work staff: Service establishments must have full-time staff trained in social work. In addition to facilities that can use collaborators to increase service delivery capacity, key personnel in each case must meet professional social work training, they must have skills. good practice. Depending on the field of activity, the service provider must select the appropriate staff to be trained in the appropriate areas of social work.

Coordinating the use of local social work staff resources: In this model, pre-school will become part of the preventive and intervention system of commune / ward social workers. mind locally. Accordingly, social workers will incorporate social work activities in preschool into their regular programs and activities; To intervene or prevent client problems on all three school, social and family settings to bridge the school with the community and family, to collaborate on problem solving in kindergarten. The advantage of the model is the sharing of human resources, reducing costs; assurance of depth; Connectivity, inter-institutional communication within the child protection system is good. The difficulty of the model is that human resources for social work in localities is limited both in quantity and professionalism, therefore, the continuous and uniform implementation in many fields and in many schools, many objects will encounter many limitations.

Mobilizing the forces involved in social work in preschool, operating in two forms: (i). Contracts between an independent social worker or a social work service center with the child’s parent: preschool leaders will create conditions that allow the social work staff to carry out professional activities, which will be financed by the parents; (ii). Exploitation of the support from NGOs legally operating in Vietnam under a tripartite agreement: NGOs, kindergartens and local authorities. The advantage of the model is that it is not needed to use the state budget, because the school does not increase staffing; Ensure professionalism, ease of deployment based on the needs of the parties. The difficulty of the model is the need of the consent of both parents, local, school; The stability and long-term is not high.

Coordinating and linking between social work and pre-school training institutions for kindergartens to serve as a regular practice placement for social work students as well as a service agent of the institution, which investigates practical issues arising in preschools, introduces the social work profession, and facilitates social work activities under the management and guidance of social work teachers. Each social work office needs to arrange at least two regular students to ensure the continuity and effectiveness of the work. Funding is provided through tripartite work (social work training institution, preschool and parents) and other funding sources. The advantage of the model is that it is easy to carry out activities because it does not require a lot of funding. There is a synergy between training and social work services to create a practical environment and develop social work in school. The difficulty of the model is that if the activity is not organized well and is not professional, it can affect the implementation of interventions that support the development of the child.

3. Conclusion

Social work in kindergarten is now a relatively new field in our country. The research and development of the model building measures are important for the development and implementation of social justice in order to contribute to solving the problems of children, educate the child comprehensively. In order for the model of social work in preschool to be effective, it is necessary to have a coordinated combination of measures, select and prioritize measures to suit the reality of each locality, each the school and each historical period. It should be based on the results of research, thorough analysis of experts, scientists in many fields.

References