eISSN: 1989-9742 © SIPS. DOI: 10.7179/PSRI_2021.37.01 http://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/PSRI/ Versión en español: https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/PSRI/article/view/87456/63914 MONOGRAPHIC PRESENTATION EVALUATION AND RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS IN SOCIAL PEDAGOGY The objective of Social Pedagogy is very broad, of any socio-educational intervention. This diver- addressing socio-educational actions with individ- sity of necessary tasks in the contexts in which uals, groups and communities with very different they intervene may cause them to not pay enough ages, characteristics and needs, and with differ- attention to the choice of the socio-educational ent purposes. Therefore, it is not surprising to evaluation instruments necessary to start any in- find that it is difficult to establish borders within tervention process. Furthermore, as Planella and this scientific discipline and its pedagogical praxis Jiménez-Jiménez (2018) pointed out, they may not (Caride, 2018, 13-16). Although the origins of the consider the validity of diagnostic reports made discipline are located in the 18th century (Serra- by other specialists or they might develop and ap- no, 2002), Social Pedagogy has had an uneven ply evaluation instruments without the guarantee development in the world (Hämäläinen and Úcar, of their reliability; and that, in short, they could 2016). Nevertheless, in recent decades it has ac- pay little attention to their research competence. quired greater visibility and prestige, becoming an We agree with Úcar (2018a) that when Social interdisciplinary matrix that integrates a variety Pedagogy professionals act with an individual, of different approaches, disciplines, methodolo- group or community, they should do so based gies, and techniques (Úcar, 2018b) and with which on grounded knowledge, and this knowledge many researchers, academics and professionals can be acquired through a systematic evaluation. can identify with. Therefore, it is essential to enhance the research In practice, professionals of Social Pedagogy competences of these professionals and move are experts in planning projects aimed at improv- forward into an evaluative culture that allows ing the development and well-being of the com- them to apply not only intervention methods and munity and its members. They always take into techniques, but also research. This double profile consideration the characteristics of the people (acting as a practitioner-researcher) would allow with whom they intervene with, and negotiate Social Pedagogy professionals to apply validated with them which techniques, procedures and ac- instruments and undertake evaluation and re- tions are to be developed within the framework of search processes in order to generate evidence the socio-educational relationship. As social ped- that contributes to critical reflection in and from agogy professionals, they also look for sources of practice. It would also aid the decision-making finance for areas that are underfunded in public process aimed at improving the development and budgets and solve the constant difficulties and un- quality of life of the people with whom they inter- foreseen events that occur within the framework vene. This research practice carried out by Social [PRESENTACIÓN] SIPS - PEDAGOGÍA SOCIAL. REVISTA INTERUNIVERSITARIA [(2021) 37, 17-19] TERCERA ÉPOCA Copyright © 2015 SIPS. Licencia Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (by-nc) Spain 3.0 eISSN: 1989-9742 © SIPS. DOI: 10.7179/PSRI_2021.37.01 [18] http://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/PSRI/ Pedagogy professionals is essential to under- centers, many raised the issue of a lack of tools standing, transforming and developing in conjunc- to develop psychoeducational evaluations that tion with individuals and communities a complex would help facilitate the design of effective inter- and changing reality. In the field of Social Peda- ventions (Marzo-Arpon, et al. 2016). This is why gogy, there are few free and reliable psychoedu- the IARS research group designed two copyl- cational evaluation instruments, which can lead to eft instruments aimed at aiding professionals of interventions being based on intuition or individ- Social Pedagogy to initiate and improve youth’s ual experience, and in some cases, opting for the competence development: the Situational Test of application of unreliable instruments of doubtful Development of Basic Employability Competenc- validity. This may imply that not only are some so- es (DCBE) and the Situational Test of Socio-emo- cio-educational interventions not well founded, tional Competences (DCSE), both of which are but that it may lead to some programs having not validated and reliable. been verified through scientific evidence, which The monograph that is presented is based on are applied on a recurring basis without knowing the necessity to provide Social Pedagogy profes- their real impact. When the economic resources sionals with free and valid instruments, such as available for social intervention are limited in such the two examples already mentioned, that allow a way and the needs are so relevant, it is neces- the effectiveness of interventions to be improved sary to evaluate in order to establish which pro- and to accompany people in their personal and grams can be more effective, and in which areas social development processes. the intervention can most effectively lead to the The first article of this monograph presents a desired objectives. This is difficult to achieve with- study that analyzes the assessment made by work- out the necessary psychoeducational and evalua- ers from four professional sectors of the need for tion instruments. On top of this, the lack of instru- the basic employability competences of the IARS ments can hinder progress in research, and may group model to find and keep a job as well as gain- affect their professional authority to be seen as ing promotion. The test presented in the second a producer of knowledge from practice (Planellas article is based on this model. and Jiménez-Jiménez, 2018). The second article presents the process of Research is a key process to generate peda- creating the Situational Test for the Development gogical knowledge and to base the socio-educa- of Basic Employability Competences (DCBE) for tional practice on evidence. In a study carried out adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. This free copyleft within the framework of the IARS research group instrument can be used in the diagnostic evalua- (Sala-Roca, et al. 2009), it was found that for tion to detect the level of development of these young people in care, the skills of emotional reg- competences and to design socio-educational in- ulation, the ability to accept rules, to persevere, terventions tailored to meet the needs of the ado- to negotiate and to be assertive and autonomous lescent. Likewise, it can constitute an educational were of more influence to socio-labor insertion, resource because the situations of the test can be than academic training. This data pointed out the used in workshops, tutorials and other vocation- need to promote, from a residential care context, al guidance activities. The article details the test the socio-emotional and employability compe- construction process, content validation, analysis tences of youth in care in order for them to have a of the internal structure and its reliability. more autonomous and satisfactory transition into With the same objective of creating free and adulthood. In fact, later studies found that many open access instruments, the IARS group has young people in care may have lower socio-emo- created the Socio-Emotional Competences De- tional skills than young people who were not in velopment Situational Test (DCSE). This test has care (Oriol et al., 2014, Zárate & Sala, 2019), and been developed in a similar way to the previous this could lead to difficulties in establishing the one, and evidence of its content validity, internal necessary functional support networks (Sala-Ro- structure and reliability were provided. The third ca et al., 2012). article presents a study that analyses the criteri- Integrating this identified need in educational al validity of the DCSE instrument from the peer practice would facilitate the work of social edu- evaluation. cators; who could better guide their socio-educa- In the fourth article, the Scale of Parental tional intervention with young people in care and Emotional and Social Competences for Mothers help them in the development of their socio-emo- (ESPES-M) is presented. It is a useful instrument tional and employability competences from an in the field of family intervention since it allows early age (Arnau-Sabatés et al., 2014). However, the development and evaluation of family guid- when professionals were asked about how these ance programs from a preventative perspective. competences were carried out in residential [PRESENTACIÓN] SIPS - PEDAGOGÍA SOCIAL. REVISTA INTERUNIVERSITARIA [(2021) 37, 17-19] TERCERA ÉPOCA Copyright © 2015 SIPS. Licencia Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (by-nc) Spain 3.0 [19] eISSN: 1989-9742 © SIPS. DOI: 10.7179/PSRI_2021.37.01 http://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/PSRI/ The fifth article includes a situational ques- The articles included in this monograph are tionnaire of strategies and goals for the resolution a relevant contribution given the scarcity of val- of conflicts within schools. It is suitable for eval- idated instruments to assess basic employabili- uating how both students and teachers manage ty, socio-emotional, parental competences and conflicts (since it incorporates both versions), as strategies, goals for resolving school conflicts and well as providing key elements for a contextual- active aging. All the instruments included in this ized intervention. monograph have been validated and are reliable. The sixth and final article provides a scale to They may also be of interest as an educational re- evaluate active aging, that is effective to know source for professionals of Social Pedagogy, who what factors influence this aging. At the same often do not have evaluation tools that are easy to time its results can constitute the basis on which access and offer sufficiently reliable data. to plan the intervention for the improvement of the well-being of the elderly and their social Laura Arnau-Sabatés integration. Mercè Jariot-Garcia Josefina Sala-Roca References Arnau-Sabatés, L., Marzo-Arpó, T., Jariot-Garcia, M., Sala-Roca, J. (2014). Learning basic employability competence: a challenge for the active labour insertion of adolescents in residential care in their transition to adulthood. European Journal of Social Work, 17(2), 252-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2013.802227 Caride, J. A. (2018). Las fronteras de la Pedagogía Social: perspectivas científica e histórica (Vol. 6). Editorial Gedisa. Hämäläinen, Juha, and Xavier Úcar (2016). La Pedagogía Social en el Mundo Social. Pedagogía Social. Revista Interuni- versitaria, 27, 13-18. https://doi.org/10.7179/psri_2016.27.05 Marzo-Arpón, T., Sala-Roca, J. Jariot-Garcia, M., Arnau-Sabatés, L., (2016). ¿Cómo desarrollan los centros residenciales de acción educativa las competencias básicas de empleabilidad en los adolescentes tutelados? Consultable en: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/170235 Oriol, X., Sala-Roca, J., & Filella, G. (2014). Emotional competences of adolescents in residential care: Analysis of emotional difficulties for intervention. Children and Youth Services Review, 44, 334-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. childyouth.2014.06.009 Planella Ribera, J. y Jimenez-Jimenez, J. (2018). Espacios reales y simbólicos de la pedagogía social: la praxis de la re- dención, entre el control y la emancipación. Revista de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, 86, 547-576. https://dialnet. unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/7338185.pdf Sala-Roca, J., Villaba-Biarnés, A., Jariot-García, M. & Arnau-Sabates, L. A. (2012). Socialization process and social support networks of out-of-care youngsters. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(5), 1015-1023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. childyouth.2012.02.002 Sala-Roca, J.; Jariot-Garcia, M.; Villalba-Biarnés, A.; & Rodríguez-Parron, M. (2009). Analysis of factors involved in the social inclusion process of young people fostered in residential care institutions. Children and Youth Services Re- view, 31(12), 1251-1257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.05.010 Serrano, M. G. P. (2002). Origen y evolución de la Pedagogía Social193. Pedagogía social: revista interuniversitaria, 9, 193-231. Disponible en: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/995026.pdf Úcar, X. (2018a). La pedagogía social frente a las desigualdades y vulnerabilidades en la sociedad. Zona Próxima, 29, 52-69. http://dx.doi.org/10.14482/zp.29.0005. Úcar, X. (2018b). Pedagogía Social/Educación Social. Universitat Autònoma Barcelona. Consultable en: https://ddd.uab. cat/pub/poncom/2018/227518/UCAR_Publicacion.pdf Zárate-Alva, N. E., & Sala-Roca, J. (2019). Socio-emotional skills of girls and young mothers in foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 100, 50-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.02.036 [PRESENTACIÓN] SIPS - PEDAGOGÍA SOCIAL. REVISTA INTERUNIVERSITARIA [(2021) 37, 17-19] TERCERA ÉPOCA Copyright © 2015 SIPS. Licencia Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (by-nc) Spain 3.0