Beginning Anew: Social Work Education in the Czech Republic After the Velvet Revolution

Abstract

Changes in social work education after 1989 were radical. The influences of ideas and practical solutions coming from Western colleagues were extensive. However, the introduction of new ideas and changes in institutions depend on prevailing values, habits and normative expectations in the local country. The authors show how the cultural background and collective memory in the country filtered, modified and integrated the new influences.The changes manifested themselves on several levels – some were the result of planned institutional changes in education, but others were the more subtle result of attitudes and behaviour patterns by social workers and teachers, which were influenced more or less by having lived under different political conditions. This line of analysis is illustrated in selected major topics for social work education that were prominent in the Czech Association of Social Work Education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)