Abstract:

The school of today is very different from the school of the past. Perhaps, the most important difference is its “openness”. It is true that today, more than ever before, school is open to all children, be they children with special needs, disabled or disadvantaged children. This creates a new reality for schools, which face new, complicated and problematic situations.
So, the school of today needs to be more tolerant and more flexible, offering at the same time a protection net to children and adolescents, families and the community. Preparing children for life, the school of today is not only an educational institute but also an important social institution.
This is where the role of the SOCIAL WORKER becomes necessary. The social worker is the professional who can help school to handle and solve problems related with social and psychological issues. This research comes to investigate and show the need for social workers in schools and describe possible fields of action.
Social Work in Armenia is 20 years old but it is still growing. Social work in schools started 5 years ago but my work experience showed that many school social workers do not have a clear picture of their responsibilities and their authority, which is necessary for successful accomplishment of their mission.
School social work aims to regulate and improve relationships as well as establish and further develop new ones among all parts involved in the educational process. (teacher-student, student-student, student-director, teacher-teacher, school-another social institute etc.)
The aim of research is to define the functions of social worker at schools, to describe the professional qualifications of the social worker, to investigate services offered by social workers in public schools and to compare the social work systems in Greece and Armenia. Responsibilities and duties, rights and obligations of professionals will be presented from the point of view of social workers themselves. They will also suggest how their interventions can reinforce the child protection net that society lays for its members.
The methodology of research is observation, expert interview, discussion with professionals, qualitative and quantitative analysis of data. The main tool of research is an original questionnaire, which offers the opportunity to point out the necessity for social workers at schools to work with children in difficult situations. In this way we can construct an inclusive, child-protective and family supportive educational environment and consequently socially educated citizens.

Keywords:

school social worker, special needs, education.