Social pedagogy is a theory-, policy- and practice-oriented science, which is sometimes called “education in the broadest sense”. In public policy, the term social pedagogy covers measures that have a broad educational approach to social issues. It is an academic field in itself, with its own theories, drawing on disciplines such as psychology and sociology. Social pedagogy is an ethical practice, and the role of social pedagogy is to connect social protection and education through a relationship-oriented practice, where the central idea is that each person has their own potential, and the goal of social pedagogy practice is to create conditions in which people can progress and develop their unique potential.

They are people qualified to practice social pedagogy, work together with children, young people and adults in different sectors and services. To obtain their qualifications, they train for between 4 and 5 years (often 3 and 5 years), taking both theoretical studies and practice, preparing for work that requires regular professional reflection. For social pedagogues, reflection is an ethical process and includes theory and self-awareness. They learn to be aware of how they themselves affect different situations and how different social factors affect people’s lives. For social educators, reflection should lead to appropriate action.

Social pedagogues work in a wide age range, with people from 0 to 100 years old. They can be found in social care, justice, health, education, universal services such as early childhood education, and in specialist services such as those for disadvantaged children, young people and adults. Social pedagogues deal with the formation and continuous development of the whole person, his physical, emotional, intellectual and social well-being. Social pedagogues often use art and creativity in terms of direct work with individuals and groups. Group work is often a feature of social-pedagogical practice.

Social pedagogy in Bosnia and Herzegovina has established itself as an academic discipline, given that there are scientific researches in this field, and academic programs that educate this profession. In order to fulfill the epistemological criteria, social pedagogy must ask questions that will be analyzed and critically valued through empirical studies. Speaking from the point of view of Rauschenbach and Thole’s (1998) division of research, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. in the context, researches that were conducted within other scientific areas, but are relevant for social pedagogy, and social-pedagogical research in a narrower sense, more precisely, research of social pedagogues on specific social-pedagogical issues, are noted. Maglić (2023, pp. 24-27) states that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the specific social-pedagogical research area is recognized through research problems that are aimed at:
– phenomenological and etiological aspects of behavioral disorders,
– phenomenological and etiological aspects of sociopathological phenomena,
– phenomena of social exclusion and social integration,
– the role and importance of prevention and evaluation of prevention programs,
– social-pedagogical meaning of family, school and community,
– consideration of the identity of social pedagogy,
– affirmation and promotion of the idea of ​​social pedagogy, social inclusion, difficulties in development, etc.
It is possible to understand the social-pedagogical academic discourses of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the field of educational-rehabilitation, pedagogical sciences, and social work and sociology. The offer of the academic course of the University of Tuzla is a part of educational and rehabilitation sciences, within which the understanding of social pedagogy is inclined towards behavioral disorders. The targeted focus is thus etiological, phenomenological and treatment approaches to behavioral disorders of children, young people and adults, with the inevitable social-pedagogical preventive imperative. The offer of the academic course at the University of Zenica is a part of pedagogical and social sciences, within which the understanding of social pedagogy is set broadly. This means that they strive to include all ages (children, youth, adults and the elderly) and all circumstances that may call into question the successful and sustainable daily lives of people. The specificity of this study program is its positioning at the Faculty of Islamic Pedagogy, which provides it with an additional understanding of man from a spiritual perspective, but also the source of the transdisciplinary character of this discipline. Namely, there is agreement that theorizing about social pedagogy requires a normative orientation (Lambers, 2018), so at this faculty, in addition to various philosophical and ethical orientations, the Islamic spiritual tradition is a valuable source of normative orientations. The University of Bihać has also tilted the understanding of social pedagogy more towards pedagogical and social sciences, emphasizing spiritual care, not only in the program contents, but also in the final title of the graduates. The somewhat different understanding of social pedagogy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not its shortcoming, but a reflection of what historically and contextually happened (is happening) in general in the development of social pedagogy, with the condition that it is open within its borders (Thole and Galuske, 2003). As Úcar (2012) will state, it is a complex theoretical and practical area, which is subject to diverse and different interpretations, not only between different countries, but also within one country.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the practical field of activity of social pedagogues is most recognized in those parts of the country where academic education of this profession is also provided. This means that social pedagogues are mostly employed in the Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj and Una-Sana cantons and, in individual cases, in other cantons. When it comes to the institutional place of performing social-pedagogical work, these are primarily centers for social work, preschool educational institutions, homes for children without parental care, correctional homes, institutes for the fight against addiction, mental health centers, housing communities for people with developmental disabilities, schools and more (More on the above in Maglić, 2023). At the beginning of the development of social pedagogy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the field of work of social pedagogues was not significantly covered and progressed very slowly. Today, although the situation is not at a satisfactory level, it is still much better, given that in the aforementioned cantons we have at least one social pedagogue in almost all social services, and sometimes more. We can rightly claim that the situation regarding the profession of social pedagogue in Bosnia and Herzegovina is improving, and it is the result of the efforts of academic institutions where this staff is trained, professional associations, and individual efforts of social pedagogues. Here, we must not ignore the fact that the social conditions in which we live impose more and more the need for helping professions, and thus for social pedagogues. In addition to the growing number of children and young people with developmental difficulties and behavioral problems, there is also a growing number of people with anxiety and depression problems. There are also new challenges associated with digitization, such as social-digital exclusion, lack of digital opportunities, digital discrimination, online violence, internet addiction, digital illiteracy and sexting. The problems facing our environment are especially relevant, and they relate to violence against women and violence among young people. Unfortunately, even the future does not have such optimistic outlines if we reflect it in the present we live in, so that all these changes will more and more indicate the need for helping professions to which social pedagogy also belongs.