Ethos in Education – Reflecting and Developing a Professional Attitude / Promises of Attitude in Theory and Practice - Professional Attitude in School Social Work

Promises of a professional attitude in theory and practice. Research findings on the professionalization in school social work
The German concept of ˈHaltungˈ, meaning a professional attitude incorporating an ethical mindset and practical wisdom, plays a key role as professional competence in the German social work discourse. Although the term is often mentioned, it remains philosophically complex. Unlike psychological approaches or sociological approaches to the professional ˈhabitusˈ, which focus on socialization and class theory, an ethical explanation of the professional attitude has so far been less developed.
This paper combines two research perspectives, a theoretical concept based on Aristotle's account of practical wisdom, and a qualitative interview study with school social workers in Germany. With regard to questions of inclusion and equality this empirical project examines, how social workers describe the development of their professional attitude in contrast to their private beliefs, and which aspects of professional attitude they experience as crucial.
The results show that, although social workers consider professional attitude to be important in their work, the concept often remains vague. While they mention the pertinence of ethical values and critical reflection, they do not consider university education to be important. We conclude that this may indicate a misunderstanding of the concept.
Although ˈHaltungˈ is a German term, this study addresses a mismatch between theory and practice, that could be applicable to other contexts outside Germany. We offer some hypotheses on how concepts of professional attitude can enrich both university education and professionalization of social work.