“Being at the service of the territory”: between initial training and strategic competences for socio-pedagogical educators

Abstract

The national and regional legislative framework, responding both to normative instances and to the complex social, cultural, economic and educational changes underway, lead to an increasing territorial collocation of the educational professions, called upon to work in service networks, with other professionals. In principle, a change in institutional approaches and professional postures is implicit: from supporting individuals in specific contexts, to developing territorial networks, ever closer to the contexts of life, which promote the conditions for each individual to be supported in his or her existential trajectory. However, this happens in territories that are still characterised by the fragmentation of services. How does this situation challenge the initial training of socio-pedagogical educators? What competences does it have to train and what are its limits and possibilities? Starting from these questions, the article aims to reflect critically on three crucial dimensions of training work: the experience of students, the involvement of professionals and services in initial training, and the skills to be guarded in order to inhabit the territories in their complexity and to experience their contradictions and challenges.