BECOMING AN ADULT EDUCATOR: BIOGRAPHICAL PATHWAYS OF SOCIAL WORKERS AT THE INTERSECTION OF SOCIAL WORK WITH GROUPS AND ADULT EDUCATION

Authors

  • Lamprini Pappa Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, Greece
  • Thanassis Karalis Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, Greece
  • Katerina Kedraka Department of Molecular Education and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
  • Efthymios Valkanos Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v13i9.7000

Keywords:

social work with groups, adult education, experiential learning, professional identity, adult educator competence, biographical pathways

Abstract

This study explores the biographical pathways through which social workers whose education and professional experience include Social Work with Groups enter and develop professionally in Adult Education. It examines how prior experience of working with groups, experiential learning, training, and certification contribute to the development of adult educator competence, and how participants make sense of the relationship between the two fields within their professional identities. The study used a sequential, two-phase qualitative design. The first phase comprised two focus groups with social workers with and without certification of adult educators’ educational competence by the National Organisation for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational Guidance (EOPPEP). The second comprised 40 biographical narrative interviews with certified social workers, divided into two groups according to their period of certification. The findings show that adult educator competence develops through non-linear biographical and professional trajectories and that certification serves different functions depending on its position within a professional biography. In some cases, it systematises and formally recognises knowledge and skills developed previously; in others, it contributes to the initial pedagogical structuring of the educator role. Experiential learning emerges as a key point of intersection between Social Work with Groups and Adult Education, while convergence between the two fields does not erase their distinct professional purposes and boundaries. Their relationship is incorporated into professional identity through synthesis, complementary expansion, or bounded convergence.

Author Biographies

  • Lamprini Pappa, Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, Greece

    Lamprini Pappa is a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education at the University of Patras, Greece, and a social worker in public education. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Technology, Education Sciences, and Adult Education. Her professional experience spans social work, higher and adult education, vocational education and training, special and intercultural education, primary healthcare, and employment counselling. She has specialised in psychoeducation, online experiential learning, counselling, and career guidance. Her research interests include inclusive practices, lifelong experiential learning, skills development, trauma-informed and psychosocial approaches, technology-supported counselling and therapeutic practices, and the role of social workers as adult educators.

  • Thanassis Karalis, Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, Greece

    Thanassis Karalis is a Professor of Lifelong Learning and Adult Education of the Department of Educational Science and Early Childhood Education at the University of Patras, Greece. Ηe is also the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Child Rights Center at the University of Patras.

  • Katerina Kedraka, Department of Molecular Education and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece

    Katerina Kedraka is a Professor of Soft Skills for BioScientists and Lifelong Learning at the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. She is the Head of the Laboratory of ‘Teaching and Professional Development of BioScientists’ and Director of the Postgraduate Program “Didactics of BioSciences”. She is the Coordinator of the Center for Teaching and Learning Support (CTL) and a member of the Board of the Center for Training and Lifelong Learning of her University. She also teaches at the Hellenic Open University in the postgraduate program “Adult Education”.

  • Efthymios Valkanos, Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, Greece

    Efthymios Valkanos is a retired Professor at the Department of Educational and Social Policy of the University of Macedonia, specializing in Continuing Professional Education and Training of Human Resources and a Member of the Collaborating Educational Staff at the Hellenic Open University (H.O.U.). He was for five years Director of the postgraduate program “Sciences of Education and Lifelong Learning: Educational Administration & Leadership” of his Department.

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Published

2026-09-10

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 9 (2026)

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Articles

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