At first through the Department of Behavioural Disorders and later in its cooperation with the Department of Criminology, the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences is the only institution of higher education in the Republic of Croatia which specifically educates expertssocial pedagogists. In the academic year of 2011/2112, the programme of higher education of social pedagogists marked its 47th anniversary. The teaching focused on the formation of experts which are today known as social pedagogists began in the academic year of 1964/1965 at the Department for the Study of Behavioural Disorders of the Defectology College.

The Development of the profession of social pedagogy was accompanied by constant modernization of the study programme, notably in the context of the so-called Bologna process which introduced major changes to the system of higher education. At that time, the study programme was harmonized with requirements of the contemporary concepts of higher education, focused on the development of competences and as such has been conducted since the academic year of 2005/2006. Since then, the education of social pedagogists has been organized on two levels - undergraduate (3 years, 180 ECTS credits) and graduate (2 years and 120 ECTS credits). The curriculum for the education of expert social pedagogists does not define the profession but rather the competences of expert social pedagogists and provides the programme focused on acquiring knowledge on the level of courses and on the level of programmes.

Head: Assoc. Prof. Dora Dodig Hundrić, PhD

Deputy Head: Assoc. Prof. Miranda Novak, PhD