CARING FOR CHILDREN Campaigning for quality services for children

Social Education / Pedagogy Network

FICE England and Wales / Caring for Children supports the creation of a Social Education / Pedagogy Network, in order to provide a means for wider debate and serious consideration of the introduction of social education / pedagogy in England and Wales.

FICE / CfC

The Federation Internationale des Communautes Educatives is the largest international professional association for people who work with children and young people, with National Sections in nearly forty countries. In England and Wales the FICE National Section has been known as Caring for Children. Internationally it provides publications, Congresses and other meetings, advice and support.

AIEJI

It is the main aim of the International Association of Social Educators (still known by its original acronym AIEJI) to foster the development of social education and social pedagogy world-wide. This organisation has never had more than a handful of members in the United Kingdom, but internationally it has a membership and programme of activities similar to FICE’s.

Social Education and Social Pedagogy

The concept of social education / pedagogy has been well established in continental Europe since World War II, and it has had supporters in the United States, Israel and other countries. In the United Kingdom, interest has been shown in the model, but it has not become established, and in consequence the profession has remained splintered, and Britain has remained out of step with the rest of Europe.

The two terms, social education and social pedagogy, are used interchangeably for the purposes of this proposal. They are actually used in different countries in differing ways, but the broad basis of the thinking underlying both terms is that children’s needs should be treated holistically, that their care, education and upbringing should all be seen in relation to each other, and that professionals working in all settings with children and young people should share a common identity, while acknowledging their specialisms.

Live Web Forum

It is the belief of FICE E&W / CfC that the time has come for greater debate on this issue, and it has therefore decided to set up a live Web Forum for those who are interested in sharing information and thinking on the subject, in the hope that a network of concerned people will develop ideas and proposals which may lead to experimentation in this country, perhaps leading to the adoption of the social education / pedagogy model throughout the United Kingdom.

If you are interested in joining the Social Education / Pedagogy Network, please email your contact details to forum@childrenwebmag.com. Access to the live Forum will be available only by password to subscribers, so that informal comments, drafts and papers can be shared in confidence. Participants’ email addresses will be shared with other Forum members, but other contact details will not be published. In due course, subscribers may wish to set up a more formal organisation, but at the present, the Web Forum is intended only to offer an opportunity to network.

Participants are asked to subscribe £10 towards the establishment of the network, and cheques should be made out to Caring for Children and sent to Forum, Children Webmag, 19 Alder Hill Avenue, LEEDS, UK. LS6 4JQ. They will only be cashed when it is clear that there is sufficient support to maintain the Web Forum.