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. People who work with children and young people have
been members of several professional groupings, each trained in
different ways, and in consequence the childcare 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
basic identity, while acknowledging their specialisms.
Live
Web Forum
The
time has come for greater debate on this issue, and it has therefore
decided to set up a 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 encourage
experimentation in this country, and perhaps lead to the adoption
of the social education / pedagogy model throughout the United Kingdom.
Access
to the 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 Network
members, but other contact details will not be published.
In
due course, subscribers may decide to set up a more formal organisation,
but at the present, the Web Forum is intended only to offer an opportunity
to network.
International
Membership
This
Web Network is intended primarily to foster interest in social education
/ pedagogy in the United Kingdom, but anyone from other countries
who wishes to join will also be welcome, subject to receipt of an
appropriate subscription.
How
to subscribe to the forum - click here
Subscribers
- click here
to go to the forum
