Relationship, learning and education. What is a relationship, and what special qualities are present in social pedagogy and informal education? We suggest that the focus on learning, mutuality and the emotional bond between people are important features of the sorts of relationships that social pedagogues and informal educators are involved in. Contents: introduction · relationship …
Category archives: Community learning and development
Oscar Romero of El Salvador: informal adult education in a context of violence
Oscar Romero of El Salvador: informal adult education in a context of violence. John Dickson explores Oscar Romero’s place and impact as a socially involved educator. He examines key aspects of the social and historical background; the means and extent of Oscar Romero’s teaching ministry; and Romero’s confrontation with the dilemma facing all authentically revolutionary …
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Nawal El Saadawi – a creative and dissident life
Nawal El Saadawi – a creative and dissident life. Brian Belton and Clare Dowding explore Nawal El Saadawi’s argument that dissidence is a path to creativity – through which inequalities can be challenged and social and political change can occur. contents: life · self-government · colonialism and slavery · religion · words · life · conclusion · bibliography · web sites · authors The …
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Donald Schon (Schön): learning, reflection and change
Donald Schon (Schön): learning, reflection and change. Donald Schon made a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the theory and practice of learning. His innovative thinking around notions such as ‘the learning society’, ‘double-loop learning’ and ‘reflection-in-action’ has become part of the language of education. We explore his work and some of the key themes …
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Self-directed learning
Stephen D. Brookfield explores the notion of self-directed learning. He takes Knowles’ (1975) influential definition as a starting point and then explores some of the problems surrounding the idea. Brookfield highlights two particular characteristics that move the discussion from a technical to a critical realm: authentic control, and access to resources. He argues that it …
Settlements and adult education
Settlements and adult education. What is the shape of adult education and lifelong learning is settlements? How has it developed? Mark K. Smith investigates. Contents: introduction • the nature of adult education in settlements • la vie associative • current practice • liberal and basic education • vocational and professional training • social pedagogy and …
Exploring social action: A walk in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe children – Waldo McGillycuddy Eagar CBE circa 1933 – placed by the National Maritime Museum in Flickr Commons. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) licence. Here we explore the nature of social action through a walk in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in London. This area has experienced severe poverty and disadvantage over the years. Settlements, missions …
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Social capital
Social capital. The notion of social capital is a useful way of entering into debates about civil society – and is central to the arguments of Robert Putnam and others who want to ‘reclaim public life’. It is also used by the World Bank with regard to economic and societal development and by management experts …
Making learning work: social enterprise and organizational learning
Shirley Brice Heath examines the growing coherence between the worlds of business and youth-based community organizations. She argues that this has happened within both the realms of theory and practice and that there are surprising implications for making learning work. contents: introduction · living experience · an illustrative case: youth theater · playing roles …
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Allen Tough, learning projects and lifelong learning
Allen M. Tough, learning projects and lifelong learning. Allen Tough deepened our appreciation of lifelong learning through his studies of the ways in which adults conduct learning projects as part of everyday life. Here we examine his contribution. Under construction Allen M. Tough (1936-2012) is best known for his research and writing around the processes …
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Toynbee Hall, adult education and association
Toynbee Hall, adult education and association. The setting up of the Worker’s Educational Association is often portrayed as Toynbee Hall’s key contribution to adult education. Mark K. Smith suggests it is something else – developing the learning that arises out of the life of an association. Contents: introduction · settlements of university men · on …
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Viewing Impington – Henry Morris and the idea of the village college
Viewing Impington – Henry Morris and the idea of the village college. Henry Morris’ championship of the village college has been a significant feature of, and inspiration for, discussions about the worth of community schooling. On this page we explore Henry Morris’s vision of the village college (for more see Henry Morris) though the design …
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Mary Ward and the Passmore Edwards Settlement
Mary Ward – Wikipedia pd An innovative settlement founded by Mary Ward that developed play centres, special education and a range of other programmes. Mary Ward and the Passmore Edwards Settlement (now Mary Ward House), 9 Tavistock Place WC1. The original settlement began as University Hall in Gordon Square in 1890. Soon Marchmont Hall in …
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William Foote Whyte, street society, organizations and learning from the field
William Foote Whyte, street society, organizations and learning from the field. William Foote Whyte made a seminal contribution to our appreciation of local community life and the possibilities of participant observation. He also explored organizational behavior and became an expert in employee-owned firms. We explore his work and his continuing significance for informal and community …
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Raymond Williams and education – a slow reach again for control
Raymond Williams and education – a slow reach again for control. Raymond Williams was a literary critic, cultural historian, cultural and political theorist, novelist, dramatist, and the virtual inventor of the interdisciplinary field known as ‘cultural studies’. Josh Cole explores his little appreciated contribution as an educational thinker. Contents: introduction · early encounters with community …
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Peter Willmott – community, family and public policy
Peter Willmott – community, family and public policy. Peter Willmott (1923-2000) played an important role in deepening appreciation of the experiences of people in families and local communities. As a sociologist, researcher and communicator he was able to speak to some of the most important concerns of his time. We assess his work and contribution. …
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Working and learning together to build stronger communities
Subtitled ‘Working draft Community Learning and Development Guidance’, this document was published in January 2003. It sets out Scottish Executive thinking around the provision and development of community learning. contents: preface · foreword – margaret curran · introduction · defining community learning and development · community planning · joining up the planning process · quality, …
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Michael Young: community, change and social innovation
Michael Young: community, change and social innovation. Michael Young made a profound contribution to social reform in Britain during the second half of the twentieth century. The innovative organizations he helped establish in the fields of education, consumer rights and health services have touched the lives of many people. Some of Michael Young’s proposals such …
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Youth and community work in the 70s
a collection of chapters from the ‘Fairbairn-Milson’ Report (1969) introduction vii a philosophy for the 70s viii the active society ix future age range x the youth service and the under-fourteens xi the younger teenage group xii the young adult group links fred milson and the practice of youth and community work the albemarle report …
Youth and community work in the 70s – introduction
This particular chapter of the Fairbairn-Milson Report (Youth and Community Work in the 70s) provides some of the official background to the report and provides a review of developments since the Albemarle Report. contents: our approach · the albemarle report · subsequent developments · membership in the youth service · footnotes · how to cite …
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Youth and community work in the 70s – a philosophy for the 70s
This particular chapter (VII) of the Fairbairn-Milson Report (Youth and Community Work in the 70s) outlines the broad shape of the approach taken in the report. [page 55] 150. Although we intend to look later in our report at the different needs of young people at the upper and lower age-range, yet it may be …
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Youth and community work in the 70s – the active society
Chapter viii of Youth and Community Work in the 70s (the Fairbairn-Milson Report 1969) provides an explicit statement of the sort of society the Committee wanted to see. Drawing heavily on Etzioni’s (communitarian) vision of the active society, they argued for the critical and active involvement of young people in society. We seek ‘the active …
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Youth and community work in the 70s – the youth service and the under-fourteens
This brief chapter (x) from the Fairbairn-Milson Report (Youth and Community Work in the 70s) (1969) sets out some questions about the work and recommends an investigation into the needs of this group. return to main contents page for Youth and Community Work in the 70s 177. The problem of the under-14s is a special …
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Youth and community work in the 70s – the younger teenage group
This particular chapter (xi) of the Fairbairn-Milson Report (Youth and Community Work in the 70s) (1969) argues for an increased opportunity for involvement and responsibility, and for establishing satisfying personal relationships. contents: introduction · youth work in schools · development/teachers centres · youth work in further education establishments return to main contents page for Youth …
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Moving forward. A strategy for improving young people’s chances through youth work
The Scottish Executive’s (2007) National Youth Work Strategy displays many of the same concerns (and weaknesses) as those revealed in the English and Welsh strategies. Surprisingly, given the concern with community learning in Scotland, the document fails to locate youth work fully within civil society and doesn’t fully get hold of youth work as a …