E. Lesley Sewell’s pamphlet is a youth work classic. First published in 1966 it became the reference point for many workers and organizers when thinking about the work they were observing. contents: preface · to what end · by what standards? · is assessment possible? · how to cite this piece Part of the girls …
Category archives: Informal and non-formal education
Samuel Smiles : Self help with illustrations of character and conduct
Samuel Smiles’s Self-Help is said to have reflected the spirit of its age. It also proved to be a best seller – with more than a quarter of a million copies sold by the time of Smiles’s death. Arguing for the importance of character, thrift and perseverance, the book also celebrates civility, independence and individuality. …
Continue reading “Samuel Smiles : Self help with illustrations of character and conduct”
William Alexander Smith – the founder of the Boys’ Brigade as a youth worker
William Alexander Smith – the founder of the Boys’ Brigade as a youth worker. Jonathan Roberts examines the William Alexander Smith’s contribution to the founding, character and development of the Boys’ Brigade. He seeks to get behind many of the mistaken images of the work that those outside it have. Contents: introduction · William Alexander …
Continue reading “William Alexander Smith – the founder of the Boys’ Brigade as a youth worker”
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 …
Continue reading “Exploring social action: A walk in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe”
From social education to social and life skills training: in whose interest?
Here we reproduce the full text of Bernard Davies’ landmark pamphlet In Whose Interest? Published in 1979 the pamphlet drew attention to the fundamental shifts that were beginning to occur in youth work in England and Wales. contents: preface · introduction · social education · social and life skills training · the economic and political …
Continue reading “From social education to social and life skills training: in whose interest?”
Henry Solly: The origin and nature of Working Men’s Clubs and Institutes
Picture by Graeme Douglas. Flickr ccbysa2 licence In this piece Henry Solly reviews the early development of working men’s clubs and establishes their central characteristics and principles. First published as Chapter 1 of Henry Solly (1867; 1904) Working Men’s Social Clubs and Educational Institutes. Founder of the Club and Institute Union and a great propagandist …
Continue reading “Henry Solly: The origin and nature of Working Men’s Clubs and Institutes”
Prospectus for the Working Men’s Club and Institute Union
This prospectus was drawn up by Henry Solly in 1862 in order to obtain money and support for the establishment of the Club and Institute Union. Founder of the Club and Institute Union and a great propagandist for clubs, Henry Solly (1813-1903) provided a much needed conceptual clarity to the notion of club work. He …
Continue reading “Prospectus for the Working Men’s Club and Institute Union”
Working girls’ clubs
Emmeline Pethick-LawrenceWikimedia Commons – no known licencing restrictions The aim in the clubs must be to make good citizens; and our present endeavour to represent the rights and claims of the young, until they have entered into their citizenship. By an actual knowledge and experience gained in direct contact with the people, we are fitted …
The functions of supervision
The functions of supervision. Examining the different functions of supervision throws up various questions and issues. These questions include asking ‘in whose interest does supervision work?’ Confusion also arises concerning notions such as ‘mentoring’, ‘practice teaching’ and ‘clinical supervision’. Here we explore Alfred Kadushin’s model of supervision and the insights it brings to these questions. …
Arthur Sweatman: Youths’ clubs and institutes
Arthur Sweatman Internet Archive | Wikipedia pd Arthur Sweatman’s (1863) groundbreaking paper was the first to describe and advocate club provision for youths. It provides a particularly helpful insight to some of the activities of early clubs and institutes. First read to the Social Science Association in Edinburgh in October 1863, this paper subsequently became …
Continue reading “Arthur Sweatman: Youths’ clubs and institutes”
What is teaching? A definition and discussion
In this piece Mark K Smith explores the nature of teaching – those moments or sessions where we make specific interventions to help people learn particular things. He sets this within a discussion of pedagogy and didactics and demonstrates that we need to unhook consideration of the process of teaching from the role of ‘teacher’ …
Continue reading “What is teaching? A definition and discussion”
Key teaching activities
In this add-on to ‘What is teaching?’ Mark K Smith outlines nine key activities that teachers engage in. Teaching, he argues, is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and making specific interventions to help them learn particular things. Contents: being present • setting challenging tasks • talking • explaining • showing …
Teaching-learning processes between informality and formalization
In this piece, Reinhard Zürcher conceptualizes teaching-learning processes by means of a continuum that covers the whole range from informal to formal processes. Instead of the usual descriptive interpretation, he uses an analytical perspective that relates the terms informal and formal teaching and learning to the notion of form. ‘Formalization’, interpreted as generalization of the …
Continue reading “Teaching-learning processes between informality and formalization”
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 clubs …
Continue reading “Toynbee Hall, adult education and association”
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 …
Continue reading “Toynbee Hall, adult education and association”
University settlements, social settlements and educational settlements
Featured Thomas Coglan Horsfall, and Manchester Art Museum and University Settlement. The first settlement to be established outside London, and an extension of its parent institution at Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel, Manchester University Settlement was nevertheless, explains Stuart Eagles, deeply rooted in the specific political and cultural history of Ancoats. Frances Herbert Stead, Robert Browning …
Continue reading “University settlements, social settlements and educational settlements”
Using informal education An alternative to casework, teaching and control?
contents 1. using informal education – Tony Jeffs and Mark Smith 2. personality and curriculum – Anne Foreman 3. informal education in residential care with adults – Mal Blackburn and Don Blackburn 4. informal education with young women in the community – Glynis Francis 5. informal education – a place in the new school curriculum? …
Continue reading “Using informal education An alternative to casework, teaching and control?”
Using informal education – Chapter 1: using informal education
contents: informal education and other educational forms · characteristics of informal education · formal and informal · the problem of curricula · content, direction and process · identity, personality and role · conclusion · return to main contents introduction [page 1] Informal education has been an element of practice within casework, schooling, youth work, residential care …
Continue reading “Using informal education – Chapter 1: using informal education”
Using informal education – Chapter 2: Personality and curriculum
Anne Foreman’s important discussion of curriculum within youth work – and the power of personality. Chapter 2 of Tony Jeffs and Mark Smith (1990) Using Informal Education contents: introduction · curriculum — the youth work approach · youth work and experiential learning · the cult of the ‘character’ · the time factor and learning from …
Continue reading “Using informal education – Chapter 2: Personality and curriculum”
Using informal education – Chapter 3: informal education in residential work with adults
Mal Blackburn and Don Blackburn explore some key issues and questions that arise in practice. Reprinted from T. Jeffs and M. Smith (1990) Using Informal Education, Buckingham: Open University Press. contents: introduction · the rise of residential care · the shift to community care · behaviourist approaches · normalization programmes and the use of the …
using informal education – Chapter 4: Informal education with young women in the community
In this chapter from T. Jeffs and M. Smith (eds.) Using Informal Education, Glynis Francis explores some of the issues with regard to developing informal education practice with young women. contents: introduction · the experience of being an informal educator · informal education and social relations · young women and informal education ·prioritizing : placing …
Using informal education – Chapter 5: informal education – a place in the new school curriculum?
Dave Burley’s exploration of informal education in schooling. Chapter 5 in Jeffs and Smith (1990) Using Informal Education. contents: the attractions and distractions of informal education · curriculum · management and financial control ·the relationship of informal education and secondary schooling · informal education through community education · conclusion · return to main contents Introduction …
Using informal education – Chapter 6: neighbourhood, crime and informal education
Debbie Saddington explores educative practice within the probation service. Reprinted from T. Jeffs and M. Smith (eds.) Using Informal Education, Buckingham: Open University Press. contents: introduction · the new focus · neighbourhood-based informal education in practice · aspects of locally based informal education · the personality of the worker · understanding groups · workers, agencies …
Continue reading “Using informal education – Chapter 6: neighbourhood, crime and informal education”
Using informal education – Chapter 7: informal education – a christian perspective
In this seminal piece, John W. Ellis explores the practice of Christian informal education, and contrasts it with formal approaches. contents: introduction · traditional models · Jesus as an informal educator · youth clubs and youth work · informal and formal education · blending the two · conclusion · return to main contents Introduction [page 89] …
Using informal education – Chapter 8: working with carers
Pauline Gertig looks beyond casework to examine the contribution of informal education to social work practice with carers. Reprinted from T. Jeffs and M. Smith (eds.) Using Informal Education, Buckingham: Open University Press. contents: introduction · behind the rhetoric · casework and informal education · limitations of the casework approach · relatives’ support groups as …
Continue reading “Using informal education – Chapter 8: working with carers”
Using informal education – Chapter 9: where practice enlightens theory and theory enriches practice
Elizabeth Afua Sinclair reflects on being a student in an institution committed to informal education. Reprinted from T. Jeffs and M. Smith (eds.) Using Informal Education, Buckingham: Open University Press. contents: introduction ·historical influences · expectations · choosing informal learning · the process · informal networks · return to main contents page Introduction [page 113] …
Using informal education – Chapter 10: educating informal educators
Tony Jeffs and Mark Smith explore the context for professional education and some of the implications for the development of informal educators. Reprinted from T. Jeffs and M. Smith (eds.) Using Informal Education, Buckingham: Open University Press. contents: introduction ·avoiding informal education · training for failure · educating for informal education: approaching cultures – informal …
Continue reading “Using informal education – Chapter 10: educating informal educators”
Using informal education – bibliography
Jeffs and Smith (1990) Using Informal Education. Alexander, R. (1988) ‘Garden or jungle? Teacher development and informal primary education’ in Blyth, A. (ed.) Informal Primary Education Today:Essays and Studies. Lewes, Falmer. Allman, P. (1987) ‘Paulo Freire’s Education approach: a struggle for meaning’ in Allen, G., Bastiani, J., Martin, I. and Richards, K. (eds) Community Education: …
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 …
Continue reading “Viewing Impington – Henry Morris and the idea of the village college”
Walking for real
Walk 1: Exploring informal education. The development of thinking and practice through a walk in central London The next guided walk is to be arranged. The walk is free and takes about two and a half hours. The walk will be led by Mark K. Smith. We start at the bandstand in Victoria Embankment Gardens …
Walking informal education – exploring developments in central London
Walking informal education. Walking in central London we can find many places associated with key figures and moments in the making of informal education. Explore them through a virtual (or real) walk. The walk: Embankment • The Strand • Covent Garden • Trafalgar Square • St Martin’s Lane and Five Dials • Soho and Chinatown • …
Continue reading “Walking informal education – exploring developments in central London”
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 …
Continue reading “Mary Ward and the Passmore Edwards Settlement”
Robert A. Woods: The recovery of the parish
South End, Boston by Thomas Julin. Wikimedia ccby3 licence Robert A. Woods (1912) states, and argues for, the fostering of association, co-operation and common welfare. Robert Archey Woods (1965-1925) was a key figure in the introduction and development of university and social settlements in the United States. Founder and Head of South End House, Boston …
Continue reading “Robert A. Woods: The recovery of the parish”
Robert A. Woods: University settlements: their point and drift
South End, Boston by Thomas Julin. Wikimedia ccby3 licence Robert A. Woods states, and argues for, the fostering of association, co-operation and common welfare. Robert Archey Woods (1965-1925) was a key figure in the introduction and development of university and social settlements in the United States. Founder and Head of South End House, Boston (1895-1925) …
Continue reading “Robert A. Woods: University settlements: their point and drift”
Classic studies: Working with unattached youth
Classic studies: Working with unattached youth. Working with Unattached Youth: Problem, approach, method (Goetschius and Tash 1967) remains one of the most sustained pieces of research into youth work in the UK. In this piece we explore the research elements that contributed to its success and draw out some of the implications for current practice. …
Continue reading “Classic studies: Working with unattached youth”
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, …
Continue reading “Working and learning together to build stronger communities”
Working with young people in difficult times
Support page for the forthcoming book Acknowledgement: Students by Gisella Klein. Sourced from Flickr and reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) licence. https://www.flickr.com/photos/katzarella/6881053210/
Critiquing workplace learning discourses: participation and continuity at work
Stephen Billett critiques some assumptions shaping current discourses on workplace learning and proposes that these assumptions restrict how workplace learning is conceptualised and discussed. In particular, he focus on how describing workplace learning environments and experiences as ‘informal’ and that ‘informal learning’ occurs in workplaces constrains understanding about how learning occurs through work and, consequently, …
Continue reading “Critiquing workplace learning discourses: participation and continuity at work”
Writing up research and evaluation
Writing up research and evaluation. What is involved in writing a research report or study? Here we explore ‘writing up’ as an integral and ongoing element of the research process – and explore what some of the implications for practitioners may be. Contents: introduction · writing and theorizing · who, what why? · readers’ experiences …
Basil Yeaxlee, lifelong learning and informal education
A key, but overlooked figure, Basil Yeaxlee wrote the first book on lifelong education; argued that informal education was as significant as formal; and explored the spiritual nature of education contents: introduction and life · the YMCA and the huts · the 1919 report · spiritual values in adult education · Basil Yeaxlee, lifelong education and …
Continue reading “Basil Yeaxlee, lifelong learning and informal education”
Young people, informal education and association
Young people, informal education and association. In this paper, compiled for the Young People and Informal Education Conference held at the University of Strathclyde in September 2001, Mark K. Smith argues for the recovery of association as a central theme in work with young people, and the need to re-embrace the notion of the club. …
Continue reading “Young people, informal education and association”
A warm, safe place: an argument for youth clubs
contents: preface · introduction · what young people want · the benefits for young people · the need for the long term approach · references Sue Robertson argues that youth clubs have a unique role and one that should be valued and supported as they can make a big difference in the lives of many …
Continue reading “A warm, safe place: an argument for youth clubs”
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 …
Continue reading “Youth and community work in the 70s – introduction”
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 …
Continue reading “Youth and community work in the 70s – a philosophy for the 70s”
Youth and community work in the 70s – introduction – future age range
This short chapter of the Fairbairn-Milson Report (Youth and Community Work in the 70s) (1969) argued for the disappearance of the 14-20 age range as a defining feature of the work. return to main contents page for Youth and Community Work in the 70s [page 65] 175. Few would dispute that the fulfilment of the …
Continue reading “Youth and community work in the 70s – introduction – future age range”
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 …
Continue reading “Youth and community work in the 70s – the active society”
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 …
Continue reading “Youth and community work in the 70s – the youth service and the under-fourteens”
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 …
Continue reading “Youth and community work in the 70s – the younger teenage group”
Youth and community work in the 70s – the young adult group
This chapter of the Fairbairn-Milson Report (Youth and Community Work in the 70s) (1969) contains some significant and brave statements about the nature of work with young people. It argues for a community development approach and for political education and sets out the implications for various groups and institutions in society. contents: introduction · self-determination …
Continue reading “Youth and community work in the 70s – the young adult group”