The Albemarle Report: the youth service yesterday and today

The Albemarle Report (1960) provided youth work in England and Wales with a very influential rationale and framework – and was a key element in substantially increasing funding for youth work. Here we reproduce Chapter 1 of the report. contents: preface · history · present machinery · what it costs · present aims · assessment …

The Albemarle Report: introduction

  The Albemarle Report (1960) provided youth work in England and Wales with a very influential rationale and framework – and was a key element in substantially increasing funding for youth work. Here we reproduce the introduction to the report – and a number of key chapters. other chapters from the report:  chapter 1: the …

the albemarle report: justification and aims of the youth service

The Albemarle Report (1960) provided youth work in England and Wales with a very influential rationale and framework – and was a key element in substantially increasing funding for youth work. Here we reproduce Chapter 3 of the report. contents: preface · introduction · justification · aims and ideals · principles and practice The Committee …

The Albemarle Report: activities and facilities

The Albemarle Report (1960) provided youth work in England and Wales with a very influential rationale and framework – and was a key element in substantially increasing funding for youth work. Here we reproduce Chapter 5 of the report. contents: preface · introduction · activities · association · training · challenge · facilities · premises …

The Albemarle Report: recommendations and priorities

The Albemarle Report (1960) provided youth work in England and Wales with a very influential rationale and framework – and was a key element in substantially increasing funding for youth work. Here we reproduce the report’s main recommendations and priorities (originally Chapter 10 of the report). The Committee responsible for this report was chaired by …

Seeking out the gift of authenticity

Seeking out the gift of authenticity: Heather Smith argues that developments in youth work are undermining authentic relationship. She suggests that if we do prize relationships over targets and do truly care about the people we encounter, it is possible to take personal responsibility to seek out the gift of authenticity. contents: introduction · the …

Leonard J. Barnes and youth work

Leonard J. Barnes and youth work. L. J. Barnes championed experimentation, facilitation and spontaneity in youth work – and criticized inculcation. We explore his thinking and impact. contents: introduction · leonard barnes – life and work · leonard barnes on the purpose of youth work · youth work and spontaneity · character-building or growing personality? …

Leonard Barnett and the church youth club

Leonard Barnett and the church youth club. Leonard P. Barnett was a key figure in the development of youth work within the Methodist Church. He also wrote two classic texts on youth clubs that provide workers with a coherent and informed basis for their work fostering learning, fellowship and the more abundant life. contents: introduction …

Josephine Macalister Brew, youth work and informal education

One of the most ‘able, wise and sympathetic educationalists of her generation’, Josephine Macalister Brew made a profound contribution to the development of thinking about, and practice of, youth work and informal education. contents: introduction · life ·  in the service of youth · informal education · innovations in practice· final days · references · …

James (Jimmy) Butterworth, Christian youth work and Clubland

  James (Jimmy) Butterworth, Christian youth work and Clubland. The Rev. James Butterworth (1897-1977) made a very significant contribution to thinking and practice around youth work in the church. He pioneered a more youth-oriented approach within the Methodist Church and established a lasting Christian institution – Clubland – in Walworth, London. contents: introduction · james …

Leslie Button and developmental group work

Leslie Button and developmental group work. The ideas of Leslie Button were influential in youth work practice and training for over 30 years. He developed a method for both training youth workers and working with young people that became known as developmental group work. He also made a significant contribution to the development of active …

Explore the theory and practice of community education

What actually is community education? How does it differ from education in the community, or education for community? We explore the theory of community education and some examples of practice using resources from The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. In England, and many other countries, ‘community education’ has tended to be wrapped up with …

Bernard Davies, social education, group work and youth work

Bernard Davies, social education, group work and youth work. Bernard Davies is a, perhaps the, key figure in the development of youth work in Britain in last forty years of the twentieth century. His work, initially with Alan Gibson, was central to social education becoming a defining feature of youth work in the 1960s and …

Developing youth work: Informal education, mutual aid and popular practice

Developing Youth Work (1988) was an attempt to construct a coherent and distinctive understanding of youth work. It looked to informal education and association (mutual aid) as the core of the work, and argued that the youth service was in terminal decline. We publish the complete book. Contents preface introduction chapter 1: enter youth workers …

Developing youth work: Preface

This book began life in 1982 as an attempt to construct a coherent and distinctive understanding of youth work. While it would be nice to claim that the thinking reported in these pages has matured and developed through constant reflection over the intervening years, the truth is that it has had a stuttering existence, competing …

Developing youth work: Introduction

So much of what is said about youth work either seeks to conceal or is the product of lazy or rhetorical thinking. The ahistorical, apolitical and anti-intellectual attitude of many in this area has meant that practice is peculiarly prone to influence by moral panics, fads and fashions. As such, the work is further threatened …

Developing youth work: Chapter 1 – Enter youth workers

contents: introduction · little ladies at home · the making of modern leisure · threats from within and without · psychology – the final piece of the jigsaw · the new provision · there will be drill · ennobling their class · bourgeois youth work · further reading and references This chapter has a strong focus …

Developing youth work: Chapter 2 – The making of popular youth work

In this, the second chapter of Developing Youth Work, Mark Smith explores the emergence of working class and more community-based forms of youth work. In particular he looks at the development of work within chapels and other associations in the nineteenth century, and the development of practice in the 1930s and 1940s. contents:  introduction · …

Developing youth work: Chapter 3 – Definition, tradition and change in youth work

In this the third chapter of Developing Youth Work, Mark Smith explores the clusters of key ideas that appear to inform the ways in which youth workers see their tasks. Six broad bodies of customs, thoughts and practices are identified – and the power of tradition explored. contents: introduction · traditions in youth work · …

Developing youth work: Chapter 4 – The demise of the youth service?

In chapter 4 of developing youth work Mark Smith explores the situation facing youth work and the youth service in the late 1980s. He argues that the youth service will whither away, but that youth work in different forms will develop, but not necessarily grow. contents: introduction · growing inequality and a new social condition …

Developing youth work: Chapter 5 – Beyond social education

This chapter (5) from Developing Youth Work (1988) explores the notion of social education – and how it came into usage in the British youth work tradition. Mark Smith argues that there are particular problems around the personalist orientation that it involves, and the extent to which the idea of selfhood involved is ethnocentric. He …

Developing youth work: Chapter 6 – Good purpose

Here Mark Smith, in chapter 6 of Developing Youth Work, explores what might lie at the heart of youth work. He underlines the educational nature of the work. He also returns to notions of human well-being and suggests that educators are concerned with enlarging people’s appreciation of it, and developing their ability to act. Smith …

Developing youth work: Chapter 7 – Informal education

In Chapter 7 of Developing Youth Work (1988) Mark Smith argues for the rehabilitation of the notion of informal education. He critiques dominant, administrative definitions and instead looks to process. contents: introduction · informal education and its alternatives · what is informal education? · critical dialogue · informal education and problems with curriculum · in …

Developing youth work: Chapter 8 – Developing popular practice

In chapter 8 of Developing Youth Work (1988) Mark K. Smith explores the possibilities of popular practice. He sets out some of the elements that will need to be attended to if work that looks to mutual aid, conversation and informal education are to be realized. contents: introduction · the potential of popular practice · …

Developing youth work: Bibliography

The complete bibliography for Mark Smith (1988) Developing Youth Work Abercrombie, A. and Turner, B.S. (1982). ‘The Dominant Ideology Thesis’, in Giddens, A. and Held, D. (eds). Classes, Power and Conflict. London, Macmillan. Adams, R. (1988). ‘Finding a way in. Youth workers and juvenile justice’, in Jeffs. T. and Smith, M. (eds). Welfare and Youth …

Waldo Mcgillicuddy Eagar and the making of boys’ clubs

Waldo Mcgillicuddy Eagar and the making of boys’ clubs. W. McG. Eagar was a key figure in the establishment and development of the National Association of Boys’ Clubs. He also wrote the definitive history of the movement. We examine his contribution. contents: introduction · boys’ clubs · conclusion · further reading and bibliography · links …

George Goetschius, community development and detached youth work

Known for his part in establishing the English Stage Company, the American sociologist George W. Goetschius also made a key contribution to deepening the thinking and practice of community development and detached youth work. We explore his work and life. contents: introduction · life ·  working with unattached youth · working with community groups · conclusion ·  further reading and references · …

Basil Henriques and boys’ club work

Basil Henriques and boys’ club work. Basil Henriques’ exploration of boys’ club work provided several generations of workers with a framework for practice. We examine his vision and his contribution to youth work. Contents: introduction · ·  conclusion · further reading and references · links · how to cite this article Basil Lucs Quixano Henriques …

Pearl Jephcott, youth and the lives of ordinary people

Pearl Jephcott produced a series of influential studies of the lives of young people and was an important figure in the development of thinking about youth club work. She also undertook a number of community studies that added significantly to our appreciation of working-class life. contents: introduction · life · Pearl Jephcott, youth work and …

Josephine Klein, group work, youth work and exploring English cultures

Josephine Klein, group work, youth work and exploring English cultures. Josephine Klein was one of the first British-based practitioners to explore group process and working with groups systematically. She also went on to complete a landmark study of family and community life and develop a distinctive approach to youth work training before becoming a psychotherapist. …

Gisela Konopka and group work

Gisela Konopka and group work. Gisela Konopka (1910-2003) made a profound contribution to the development of social group work and the deepening of practice with children and young people. In this paper Janice Andrews charts Gisela Konopka’s life and assesses her work. contents: introduction · early years · move to the united states · minnesota …

Fred Milson: developing the practice of youth and community work

Fred Milson: developing the practice of youth and community work. Fred Milson was an influential writer and trainer who did much to develop youth and community work practice within the Methodist church and the Youth Service generally. He was also an important contributor to national policy debates. Here we assess his contribution. contents: introduction · …

Fred Milson – Growing with the job: youth worker’s progress

In this popular pamphlet from 1968, Fred Milson makes the case for attending to the growth and development of workers – and the special setting in which they are working. Youth leaders either learn to deal with the problems they encounter by the development of their own resources of ‘patience, understanding and ingenuity’ or they …

Lily Montagu, girl’s work and youth work

Lily Montagu, girl’s work and youth work. Lily Montagu (1873-1963) was one of the founders of the National Organization of Girls Clubs (now Youth Clubs UK) and a key figure in the development of Jewish youth work. A short biography prepared by Jean Spence. Lily Montagu, (1873-1963), belonged to a wealthy and well connected Anglo-Jewish …

Hannah More: Sunday schools, education and youth work

Hannah More: Sunday schools, education and youth work. Hannah More was initially famous for her play writing and involvement in ‘blue stocking’ circles. Later her evangelicalism led her to philanthropy, writing popular religious tracts and to pioneering work in Sunday Schools. Here we examine her contribution and her involvement in the development of youth work. …

Alexander Paterson, youth work and prison reform

Alexander Paterson, youth work and prison reform. Alexander Paterson (1884-1947) had a profound influence on social policy in Britain. Now remembered as a prison reformer, he was also a key figure in the establishment of TOC H and an influential figure in boys’ club work. Paterson’s book Across the Bridges (1911) was also an important …

Thomas Pelham and boys’ clubs

Thomas Pelham and boys’ clubs. Writer of the first handbook on boys’ club work, T. W. H. Pelham had worked in ragged schools, institutes and clubs and helped to found the London Federation of Working-boys’ Clubs (now London Youth). The Hon. Thomas Henry William Pelham (1847-1916) was the son of the third Earl of Chichester …

Relationship, learning and education

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 …

E. Leslie Sewell and youth work

E. Leslie Sewell and youth work. E. Lesley Sewell made an outstanding contribution to the development of youth work – both being a pioneer of mixed-club work and the facilitator of a range of innovative projects and provision. We explore her contribution. contents: introduction · national association of mixed and girls’ clubs · conclusion · further …

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 …

Social education – the evolution of an idea

Social education – the evolution of an idea. What is social education and how has it evolved as a practice and as a theory? We explore the emergence of social pedagogy and the different strands of thinking that developed in Britain and the USA. contents: introduction · ·  conclusion · further reading and references · …

Maude Stanley, girls’ clubs and district visiting

Maude Stanley, girls’ clubs and district visiting. A youth work pioneer who produced an early comprehensive youth work text – and helped to found the London Union of Girls Clubs. Contents: introduction · work around the Five Dials · the Soho Club · clubs for girls · conclusion · further reading and references · how …

Arthur Sweatman and the idea of the club

Arthur Sweatman and the idea of the club. Known as an early advocate of specific youth provision, the Most Rev. Arthur Sweatman also contributed to thinking around the development of working men’s clubs. Arthur Sweatman (1834-1909) was the son of a doctor on the staff of the Middlesex Hospital, and was educated at University College …

M. Joan Tash, youth work and the development of professional supervision

Joan Tash made a lasting contribution to our understanding of the process of youth work and informal education. She pioneered the use of supervision; deepened our appreciation of detached and project-based youth work; and made a number of innovations in the training and development of youth workers and informal educators. contents: introduction · life · …

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 • …

George Williams and the YMCA

George Williams and the YMCA. George Williams and the small group of other young men who set up the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) had a great belief in what they were doing – but they probably have been amazed at the scale and scope of the worldwide movement that emerged. Here we examine the …

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. …

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. …

The problem of ‘youth’ for youth work

The problem of ‘youth’ for youth work. Full text of the article by Tony Jeffs and Mark K. Smith published in Youth and Policy. Contents: introduction · control · so where does youth work come in · youth work? · ‘youth’ · the problems with ‘youth’ · implications · the counter-case · references · how …