Following the success of meetings in Northern Ireland and Scotland, SPPA is planning a programme of regional meetings for members and friends of social pedagogy in England.

The first will be our London Social, which is taking place on Tuesday 30th January 2018. It will be an opportunity to meet and make connections across the various social pedagogy spheres (whether you’re a practicing social pedagogue, a manager in a local authority or otherwise have an active interest in social pedagogy) in and around London.

The second of our regional meetings is planned to take place in the North-West. We are currently in discussions with members from Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, with the intent of hosting an event in March 2018.

On 5^th September 2017, SPPA hosted a Focused Learning Day in Belfast, called ‘A Creative Dialogue: arts and culture, the common third in social pedagogy’. The event was attended by fifteen participants from residential child care, adult social care, the arts, and social work.

The Focused Learning Day aimed to bridge the gap between social work practice and the arts, by highlighting the arts as a type of ‘Common Third’ which refers to the use of a shared activity to strengthen relationships between care-givers and recipients.

Following the session, SPPA hosted a meeting to identify ways it could support organisations in implementing social pedagogy around the country. It was suggested that social pedagogy is practiced in select organisations. It was agreed that SPPA would attend a meeting later in the year to continue the discussion.

This follow-up meeting took place on 15^th November 2017 and focused again on the implementation of social pedagogy in Northern Ireland.

To identify those select clusters of social pedagogy practice mentioned at the previous meeting, attendees carried out a mapping exercise to highlight areas of strength for its practice, and areas and organisations that would need more support and encouragement in its implementation.

It was suggested that for some of the key players driving social pedagogy in the country, there was no organisational collaboration. This hindered the continued growth of social pedagogy, as it became difficult to sustain social pedagogy practice with no central co-ordinated driving force behind it.

It was highlighted that SPPA could play this role, and it was agreed that SPPA would help the meeting attendees to establish a working group to continue discussions. SPPA has offered time and resource to support the working group in identifying new organisations to invite, and the group was keen to develop a framework of assessment to help capture social pedagogic practice where it has occurred.

A further meeting has been agreed with the date TBD. The meeting will be open to all those who attended previous meetings in Northern Ireland, or anyone with an interest in developing social pedagogy in the region. Contact sppa@ucl.ac.uk if you or anyone you know is interested in attending.

On 5^th July 2017, SPPA hosted its first-ever Focused Learning Day in Edinburgh, called ‘How to handle a moral dilemma’. The event was attended by eighteen participants from a range of social care settings.

The Focused Learning Day was an opportunity for participants to share examples of their own moral dilemmas, and they were given a chance to address them using a framework pitched to them by Nicola Boyce, Social Pedagogy Trainer at St Christopher’s Fellowship, and Soren Kayser, a teacher at University College Capital in Copenhagen.

Following the session, SPPA hosted a meeting to identify ways it could support organisations in implementing social pedagogy around the country. It was recognised that there was a great enthusiasm for social pedagogy in the country, although it was only practiced in select organisations. It was agreed that SPPA would attend a meeting later in the year to continue the discussion.

This follow-up meeting was hosted by ThemPra, and took place on 16^th November 2017 at Camphill Blair Drummond. The meeting was extremely well-attended with around 30 people from social care settings, higher education, local authorities and the Scottish Social Services Council.

Alongside a variety of presentations, there was an opportunity for attendees to discuss the next steps for implementing and growing social pedagogy in the country. It was agreed that there must be a concerted effort to ensure the growth of social pedagogy, and to guarantee the Crossfields Level 3 and Level 5 qualifications are given equivalence in Scotland.

It was agreed that SPPA would continue to provide time and resource to support the efforts of those in attendance. It was also confirmed that SPPA’s 2018 annual conference would take place at Surgeon’s Hall, Edinburgh in September 2018.

Another meeting has been agreed for Friday 2nd February 2018 from 10am – 3pm. This will take place at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. The meeting will be open to all those who attended previous meetings in Scotland, or anyone with an interest in developing social pedagogy in the region. Contact sppa@ucl.ac.uk if you or anyone you know is interested in attending.

SPPA is also hoping to host a regional meeting in Wales. We are currently liaising with an organisation that is interested in social pedagogy, with eyes of hosting an ‘Introduction to Social Pedagogy’ Focused Learning Day, or other meeting next year.