SPPA Patron
Professor Claire Cameron
Patron
Claire Cameron is the UK’s first Professor of Social Pedagogy, and is based at Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Social Research Institute, University College London. Claire began her career in residential care and, after qualifying as a social worker in 1987, in social work until 1992. Since then, she has been a researcher specialising in studies of the children’s workforce, early childhood care and education, looked after children and young people, care leavers, and families in areas of social deprivation. She is particularly interested in the intersection of care and education and in the education of children in care and care leavers.
Much of her work is cross-national and has a long-standing interest in social pedagogy. She has been involved in studies of the potential for, and impact of, social pedagogy in the UK since 2000, and ran the Care Matters government funded pilot programme exploring social pedagogy in residential care (2008-2011). She developed and led the first UK MA Social Pedagogy and supervises PhD students in the field of social pedagogy. She co-edited (with Peter Moss) Social Pedagogy and Working with Children and Young People: Where Care and Education Meet (2011, JKP), one of the first English language volumes introducing social pedagogy. She was project manager of the Scaling up Social Pedagogy project behind SPPA (2016-2019) and is co-editor of the International Journal of Social Pedagogy.
SPPA Trustees
SPPA Trustees have a crucial role to play in shaping the organisation on behalf of members. Read on to find out more about them.
Robyn Kemp
Chair of Trustees
Robyn’s passion for social pedagogy have kept SPPA running and active since for more than 4 years now.
For the past 15 years, she has worked as a consultant and facilitator in social pedagogy in practice and leadership, organisational development, also acting as a reflection facilitator and partner for individuals and groups. She has written several articles and papers on social pedagogy and children in and on the edges of care.
Cecile Remy
Co-Chair
Cecile, based in Scotland, has been a trustee of SPPA since June 2021. She is interested in going deeper with social pedagogy: bringing ‘societal’ and community elements into the ways we care for people.
Cecile believes this is important because the structures we have at our disposal in society, to think about our work, are very individual, yet we all crave community. Hence, she is so interested in theory – it breaks away from those habitual modes of thinking.
Tanya Alder
Treasurer
Tanya is a semi-retired accountant and foster carer. She trained as a Certified Accountant in the 60s and 70s, and for several years, worked for a variety of companies and sectors. She has been the Treasurer of the Staffordshire Foster Carers Association (SFCA) since it was formed and has experience in management accounts, control accounts, budgeting, costing, and completion of VAT returns – ensuring that monies owed to a company were recovered which gave her experience of using legal frameworks. In line with Staffordshire’s commitment to pedagogy, Tanya is a part of the team training other carers and social workers in the pedagogy doctrine.
Simon Johr
Treasurer
Simon qualified as a social pedagogue in 2009. After working with adults with autism in Washington DC, he completed his Master’s degree in Intercultural Conflict Management in 2012. For 5 years, he worked at the Fostering Service of Staffordshire County Council, implementing social pedagogy as part of the Head, Heart, and Hands programme.
Until 2021, Simon led the specialised fostering scheme of Coventry City Council. In 2021, he moved back to his home country Germany where he worked for a Fostering and Adoption Team, and since 2022, he has been teaching social pedagogy at a vocational college in Bremerhaven.
Hannah Severn
Trustee
Hannah has a Level 5 Diploma in Social Pedagogy as well as a degree in Developmental Psychology. She is currently on maternitiy leave and previously managed a Children’s Home for the charity Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust.
Hannah is very passionate about bringing theories based on pedagogical values to life and seeing both the children and staff she interacts with reap the benefits.
She has a particular passion for conflict resolution utilising restorative skills to both, prevent a breakdown in relationships, but also in promoting the skills needed to maintain and repair them when things inevitably do not go according to plan.
Elaine Hamilton
Trustee
Elaine has an MA in Psychology from the University of Glasgow and has undertaken a Master’s in Advanced Residential Child Care at the University of Strathclyde. Alongside qualifications in Health and Social Care, Elaine has a PDA in Management and Leadership with 10 years of experience managing and leading services within the Residential Child Care Sector. Elaine is currently working as the Service Manager for Nether Johnstone House – a residential childcare home in Scotland. Elaine’s philosophy of support is embedded within a social pedagogical approach, ensuring that the child/young person is central to all aspects of their care and development.
Leoni Hagemann
Trustee
Leoni has a degree in Social Pedagogy, a PGC in Systemic Family Therapy, and Level 3 in Therapeutic Childcare. Leoni worked 12 years for a charity that provides supported housing for young people in care and care leavers. Most of her experience stems from working in children’s residential homes where she worked as a team leader before managing a semi-independent home. Leoni has worked with many unaccompanied minors and young people who have experienced trauma and/or neglect at some point in their lives. Her emphasis is on trauma-informed practice embedded in a social pedagogical approach to create a nurturing environment and trusting relationships.
Pat Petrie
Trustee
Leoni has a degree in Social Pedagogy, a PGC in Systemic Family Therapy, and Level 3 in Therapeutic Childcare. Leoni worked 12 years for a charity that provides supported housing for young people in care and care leavers. Most of her experience stems from working in children’s residential homes where she worked as a team leader before managing a semi-independent home. Leoni has worked with many unaccompanied minors and young people who have experienced trauma and/or neglect at some point in their lives. Her emphasis is on trauma-informed practice embedded in a social pedagogical approach to create a nurturing environment and trusting relationships.
Judith Felix
Trustee
Judith is a fully qualified and licensed Social Pedagogue with 15 years of experience working with children, young people, families, and people with disabilities and mental health disorders in various settings.
In 2018, she moved to London and spent 2 years working at Hackney’s Virtual School as a Social Pedagogue. Due to Covid she moved back to her hometown and works as a Social Pedagogue in the public Social Care Services, where she has worked in a team of Social Pedagogues and Social Workers to provide social care and social pedagogic interventions.
She has co-created two projects that aim to further develop social pedagogy within the Social Care System, based on the introduction of board games to aid social exploration and intervention.
Yvalia Febrer
Trustee
Yvalia is a registered Social Worker who previously worked in child protection and education welfare in boroughs across East and South West London. She was the founding Programme Director of the Frontline Social Work programme and is now an Associate Professor at Kingston University, where she oversees the Pre-Qualifying Social Work and Social Care courses.
Yvalia specialises in trauma and attachment and is a qualified Practice Educator and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has written for the Guardian Social Care, Community Care, and Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Bianka Lang
Trustee
Bianka holds an MA in Pedagogy from the University of Cologne and a BA (Hons) in Specialised Social Work, Children and Families from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
Bianka is a Service Manager for the Family Support and Protection Teams, the Family Centre, and the Family Time and Support Service. She has many years of experience in the field of social work within the UK and has worked for Essex County Council for 18 years in front-line social work.
Bianka received the Team Manager of the Year Award and the Overall Social Worker of the Year Award in November 2016.
Kelly Gittens
Trustee
Kelly is a registered social worker with over 15 years of experience. He previously worked in the Caribbean, before working in the UK in Local Authority Child Protection Teams. He is a lecturer at Kingston University in the Department of Social Work and Social Care.
Kelly specialises in working with men and is a Caring Dads facilitator. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Frontline Fellowship, and holds a diploma in Social Pedagogy. In another role, he is a videographer and producer with broadcast experience in Barbados and has produced social awareness documentaries and training materials.
Jenny Starzetz
Project Management & Executive Assistant
Jenny works closely with the Chair and Co-chair to steer the direction of SPPA by providing strategic guidance.
Jenny is involved in all areas of SPPA, from planning to execution, and her work has been fundamental to ensuring the smooth running of the charity over the years. She has a diverse background, ranging from working in commercial settings to non-profits. She is interested in how social pedagogy can gain a foothold in the UK and Ireland and pursues a PhD where she explores how teachers and youth workers can work with young people to not pick up knives, drawing on social pedagogy.
Passionate about Social Pedagogy?
We’re looking for a new treasurer to support us from April 2025!