Last Friday we had our first lockdown social pedagogy gathering and it went great! Thanks to all the participants and to Gabriel Eichsteller, Robyn Kemp and Cecile Remy for organizing this. 
During this first session, we explored the question: What is important for you about these gatherings?
We used Mentimeter, a tool that helped us to create a word cloud and visualize people’s ideas. We worked in small groups and talked about social pedagogy experiences in practice during the lockdown.

As you can see, most of us are hoping to use this space to learn, reflect, share experiences of good practice, find inspiration, as well as connecting with each other, networking and finding support. Changing the political agenda, exploring global and international perspectives and opportunities for the future were also some of the main aims.
There were lots of interesting ideas, experiences and discussions about social pedagogy and the challenges and opportunities that the current situation has brought about. Some of the topics that emerged during these conversations were: the importance of relationships, developing new skills and ways of communicating, connecting with each other, moral leadership; the social pedagogy charter and the need for a roadmap with quality, accountability and innovation.  Which lead to thoughtful questions and reflections, such as
how to maintain educational and learning quality for workers?
How can social pedagogy help to guide us out of the current situation?

Likewise, we used this first session to discuss how we wanted to go about these gatherings. We agreed to have a mix of freestyle and more structured sessions where people can hear from experts but also share good practice and their own experiences. So be it! We are excited to keep promoting social pedagogy in the UK and internationally!
Finally, we are thrilled to read positive feedback from the attendees who found this meeting inspiring and an excellent opportunity to share experiences.  Thank you again!

We are really looking forward to seeing you at the next #lockdownsocialpedagogy gathering which will take place on Friday, 29th May, from 10:30 to 12:30 pm.  This will be a webinar in which Ali Gardner and Lowis Charfe will talk about the role of Social pedagogy and global crisis.
Please join us!

Love,
Your SPPA team
See you soon! Stay tuned!
#lockdownsocialpedagogy