Social Pedagogy – A Positive Response to Wellbeing

The Social Pedagogy Professional Association (SPPA) and St Christopher’s Fellowship will be hosting a Parliamentary Reception on Tuesday 20th November 2018 at 5.00-7.15pm at the Jubilee Room of the House of Commons in Westminster, London SW1A 0AA to explore how to address problems of low levels of wellbeing for children and young people, adults, and the care, education and health workforces.

In 2018 in the UK,

  • 25% of girls aged 14 have significant psychological distress and wellbeing difficulties
  • Adults with disabilities and older people are lonely and cut off from social contact
  • NHS staff have higher sickness rates than the national average
  • More than 50% of social workers plan to leave the profession in the next 15 months due to poor working conditions and stress

We believe social pedagogy is the answer and SPPA has been set up to develop and promote the theory and practice of social pedagogy in the UK, building on the experience we already have.

Social pedagogy is a relationship-based field of practice in which social pedagogues work through ethical relationships, sharing activities, and enabling the people they work with to be the best versions of themselves. It uses education for social purposes in which education is understood in a wide sense, covering services that promote informal learning such as youth work and community settings for children or adults. Social pedagogy is also applicable in targeted interventions, like elder care, residential child care and fostering, as well as to mainstream services, such as out-of-school clubs or early childhood education and care services where relationships are important to children’s development and people’s sense of wellbeing.

Research has shown that social pedagogic relational approaches help improve lives. Social pedagogy also fits the aspirations of current social and health policy to address wellbeing. At this moment, when mental health and wellbeing are documented to be at a low ebb, social pedagogy offers a positive way forward. It is already thriving in many social care services up and down the UK and there is so much potential to expand.

This free event, hosted by Daniel Zeichner MP for Cambridge, will provide opportunities for you to learn more about social pedagogy and the latest research into how this is an effective way to promote wellbeing.

To demonstrate the real life benefits of social pedagogy, professionals and beneficiaries will be ‘in conversation’ about their experiences. You will hear directly from social workers working with young people. There will be opportunities to ask questions of an expert panel from local authorities, voluntary organisations and research departments. Confirmed speakers include Pat Petrie, Emeritus Professor and Claire Cameron, Social Pedagogy Professor at the Thomas Coram Research Unit at UCL Institute of Education, UCL, Nicola Boyce, Social Pedagogy Trainer at St Christopher’s Fellowship,Lyn Romeo, Chief Social Worker for Adults at the Care and Transformation Directorate of the Department of Health and Social Care, Helen Sanderson, Wellbeing Leader at Wellbeing Teams, Sarah Wright, Director of Children and Families at Hackney Council, and Ingrid Abreu Scherer, Civil Society Lead at What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

Places for this event is limited and at capacity. If you would like to be on the waiting list, please register here.