For those working with children, effective communication is a crucial part of building relationships and encouraging children's emotional and intellectual development. This practical guide identifies the child and their relationship with the adult as the basis upon which real communication can be made. Topics covered include non-verbal communication, attentive listening, empathy, the part played by questions, working constructively with conflict and criticism, and communicating in groups. It also draws on the innovative ideas found in social pedagogic theory and practice, such as communicating with your head, hands and heart and how to differentiate between the personal, the professional and the private in your interactions. The book contains exercises, topics for personal reflection or group discussion, and suggestions for observations. This will be an excellent source of advice and ideas for all those in the children's workforce including early years professionals, teachers, social workers, counsellors and practitioners working with children in care, including foster carers.

Social pedagogy is an innovative discipline that supports children's upbringing and overall development by focusing on the child as a whole person. It has been described as where education and care meet or as 'education in its broadest sense'. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the theory, principles and practice of social pedagogy and the profession of social pedagogue. With chapters from leading international contributors, it outlines the roots of social pedagogy and its development in Europe, and its role in relation to individuals, groups, communities and societies. Also covered is how it applies in practice to working with children and young people in a variety of settings, including children in care and in need of family support, and its potential future applications. This seminal book on an increasingly important topic will be essential reading for all academics, researchers and practitioners working with children.

In Practical Social Pedagogy, Jan Stor shows the reader how the theories and practices of social pedagogy work together. He combines social pedagogy theories, psychology, sociology, and social work with a social constructionist perspective to help practitioners guide children and young people to cope better with the challenges they face as they grow up. Using many practical examples, he emphasizes the crucial meeting between practitioner and client as the space where the actualities of practice are determined.

This highly engaging and introductory-level book is aimed at students and practitioners alike to help build an understanding of social pedagogy and its relevance to practice. Case studies and reflective exercise introduce students and practitioners to the basic principles and concepts, while chapter-by-chapter reflection logs, support a more critical engagement with essential skills for practice.

"This book is intended to serve as a guide to the social pedagogy discipline for those involved in many levels who are dealing with different types of socio-pathological phenomena and problems in the theory and practice, and offering an in-depth theoretical framework and a primary emphasis on practice with applications to interdisciplinary educational environments"--

Social pedagogy, whose ancestral home is nineteenth century Germany, and which is widely practised in many parts of Continental Europe, has recently arrived in the English-speaking world. As practice, social pedagogy has been around for a long time, but as many roses by other names. These "roses" include: "care of the poor", "child welfare", and, more recently, "social work". But today, social pedagogy, has entered the English language, and is here to stay. It has not made inroads into the vernacular yet, but is commonly used in the social professions and also, increasingly, in academic and policy circles. Moreover, in the UK, for example, social pedagogy courses (bachelor and master) have appeared in several universities, including the University of Aberdeen and the University of London. Notwithstanding, from what can be seen, there is as yet no textbook of social pedagogy in English. SOCIAL PEDAGOGY: Heart and Head, seeks to fill that gap. As things are, students have to trawl a multitude of sources in order to find English texts on social pedagogy. Some of the sources are excellent; others dubious. The intention of a concise textbook is to present and explore the relationship between social pedagogic theory and practice in an introductory text, and to do so in easy-to-understand, but not trivialising, language. Given that social pedagogy is (or should be) based on compassionate values, the Heart, as a metaphor for human kindness, is a moral compass. It reminds the Head, which is the site of rational action, that best practice is not just about effectiveness but also concerns social justice. The emancipatory goal of social pedagogy is to enable, through educational means, perceived efficacy so that people can change their lives and society for the better. The author has italicised their lives in order to make an important point. Social pedagogic practice is not a doing to the other, but rather a doing for and doing with the other. For this reason, respectful dialog

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

The Department for Education (DfE) want to ensure all trainee teachers have an understanding of emotional development and attachment, and so this book presents the key concepts that are essential for training in this area to ensure all teachers are up to date. Attachment issues and mental health have a huge impact on pupils' performance and so an understanding of young people's emotional development is crucial for any teacher. Increasing teachers understanding and skills around emotional development can prevent many long term mental health difficulties in our schools and in our communities. Key topics such as attachment theory, emotion coaching, tackling disruptive behaviour and the trauma continuum are introduced and explained, with advice and tips for a classroom setting offered throughout. The experiences of practitioners in the field are presented alongside those of researchers, offering a range of diverse perspectives including education, psychology and health. This is an essential text for trainee and practising teachers.

This introductory text discusses the development of social pedagogy as an academic discipline and explores its influence on UK debates about welfare practice. The book provides the theoretical structure for understanding: the potential of social pedagogy in UK welfare practice * how key ideas from within social pedagogy can be linked to ideas of inclusion, creativity, and personalization * the impact of power relations on the social pedagogic relationship * the importance of creativity in building inclusive practice. Focusing on practice situations within which social pedagogy can be seen to be effective, the book provides a background to the introduction of social pedagogy in the UK. It investigates how European and UK services could benefit from a better mutual understanding of what each other does. It also discusses how social pedagogy can contribute to other areas of practice, including youth work, adult social care, and community development.

Are you looking to understand more about social pedagogy? Wanting to see how you can incorporate these approaches into your practice? Ali Gardner and Lowis Charfe introduce you to this exciting new approach to UK social work practice that has been shaping care services in Europe for decades. It is a holistic approach that requires an absolute commitment to employing your head, heart, and hand in creatively working alongside individuals to support the process of change at an individual, communal, and societal level. The authors outline the key concepts, philosophy, and history of social pedagogy to ground you in the theory Exercises help you to reflect on how to incorporate this new philosophy into your work Practical examples demonstrate how you can apply key principles to your own practice After reading this book you will be able to confidently engage with social work that emphasises people rather than processes at the heart of intervention.