Social pedagogy in the UK: theory and practice

This introductory text: discusses the development of social pedagogy as an academic discipline; explores its influence on UK debates about welfare practice. It 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 personalisation; 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, it: provides a background to the introduction of social pedagogy in the UK; investigates how European and UK services could benefit from a better mutual understanding of what each other does; discusses how social pedagogy can contribute to other areas of practice including youth work, adult social care and community development; suggests ways in which social pedagogy can be adopted to a wider field of practice than those in which it is currently considered in the UK.