Our activities around social pedagogy

Why we do what we do

At ThemPra we have set out to actively promote social pedagogy, because we know that social pedagogy makes a big difference to children's lives. We have also seen the positive impact it can have on practitioners and entire staff teams who have embraced it. That’s why we are keen to support organisations working with children and young people, and to help them to understand social pedagogy in theory and practice. Every organisation’s practice is different (and when working with children no two days are alike), so if social pedagogy is meant to be relevant to practitioners they must become the experts for social pedagogy in their context. For us that means engaging in dialogue, which is always exploratory and implies that both parties are equal. We believe this is fundamental for three reasons: first, because it creates a social pedagogic process; second, because it genuinely values professionals as experts for their practice and its context; and third, because by building on their experience they feel empowered and are keen to take ownership for social pedagogy. Therefore, dialogue is fundamental to sustainably implementing social pedagogy.

This philosophy of practising social pedagogy and its principles in what we do underpins all our activities. You can find out more about our different activities below:

Social Pedagogy Organisational Development Projects

As a holistic approach to children's education and care, the organisational development of social pedagogy requires a holistic approach as well. If social pedagogy is meant to have the optimal impact on children's lives, it is not enough to expect practitioners to change - what needs to change are the conditions in which they work. That's why we are taking a systemic approach to developing social pedagogy, which includes working together with professionals at every organisational level in order to embed social pedagogy within the learning organisation. To explore in more detail what shape our organisational development projects take, please follow this link ...

Social Pedagogy Development Network

As a true grassroots movement for anyone interested in developing a UK tradition of social pedagogy, the Social Pedagogy Development Network has brought together a diverse group of many professionals from the four countries as well as from abroad. You can get more details about the network, its overall idea, what has happened so far, and how to join in by clicking on this link ...

Promoting social pedagogy

As a social enterprise, we’re also promoting social pedagogy in other ways that benefit children and the workforce. These include running introductory sessions, speaking at conferences, co-ordinating EU-funded projects and writing articles at both academic and practice levels.

Keep an eye on our Twitter account and the news section to find out what we're up to in these areas.

We are always open to get involved with new partner organisations, so if you have any innovative ideas we look forward to hearing from you!