Briefing Note

Social Pedagogy

Social Pedagogy is an approach to caring for children and young people that is used widely across Europe. Within the countries that have adopted this approach, children's social care professionals are invariably graduates in 'Social Pedagogy'.

Social Pedagogy is an holistic approach to caring for children which promotes welfare within a humanistic framework: It is education and learning in its broadest sense and exists as a body of theory and discipline that draws on philosophy, psychology and social science.

Within pedagogic practice there is no expert; instead the pedagogue and the young person share the same living space and together they care for each other and learn and develop together. The pedagogue helps the young person through a range of methods to establish a positive and confident identity that in turn serves to improve outcomes. The Pedagogue is seeking satisfaction in their work whilst the cared for enjoys improvements in self-esteem, education, family relations and opportunities upon leaving care. Pedagogic practice is very definitely a 'hands-on' approach and looks to break down the barriers that often exist between staff and carers in children's homes within this country.

In November 2008 Crestmoor CRU in East Lancashire applied, on behalf of the Residential Service, for inclusion on the Thomas Coram Research Unit's two year Social Pedagogy pilot project. This project, managed by the University of London, the Thomas Coram Research Unit and the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care is a planned approach to introduce Social Pedagogy into England's residential and social care services.

In February 2009 Lancashire were informed that they had been successful in their application. Further, that from many applicants, the county had been selected for inclusion in two of the four pilot groups:

Group 3 - would like to recruit two social pedagogues to work in a practice development capacity and are supernumerary, for which a fee towards salary costs will be payable:

Lancashire has appointed S B and A H as its two Pedagogues. Both are qualified graduates in Social Pedagogy and have ensured Lancashire has fulfilled its status as a Group 3 authority: they await appropriate clearances before taking up post. They will work initially at Crestmoor for a six month period and then for the following eighteen months they will have input into all Units within Lancashire. How this might be achieved will be determined partly through discussion with the appointed Pedagogues but they will be expected to advise other teams in how they might introduce Pedagogic practice into their Units.

Group 4 - comparison homes, which are happy to be evaluated alongside the children's homes in the other three groups:

Carr Street in Preston has self- nominated for inclusion within this category and therefore will not benefit, at least initially, from any Pedagogic developments.

The project is monitored and led by a County steering group made up of representatives from across the County. It is expected that the County Residential Manager will report progress to the Corporate Parenting Board.

More widely Lancashire is a member of a North West regional monitoring group that is comprised of children's services that were successful in gaining a place on the project. This group is chaired by a representative from the Thomas Coram Institute who also acts as a consultant for Lancashire. The Thomas Coram Institute and the Department for Children, Schools and Families are having ongoing discussions with Ofsted to ensure progress made satisfies their requirements.

The project is costing Lancashire £28,000 per annum for two years and for their part the Thomas Coram Institute will contribute £20,000 per annum. All this funding is made up of salary costs - £24,000 per Pedagogue per annum.

It is believed that a blend of Social Pedagogy and Lancashire's own 'best practice' will greatly assist the authority in achieving a county-wide 'outstanding' residential service. Further, it is believed that our inclusion within this pilot will also enhance practice in other service areas both within the Directorate for Children and Young People and our partner agencies.

The following quote is taken from a Care Matters briefing:

"The needs of children in care are often very complex and demand a range of skills. This report recommends that training for foster carers and residential carers needs to be addressed, through greater access to training and continuing professional development and through strong leadership and support. It also highlights the need to look at implementing social pedagogy and the opportunity to adopt a holistic approach to the development of children's needs."