I think we're becoming increasingly aware of the complexities characterizing social pedagogical and social educational practice. Not only do we support people and communities affected by complex social issues, we're doing this within a complex organizational and social environment, but we have to adhere to legal and procedural, and structural requirements. We have to work closely together with other professionals and at the same time, offer meaningful support that draws on the active involvement of the people and communities we're engaged with. My view a social pedagogical perspective can enable us to navigate the complexities characterizing contemporary social issues through a relationship-centered educational approach that addresses adversity, prevents disadvantage, and promotes cultural development. This enables us and the people we support, to be more resilient, to be okay with complexity and uncertainty, and to hopefully thrive in circumstances that are unpredictable and volatile. Broadly speaking, social pedagogy offers us an integrative and coherent perspective on how we can support learning, well-being, and social inclusion, both through relationship-centered practice and structural efforts to address social inequality and promote social change. At a time where source and professions are increasingly under pressure to justify their value to society, to demonstrate their impact, and to be accountable, we have a choice to make. We can either give into the new liberal agenda and try to satisfy these demands. For instance, by limiting ourselves to approaches with a clear, evidence-based and best practice manuals or we can assert our ethical position more explicitly and argue, while we're well-equipped to respond meaningfully and creatively to the complexities that we encounter and the unique, subjective life worlds of the people we support. Social pedagogy enables us to navigate the ethical dilemmas and uncertainty of outcomes and constructive ways together with the people we support. This is why we need to articulate a positive vision in which every person can thrive and make a valuable contribution by drawing on their unique resourcefulness and potential. We need to show that fostering community and collaboration between people is more necessary than ever before. It seems to me that the global interest in social pedagogy, particularly in countries that until recently haven't had an explicit tradition of social pedagogy, has a lot to do with a search for a paradigm that people can really connect to. Social pedagogy provides a clear ethical foundation and an interdisciplinary theoretical framework to help us make better sense of complexity. That's why I think there are real opportunities for a Global Source Pedagogy Movement. In my understanding, social pedagogy offers a valuable perspective that has the potential to connect social work and social education. It basically extends the spectrum of both professions and combines their efforts to address social inequality and promote social change. Here in the UK, the relationship between social pedagogy and social work has been quite diverse. Within children social work, there's been more interest and an exposure to social pedagogy whereas in adult social care, the term is only just beginning to be used. It's necessary to have more dialogue about the relationship between social pedagogy and social work though. In my view, social pedagogy can offer a hugely valuable perspective on social work, refreshing and strengthening its core values at a time when social workers can feel bleak and demotivated. As a perspective, social pedagogy can serve to put relationship-centered practice back at the heart of social work. It isn't just about what social work used to be though, because social pedagogy, that's more of a social educational dimension, if you like. It therefore has the potential to resonate with a broad range of different professionals, not just social workers. This helps strengthen inter professional practice, and breaks down barriers between the many agencies often involved in the lives of a child, family, or vulnerable adult. Also, a social pedagogy's emphasis on relationships goes beyond the professional client relationship by aiming to nurture clients relational universe with the people around them. It's all about creating vibrant, inclusive, and diverse communities. That's where I feel social-education traditions have a lot to offer. For instance, around socio-cultural animation and community empowerment. That's why I hope that we'll have more dialogue in the future around different traditions of social-education and social pedagogy across the globe. It seems to me that we all stand to learn so much from each other by connecting.
