Pedagogues face cultural barriers
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
A number of barriers must be overcome if the UK is to introduce European-style social pedagogues, a senior researcher at the Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU) has said.
Claire Cameron said the UK had cultural and structural barriers that could make it difficult to introduce social pedagogues, professionals who work across different services for children and young people.
"The definition of pedagogy itself is one of the biggest barriers," she told a TCRU conference last week. Cameron said people in the UK believe pedagogy is about teaching and use of expressive arts. But countries with pedagogues say it is about supporting development and analysing and understanding children's actions.
Barriers highlighted by Cameron include greater use of private companies in children's services in the UK compared to countries that have pedagogues, such as Denmark.
Despite the barriers Cameron said adopting the approach could help improve outcomes and create services focused on the individual child or young person.
