Social Pedagogy across Europe is the first Massive Open Online Course focused on social pedagogy – a relationship-centred approach to supporting people’s learning, well-being and social inclusion in ways that promote social justice. The course is structured in eight sessions presented over four weeks – an introductory session, six sessions outlining social pedagogy in different European countries and sharing some innovative practice insights, and a review session to support you in applying your learning.

You can undertake the six country sessions in any order you would like.
Through this course, we aim to:

Give you an insight into how social pedagogy has been developing across Europe, highlighting both the diversity and connections,
Highlight the importance of valuing every person as intrinsically ‘rich’, recognising their unique potential and ability to be a valuable member of society,
Introduce you to ways in which you can bring this belief to life in everyday interactions and relationships that support people’s learning, nurture their well-being and enable them to feel included in society,
Ensure you are familiar with the most fundamental aspects of social pedagogical practice in ways that are applicable in your own personal and professional life.

If you are currently working with children, young people, families, community groups, vulnerable adults or older people, then this course will be highly relevant. You will gain a panoramic overview of social pedagogy, which explores the principles and key thematic areas in ways that are practice-relevant and can be easily applied in any educational and care setting.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Course Overview and welcome
Social Pedagogy across Europe is the first Massive Open Online Course focussed on social pedagogy – a relationship-centred approach to supporting people’s learning, well-being and social inclusion in ways that promote social justice. The course is structured in eight sessions presented over four weeks – an introductory session, six sessions outlining social pedagogy in different European countries and sharing some innovative practice insights, and a review session to support you in applying your learning. You can undertake the six country sessions in any order you’d like. Through this course we aim to: Give you an insight into how social pedagogy has been developing across Europe, highlighting both the diversity and connections, Highlight the importance of valuing every person as intrinsically ‘rich’, recognising their unique potential and ability to be a valuable member of society, Introduce you to ways in which you can bring this belief to life in everyday interactions and relationships that support people’s learning, nurture their well-being and enable them to feel included in society, Ensure you are familiar with the most fundamental aspects of social pedagogical practice in ways that are applicable in your own personal and professional life. Please watch our introductory video to get more insights.

WEEK 2
Introduction to Social Pedagogy across Europe and Participatory Practice
In the first session, you’ll hear from our ThemPra team how social pedagogy has been developing across Europe and what the central guiding principles are. We’ll also tell you more about the social pedagogy perspective we’re taking in the MOOC and what themes we’ll be covering over the course. Finally, we’ll dive straight into the first theme: participatory practice. You’ll have a chance to find out why participation is important and how you can ensure that the people you support are meaningfully involved in decisions that affect them. Find out more about the first session in the short intro video below.

WEEK 3
Social Pedagogy in Germany - Resource-Orientated Practice
Our first country session will take you to the ‘cradle’ of social pedagogy: Germany. In this session by our colleagues from the KJSH in Northern Germany, we’ll first give you an overview of social pedagogy in Germany, and then highlight the dynamics at play in social pedagogical practice, before introducing you to ways of working with, and strengthening, people’s resourcefulness. We’ve included six videos and two case studies about resource-orientated case management at the KJSH. Please watch our short intro video for more details.

WEEK 4
Social Pedagogy in the UK – Creativity
In this week’s first session you’ll meet our colleagues at the University of Central Lancashire, who will introduce you to social pedagogy in the UK. In particular, we’ll focus on the role of creativity in social pedagogical practice. Our session includes ten short videos and a choice between two creative activities you can do as part of your assignment. Please watch our short intro video for more details.

WEEK 5
Social Pedagogy in Denmark – Purposeful Shared Activities
The second session this week features the Danish contribution from our teams at Københavns Professionshøjskole and Common View. In this session we’ll introduce you to social pedagogy in Denmark and a model for planning purposeful shared activities: SMTTE. We use this a lot in Denmark as we love undertaking activities together with the people we support social pedagogically. Please watch our short intro video for more details about our session.

WEEK 6
Social Pedagogy in the Czech Republic – Prevention
The first session of this week comes from our colleagues at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. As you’ll learn, social pedagogy has a long history and a very interesting tradition there. We’ll also explore how prevention activities can be used within social pedagogical practice and why these are important. Our session includes four videos and several further resources on prevention programmes in the Czech Republic. Please watch our short intro video for further details.

WEEK 7
Social Pedagogy in Spain - Community Education
In this week’s second session we’ll introduce you to social pedagogy in Spain. Our team from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona is pleased to explore with you the history and current situation of social pedagogy in Spain and the role of community education within this framework. We’ve included a total of sixteen videos aimed at giving you a comprehensive and practice-relevant insight into the role that community education plays within community life and the education of individuals. Please watch our short intro video for further details about our session.

WEEK 8
Social Pedagogy in Belgium – Social Justice
In this session we’ll be exploring with you the role of social pedagogy as a perspective in Belgium. We’ll also introduce you to aspects around social justice and how social pedagogues can engage with people who are disadvantaged because of social inequality, given that we won't be able to solve complex structural problems like poverty. Over our 4 videos, we’ll also share some practice insights illustrating how we can ‘keep the door open’ to ensure we engage with those wider issues. Please watch our short intro video, in which we outline our session in more detail.

WEEK 9
Social Pedagogy in a Wider Context
In this second session we’ll briefly be reviewing the key learning points from the previous sessions and encouraging you to revisit your reflections from earlier sessions. But we don’t stop there. We’ve also included a glimpse at social pedagogy across the globe with short contributions illustrating social pedagogical practices in Mexico, Greece, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Slovakia. You’ll also find some practical tips on how you can nurture change and develop some of the ideas you've been learning about in your team and wider organisation. Find out more about this final session in our short introductory video.