Social Pedagogy
- LAST REVIEWED: 13 August 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 November 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0125
- LAST REVIEWED: 13 August 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 November 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0125
Introduction
The concept of social pedagogy has been used for different meanings and in different contexts. It refers, for example, to a particular tradition of educational thought and theory building, a field of professional institutions and activities, a special area of civil affairs, mobilization of community development, and a reformist movement of education. The common element in all meanings is, generally speaking, viewing social and educational questions together in terms of combining homo socialis and homo educandus. The human being is seen, by nature, as being fundamentally social but in need of education to be able to live together with others in a society. Education is thus seen as a crucial factor in social development and well-being, and it is understood in its broadest sense as support for human development in a lifelong process. Social problems are believed to have an educational dimension, so that seeking educational means for the prevention and alleviation of social misery becomes essential. Interconnection between education and welfare is emphasized. Understandings of social pedagogy are influenced by different understandings of human nature and society, different social theories, philosophies of science, moral philosophies, and political interests. Social pedagogy has been developed, in theory and practice, in different country-specific contexts, and different countries have their own traditions of social-pedagogical discussion. The most important—and the oldest—tradition is in Germany. Therefore, German literature plays a big role in this article (Philipp Sandermann, Professor of Social Pedagogy, and Onno Husen, Research Assistant at Leuphana University, have assisted in identifying and outlining the German publications displayed in this article). Another important area of social-pedagogical discussion is the Romance-language area, especially Spain but also Latin America and France, as is shown in the selection of citations, too (Xavier Úcar, Professor of Social Pedagogy at Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, has assisted in identifying and outlining the most recent Spanish-written publications, and Sanna Ryynänen, Senior lecturer at the University of Eastern Finland, the Portuguese-written publications displayed in this article). During the 1990s and the first fourteen years of the 21st century, the discussion has also become more and more lively in the Nordic countries, in the Slavonic language area, and finally also in the English-speaking world. (Lisbeth Eriksson, Senior lecturer at University West, has assisted in identifying and outlining the most recent Swedish publications; Tatiana Sklyarova, Professor of Social Pedagogy, the Russian-written publications; and Claire Cameron, Professor of social pedagogy at University College London, the most recent British publications displayed in this article.) In addition to these areas there is social-pedagogical theory building in some other countries, such as Japan. (Lan Xiao, Assistant Professor at Hokkaido University; Yaka Matsuda, Assistant Professor at Kochi University; and Akiko Kosaka, MSW, have assisted in identifying and outlining the Japanese-written publications displayed in this article.) We have to admit, however, that the selection of literature in this article is Eurocentric. As the article will show, the scope of the questions dealt with in social-pedagogical literature is wide, since the concept covers the whole human lifespan.
General Overviews
The ambiguity of the concept of social pedagogy makes it difficult to generalize about social pedagogy that expresses itself as a many-dimensional discipline and field of expertise, as stated in Hämäläinen 2015. In spite of this multidimensionality, there have been many attempts to create an overview of the nature of social pedagogy. Scholars in German-speaking and Romance countries in particular have attempted this task. Hamburger 2003 gives a thorough presentation of social pedagogy as pedagogical help for people facing many kinds of social problems, thus giving social pedagogy a theoretically and historically justified place in the welfare system, close to social work, as it is in Germany. Pérez Serrano 2004 looks at social pedagogy from a wider perspective, as is common in the Spanish literature: social pedagogy is presented both as social education for the individual—helping him/her to live in society with others—and as a pedagogical theory of social work. Two more recent Spanish examples of a similarly wide understanding of social pedagogy are Melendro, et al. 2018 and Úcar 2016. Scholars in other countries have also produced general introductions to social pedagogy. The author of Mudrik 2009 in Russia connects social pedagogy closely to general educational sciences and analyzes the educational challenges with which social pedagogy deals. The author of Madsen 2001 in Denmark comes closer to the German tradition of social pedagogy when he describes social pedagogy in particular as a theory and practice of social integration and Bildung. Gjertsen 2010 reflects on the way social pedagogy is understood in Norway by emphasizing work with children and young people, and defining social inclusion and normalization as central areas of social pedagogy. Stephens 2013 is one the first textbooks of social pedagogy in English (the other one is Hatton 2013, referred to in the section Descriptions of Social Pedagogy in the United Kingdom and the United States). It emphasizes social pedagogy as an approach in which both head and heart are involved in enabling perceived self-efficacy so that people can start changing their lives and society. Santos Graciani 2014 represents a strongly political understanding of social pedagogy, following the tradition of pedagogy of liberation of Paulo Freire, thus presenting an overview of social pedagogy in Brasil.
Gjertsen, Per-Åge. 2010. Sosialpedagogikk: Förståelse, handling og refleksjon. Oslo, Norway: Fagbokgorlaget.
This Norwegian-language textbook (Social pedagogy: Understanding, action and reflection) deals with the nature of social pedagogy in terms of educational theory and practice, thinking, and action. Attention is paid both to the conceptual challenges and opportunities for developing social pedagogy as a functional professional system of modern society.
Hämäläinen, Juha. 2015. Defining social pedagogy: Historical, theoretical and practical considerations. British Journal of Social Work 45:1022–1038.
DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bct174
Paying attention to historical, political, and professional issues, this paper provides a general overview on the diverse nature of social pedagogy. The paper illustrates the development of social pedagogy among different traditions of thought, policies, and practices.
Hamburger, Franz. 2003. Einführung in die Sozialpädagogik. Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer.
Outlining its theoretical foundations, the author introduces social pedagogy as a wide professional field providing social-pedagogical help in the different kinds of conflicts and crises that people experience at different stages of their lives. This help, dealing with both individual and micro-, mezzo-, and macro-social factors, contributes to both individual and social development. Social pedagogy is introduced as an integrated element of the modern welfare-state system, as it has been developed in Germany. The book was translated into Japanese in 2013 by Ryukichi Ogushi.
Madsen, Bent. 2001. Socialpedagogik. Translated by Birgitta Amstrand Frisk. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.
This Swedish translation of a Danish textbook (Socialpædagogik og samfundsforvandling: En grundbog [Social pedagogy and societal change: A groundwork], originally published in Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1993) discusses the historical development of social pedagogy, looking at social conflicts and emergency situations in the modern society. It defines social pedagogy as an answer to the new problems of integration, but it also questions the role of social pedagogy as a vehicle for adaptation and control for the deviant members of society. It introduces a more critical understanding of social pedagogy as education, supporting not just socialization but also Bildung.
Melendro, Miguel, Angel de-Juanas Oliva, and Ana Eva Rodriguez Bravo. 2018. Pedagogía social: Retos y escenarios para la acción socioeducativa. Madrid: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
Presenting both the theoretical foundations of social pedagogy and the most central fields of social-pedagogical practice, this textbook gives an overall understanding about the field, discussing also new social challenges and emerging responses to these. In addition to basic contents, access is given to recommended complementary materials.
Mudrik, Anatolij. 2009. Sotsialnaja pedagogika. Moscow: Izdatelskij tsentr “Akademija.”
In this Russian-language textbook, social pedagogy is introduced in terms of a general theory of education that concerns educational challenges of modern society in general, covering in great breadth people’s educational needs in the context of modern lifestyles.
Pérez Serrano, Gloria. 2004. Pedagogía social, educación social: Construcción científica e intervención práctica. Madrid: Narcea, S. A. de Ediciones.
This Spanish textbook is built on the interconnection of the two dimensions of social pedagogy: theory and practice. It looks both at the history, philosophical foundations, scholarly nature, and investigation paradigms of social pedagogy, and at different traditions, professional understandings, and working methods of social education, that is, social-pedagogical practice.
Santos Graciani, Maria Stela. 2014. Pedagogia social. São Paulo, Brazil: Cortez Editora.
This Brazilian textbook rebuilds the concept of social pedagogy from a Latin American perspective, taking as a reference Paulo Freire’s political concept of education aimed at the transformation of unequal social realities. It constructs a de-colonial understanding of social pedagogy and of social-pedagogical practices.
Stephens, Paul. 2013. Social pedagogy: Heart and head. Studies in Comparative Social Pedagogies and International Social Work and Social Policy 24. Bremen, Germany: Europäische Hochschulverlag.
In this textbook, social pedagogy is outlined as a theory and practice of rational educational action (head) connecting with the values of compassion and human kindness (heart), aiming at bringing about social emancipation through dialogue-based communications and interactive operations.
Úcar, Xavier. 2016. Pedagogías de lo social. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
In this first book of a trilogy by the same Spanish author, social pedagogy is seen as a broad pedagogical, critical-reflexive field that is committed to education for all and that strives for possibilities for everybody to improve their ways of being and finding themselves in the world. Discussing, for example, paradigms, axiological principles, and methodological processes and practices, it builds up an understanding of the “pedagogies of the social.”
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Academic Achievement
- Academic Audit for Universities
- Academic Freedom and Tenure in the United States
- Action Research in Education
- Adjuncts in Higher Education in the United States
- Administrator Preparation
- Adolescence
- Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Courses
- Advocacy and Activism in Early Childhood
- African American Racial Identity and Learning
- Alaska Native Education
- Alternative Certification Programs for Educators
- Alternative Schools
- American Indian Education
- Art Education
- Artificial Intelligence and Learning
- Assessing School Leader Effectiveness
- Assessment, Behavioral
- Assessment, Educational
- Assessment in Early Childhood Education
- Assistive Technology
- Augmented Reality in Education
- Beginning-Teacher Induction
- Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
- Blended Learning
- Bullying
- Case Study in Education Research
- Changing Professional and Academic Identities
- Character Education
- Children’s and Young Adult Literature
- Children's Beliefs about Intelligence
- Children's Rights in Early Childhood Education
- Citizenship Education
- Civic and Social Engagement of Higher Education
- Classroom Learning Environments: Assessing and Investigati...
- Classroom Management
- Coherent Instructional Systems at the School and School Sy...
- College Admissions in the United States
- College Athletics in the United States
- Community Relations
- Comparative Education
- Computer-Based Testing
- Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Evaluating Improvement Net...
- Continuous Improvement and "High Leverage" Educational Pro...
- Counseling in Schools
- Creativity
- Critical Perspectives on Educational Innovation and Improv...
- Critical Race Theory
- Crossborder and Transnational Higher Education
- Cross-National Research on Continuous Improvement
- Cross-Sector Research on Continuous Learning and Improveme...
- Cultural Diversity in Early Childhood Education
- Culturally Responsive Leadership
- Culturally Responsive Pedagogies
- Culturally Responsive Teacher Education in the United Stat...
- Curriculum Design
- Data Collection in Educational Research
- Data-driven Decision Making in the United States
- Deaf Education
- Desegregation and Integration
- Design Thinking and the Learning Sciences: Theoretical, Pr...
- Development, Moral
- Dialogic Pedagogy
- Digital Age Teacher, The
- Digital Citizenship
- Digital Divides
- Disabilities
- Distance Learning
- Distributed Leadership
- Doctoral Education and Training
- Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Denmark
- Early Childhood Education and Development in Mexico
- Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Early Childhood Education in Australia
- Early Childhood Education in China
- Early Childhood Education in Europe
- Early Childhood Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Early Childhood Education in Sweden
- Early Childhood Education Pedagogy
- Early Childhood Education Policy
- Early Childhood Education, The Arts in
- Early Childhood Mathematics
- Early Childhood Science
- Early Childhood Teacher Education
- Early Childhood Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Early Years Professionalism and Professionalization Polici...
- Economics of Education
- Education For Children with Autism
- Education for Sustainable Development
- Education Leadership, Empirical Perspectives in
- Education of Native Hawaiian Students
- Education Reform and School Change
- Educational Statistics for Longitudinal Research
- Educator Partnerships with Parents and Families with a Foc...
- Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
- Environmental and Science Education: Overlaps and Issues
- Epistemic Beliefs
- Equity and Improvement: Engaging Communities in Educationa...
- Equity, Ethnicity, Diversity, and Excellence in Education
- Ethical Research with Young Children
- Ethics and Education
- Ethics of Teaching
- Ethnic Studies
- Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention
- Family and Community Partnerships in Education
- Family Day Care
- Federal Government Programs and Issues
- Feminization of Labor in Academia
- Finance, Education
- Financial Aid
- Formative Assessment
- Future-Focused Education
- Gender and Achievement
- Gender and Alternative Education
- Gifted Education
- Global Mindedness and Global Citizenship Education
- Global University Rankings
- Governance, Education
- Grounded Theory
- Growth of Effective Mental Health Services in Schools in t...
- Higher Education and Globalization
- Higher Education and the Developing World
- Higher Education Faculty Characteristics and Trends in the...
- Higher Education Finance
- Higher Education Governance
- Higher Education Graduate Outcomes and Destinations
- Higher Education in Africa
- Higher Education in China
- Higher Education in Latin America
- Higher Education in the United States, Historical Evolutio...
- Higher Education, International Issues in
- Higher Education Management
- Higher Education Policy
- Higher Education Research
- Higher Education Student Assessment
- High-stakes Testing
- History of Early Childhood Education in the United States
- History of Education in the United States
- History of Technology Integration in Education
- Homeschooling
- Inclusion in Early Childhood: Difference, Disability, and ...
- Inclusive Education
- Indigenous Education in a Global Context
- Indigenous Learning Environments
- Indigenous Students in Higher Education in the United Stat...
- Infant and Toddler Pedagogy
- Inservice Teacher Education
- Integrating Art across the Curriculum
- Intelligence
- Intensive Interventions for Children and Adolescents with ...
- International Perspectives on Academic Freedom
- Intersectionality and Education
- Knowledge Development in Early Childhood
- Leadership Development, Coaching and Feedback for
- Leadership in Early Childhood Education
- Leadership Training with an Emphasis on the United States
- Learning Analytics in Higher Education
- Learning Difficulties
- Learning, Lifelong
- Learning, Multimedia
- Learning Strategies
- Legal Matters and Education Law
- LGBT Youth in Schools
- Linguistic Diversity
- Linguistically Inclusive Pedagogy
- Literacy
- Literacy Development and Language Acquisition
- Literature Reviews
- Mathematics Identity
- Mathematics Instruction and Interventions for Students wit...
- Mathematics Teacher Education
- Measurement for Improvement in Education
- Measurement in Education in the United States
- Meta-Analysis and Research Synthesis in Education
- Methodological Approaches for Impact Evaluation in Educati...
- Methodologies for Conducting Education Research
- Mindfulness, Learning, and Education
- Mixed Methods Research
- Motivation
- Multiliteracies in Early Childhood Education
- Multiple Documents Literacy: Theory, Research, and Applica...
- Multivariate Research Methodology
- Museums, Education, and Curriculum
- Music Education
- Narrative Research in Education
- Native American Studies
- Note-Taking
- Numeracy Education
- One-to-One Technology in the K-12 Classroom
- Online Education
- Open Education
- Organizing for Continuous Improvement in Education
- Organizing Schools for the Inclusion of Students with Disa...
- Outdoor Play and Learning
- Outdoor Play and Learning in Early Childhood Education
- Pedagogical Leadership
- Pedagogy of Teacher Education, A
- Performance Objectives and Measurement
- Performance-based Research Assessment in Higher Education
- Performance-based Research Funding
- Phenomenology in Educational Research
- Philosophy of Education
- Physical Education
- Play
- Podcasts in Education
- Policy
- Policy Context of United States Educational Innovation and...
- Politics of Education
- Portable Technology Use in Special Education Programs and ...
- Pre-Service Teacher Education
- Problem Solving
- Productivity and Higher Education
- Professional Development
- Professional Learning Communities
- Program Evaluation
- Programs and Services for Students with Emotional or Behav...
- Psychology Learning and Teaching
- Psychometric Issues in the Assessment of English Language ...
- Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques
- Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Research Samp...
- Qualitative Research Design
- Quantitative Research Designs in Educational Research
- Race and Affirmative Action in Higher Education
- Reading Education
- Refugee and New Immigrant Learners
- Relational and Developmental Trauma and Schools
- Relational Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education
- Reliability in Educational Assessments
- Religion in Elementary and Secondary Education in the Unit...
- Researcher Development and Skills Training within the Cont...
- Research-Practice Partnerships in Education within the Uni...
- Response to Intervention
- Restorative Practices
- Scale and Sustainability of Education Innovation and Impro...
- Scaling Up Research-based Educational Practices
- School Accreditation
- School Choice
- School Culture
- School District Budgeting and Financial Management in the ...
- School Improvement through Inclusive Education
- School Reform
- Schools, Private and Independent
- School-Wide Positive Behavior Support
- Science Education
- Secondary to Postsecondary Transition Issues
- Self-Regulated Learning
- Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices
- Service-Learning
- Severe Disabilities
- Single Salary Schedule
- Single-sex Education
- Single-Subject Research Design
- Social Context of Education
- Social Justice
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Pedagogy
- Social Science and Education Research
- Social Studies Education
- Sociology of Education
- Standards-Based Education
- Statistical Assumptions
- Student Access, Equity, and Diversity in Higher Education
- Student Assignment Policy
- Student Engagement in Tertiary Education
- Student Learning, Development, Engagement, and Motivation ...
- Student Participation
- Student Voice in Teacher Development
- Sustainability Education in Early Childhood Education
- Sustainability in Early Childhood Education
- Sustainability in Higher Education
- Teacher Beliefs and Epistemologies
- Teacher Collaboration in School Improvement
- Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Effectiveness
- Teacher Preparation
- Teacher Training and Development
- Teacher Unions and Associations
- Teacher-Student Relationships
- Teaching Critical Thinking
- Technologies, Teaching, and Learning in Higher Education
- Technology Education in Early Childhood
- Technology, Educational
- Technology-based Assessment
- The Bologna Process
- The Regulation of Standards in Higher Education
- Theories of Educational Leadership
- Three Conceptions of Literacy: Media, Narrative, and Gamin...
- Tracking and Detracking
- Traditions of Quality Improvement in Education
- Transformative Learning
- Transitions in Early Childhood Education
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities in the Unite...
- Understanding the Psycho-Social Dimensions of Schools and ...
- University Faculty Roles and Responsibilities in the Unite...
- Using Ethnography in Educational Research
- Value of Higher Education for Students and Other Stakehold...
- Virtual Learning Environments
- Vocational and Technical Education
- Wellness and Well-Being in Education
- Women's and Gender Studies
- Young Children and Spirituality
- Young Children's Learning Dispositions
- Young Children's Working Theories