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The 8th International Conference of the Popular Education Network (PEN) Goedgedacht, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa 26th-29th June 2018
Full text linkReview: The 8th International Conference of the Popular Education Network (PEN) Goedgedacht, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa 26th-29th June 201
Sara Ahmed (2017), Living A Feminist Life,
Full text linkBook Review - Sara Ahmed (2017), Living A Feminist Life
Universal to Targeted Community Learning and Development: changed work and a changing profession
Full text linkResearch was undertaken as part of a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Learning and Development (CLD) to investigate the move from universal (or open access) to targeted work. This issue had been identified as a recent change in Scottish practice. A qualitative research approach was selected in order to obtain a rich, detailed picture of CLD professionals’ perceptions and experiences of universal and targeted work. Experienced practitioners were approached for interview and four accepted. The interviewees were all asked the same three questions concerning their experience of engaging with learners through targeted and universal processes, the setting of outcomes through these different ways of working, and how they felt these different processes of engagement/ targeting affect learners. An interpretivist approach was chosen using the subtle parameters of Freire’s concept of empowerment which calls for recognition of the constant flux of interpretation as people develop critical awareness and gain power. Interviewees were quick to point out the assumptions behind the terms ‘universal’ and ‘targeted’ as they are presented antithetically in this context. This ‘either/or’ rhetoric suggests engaging in ‘universal work’ is working without aim, without target. The interviewees were concerned that disempowered people were being asked to change themselves rather than looking for ways for society to change. The interviewees emphasised that a voluntary element is a prerequisite for engagement to lead to the conditions necessary for empowerment. Furthermore, it appeared that the practitioners themselves were disempowered and were not being treated as competent professionals. 
On the Ground Interviews with three youth workers
Full text linkFor this Special Issue, we interviewed three practitioners from the Edinburgh area in order to get a brief snapshot of youth work on the ground in the current context. While this sample is by no means representative, it nonetheless offers a glimpse into the contemporary world of youth work and illuminates themes and concerns which are more widely expressed: the adverse consequences of longstanding inequality and poverty - the outcome of wider social and economic processes - as they manifest in available resources, family relationships and personal anxieties; competing expectations, demands and loyalties; a social media world which too often creates and amplifies fear and self-doubt; a sense of pessimism about the future which limits personal aspirations.
 
Critical Reflection and Community Education Values
Full text linkWhile Reflective Practice is widely regarded as an essential, but orthodox, part of Community Education, Critical Reflection is a more radical, transformative process that questions fundamental assumptions (Fook, 2015). It is, by its nature, difficult to implement within organisational cultures dominated by a narrow managerialism. Within a Community Education department, we introduced a number of initiatives, over the course of a year, to enhance such Critical Reflection. We report here on the process and its outcomes. First, we discuss the central role that Critical Reflection can have in informing decision making and individual professional development. We go on to outline the pressures on Community Education professionals who work within organisational cultures increasingly driven by a neo-liberal agenda, the managerialist imperatives of which undermine both the principles and practices of Critical Reflection. We then describe the process of introducing Critical Reflection into team processes using Reflective Circles and our evaluation of it, focusing on the use of Community Learning and Development (CLD) values to frame discussions. Finally, we draw some conclusions and outline the questions that this work poses
Community Development Journal Special issue: Practising Solidarity: Challenges for Community Development and Social Movements in the 21st Century Vol. 52 No. 3 July 2017
Full text linkReview of - Community Development Journal Special issue: Practising Solidarity: Challenges for Community Development and Social Movements in the 21st Century Vol. 52 No. 3 July 201
Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2018) The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everybody’s Wellbeing
No full textHosted by the Mitchell Library Theatre, Glasgow, The Equality Trust and the Mental Health Foundation welcomed Emeritus Professor Richard Wilkinson (University of Nottingham) and Professor Kate Pickett (University of York) to discuss the findings of their second popular education publication, The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everybody’s Wellbeing
The Voluntary Principle in Youth Work: ‘unreliable’ for whom? A response to Coburn and Gormally
Full text linkBernard Davies\u27 Response to Coburn, A. and Gormally, S. (2019) “Youth Work Education: Is the Voluntary Principle no Longer Reliable in Defining Youth Work?”, Concept, 10(1), p. 12. Available at: http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/2998 
The decline of the Local Authority Youth Service in England: Reflections of an actor in its demise
Full text linkThese assertive and tentative reflections cover the period from the genuine promise of a radical 1968 to the artificial optimism of a populist, authoritarian 2019. Across four decades I sold my labour to three different Local Authority Education (LEA) departments. Most recently, retired from the fray, I’ve sought to observe and comment upon the shifting landscape of contemporary youth work. For better or worse, however flawed and forgetful my memory, I’ve been party to the ups and downs of Local Authority (LA) Youth Services in England. In this spirit I will begin the story with two snapshots from my chequered career
\u27That was another moment where people were like wow! These young people have really done something!\u27
Full text linkA conversation between three young people who designed and wrote a storybook challenging gender stereotypes, supported by Christina McMellon Associate Researcher, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, University of Edinburgh