Knowledge Tree
social education
Also known as: social education curriculum
Facts (62)
Sources
Developing youth work: Chapter 5 - Beyond social education infed.org 62 facts
claimProfessionalized interventions in social education restrict the scope of development to formal settings, whereas informal attempts by parents or peers also contribute to social and personal development.
claimThe Youth Service Review (1982) defined a young person's social education as the processes by which youth work and work by other agencies assist personal development.
claimDuring the late 1970s and the 1980s, interest in social education was renewed within formalized arenas of education and training, but not within youth work.
claimSocial education functions as a learning process aimed at achieving an internal change of consciousness, such as the achievement of maturity.
claimDefining social education as an attempt to promote an internal change of consciousness is problematic because the definition is so broad that the term 'social' becomes redundant, effectively reducing the concept to general education.
claimThe term 'social education' has been misused within schooling and youth work to cover a wide range of practices that are not genuinely educational in ethos.
claimThe BYV Social Education Project (1981) and the Scottish Community Education Centre (1982) have emphasized the importance of pedagogy in social education.
claimMuch 'social education' has been aimed at encouraging young people to conform to age-related definitions of acceptable behavior, such as regarding sexual behavior, drinking, and unsupervised leisure, rather than competency-related definitions.
referenceThe author's 1980s definition of social education characterized it as a lifelong process not tied to a fixed state of 'maturity', but rather to individual and collective growth that is mutual and not solely driven by adults acting for young people.
claimIn the mid-1980s, Leigh and Smart identified an 'emerging crisis of purpose in social education,' noting that while the term was used as an expression of purpose and method in youth work, it was rarely subjected to serious enquiry.
referenceElliot and Pring (1975) identified a concern with the relationship of the self, others, and society as a strand of practice in social education.
claimThe introduction of programs such as Active Tutorial Work (Baldwin and Wells, 1979-81) and Group Tutoring (Button, 1981, 1982) into schools increased interest in social education.
claimDavies and Gibson (1967) defined the term 'social education' around the idea of maturity and developed an analysis of the practice and institutions that must accompany it.
claimThe British government's vision for youth work, titled 'Transforming Youth Work,' lacks sufficient attention to the essential character of social education and the notion of association.
claimJames Hole, a committed associationalist and figure in adult education, identified social forms such as newspapers and group belonging as methods of social education in his survey of working-class education.
claimThe shift toward 'social education' in youth work debates represented a conceptual move from an emphasis on 'personal adjustment' to 'person-centredness'.
claimThe German notion of social pedagogy, specifically the work of Hebart and others, influenced John Dewey and other American writers, leading to the reworking of themes around community in the North American social education tradition.
claimIn the context of youth work, the term 'social' in 'social education' carries a double meaning: one relating to the method of instruction and the other relating to the content of the education, which generally refers to the personal development of the individual in relation to others.
perspectiveJ. McBeath (1986) argues that because social education touches upon personal values and sensitivities, it should logically be a matter for both experts and expert treatment.
claimRedefining 'social education' in the United Kingdom to align with the United States' definition (citizenship or political education) would be a difficult task and would require a major shift of focus.
claimThe concept of self that informs much discussion about social education in Western contexts is distinctly individualistic.
quote‘What makes for good social education is the same as what makes for good subject teaching. In other words, exploiting the dynamics and relations of the social group’
quoteThe Albemarle Report (HMSO, 1960) asserted that the Youth Service provided for the 'continued social and informal education of young people in terms most likely to bring them to maturity, that of responsible personal choice'.
perspectiveMark Smith compares 'social education' to 1960s system-built housing, arguing that while initially attractive, it possesses inherent structural faults that eventually require the entire structure to be demolished and rebuilt.
claimDefining social education as synonymous with social and personal development makes it difficult to justify linking its definition to specific age ranges.
claimIn the United States, the term 'social education' is often linked to citizenship or political education, where the 'social' is defined as societal and specifically focused on enabling people to be active citizens.
accountIn the early 1980s, the author proposed a definition of social education centered on enabling people to meet their developmental needs, which broke from the thinking presented in Davies and Gibson (1967).
perspectiveDefining 'social education' by labeling specific subjects like careers and health studies as such is merely 'playing with labels' rather than a substantive definition.
quoteBrown et al. (1986) stated: 'it may be that the best practice in social education is not expressed through a curriculum at all but through the quality of the learning situations created throughout the curriculum as a whole and the relationships which pervade the entire school.'
referenceJ. McBeath (1986) defines 'social education' or 'social and personal development' by the extent to which an emphasis is placed upon 'the immediate present and the immediate future of the self and self—other relationships'.
quoteHemming (1949) identified the aims of social education as fostering: the development of spontaneity, self-reliance, flexibility of mind, clear thinking, tolerance, initiative, articulateness, adventurousness of outlook, courage in the face of new problems, enjoyment of created activity, sound standards of action and appreciation, world-mindedness, and a sense of purpose and philosophy of life.
claimCrick and Porter (1978) advocated for political education and the importance of improving young people's political literacy as part of a possible social education curriculum.
claimBooton (1985) asserts that early usage of the term 'social education' did not denote a particular curriculum or specific practice, but was likely directed as reformist language toward middle-class adults.
claimThere is no specific, unique method in schooling or youth work that can be exclusively labeled as 'social education'.
claimThe process of social education requires the active involvement of young people in relevant situations and interrelationships, rather than being an exclusively intellectual exercise.
referenceLee (1980) defined social education as all teaching or informal activities planned by curriculum developers, teachers, or other professionals to enhance the development of knowledge, understanding, attitudes, sensitivities, and competence in relation to the self and others, social institutions, structures, and organizations, and social issues.
claimThe National Association of Youth Workers (NIYWA) attempted to define the concept of social education in 1987, but the term lacks a sustained and consistent body of practice within youth work.
claimWritten discussions of social education in youth work since the 1970s have emphasized cooperative and collective working methods, a focus on the individual, the importance of harnessing personal experiences, the use of problem-posing, and the necessity of placing these processes in a political perspective.
claimGeneralizations made about adolescence influence the understandings of social education.
claimInterest in the concept of social education was present in the work of educationalists regarding citizenship in the 1930s and in social studies in the late 1940s, according to M. Smith (1987).
claimIn some schools, social education courses may include careers education, health education, moral education, political education, child care, and parentcraft.
perspectiveThe term 'social education' has become so corrupted and misused within youth work that it is now frequently applied to learning that would have occurred regardless of intervention, often lacking any specific educational intent.
claimThe Albemarle Report (HMSO, 1960) is considered the landmark in the usage of the term 'social education' within youth work.
claimThe Youth Service Review (1982) defined the task of the Youth Service as providing social education, but failed to provide a clear definition of the term.
claimSocial education in secondary schools is often viewed as peripheral and low-grade by students, parents, and staff because it is not examined, is seen as non-academic, lacks resources, and is often staffed by teachers from other subject areas.
quoteIn 1908, Scott advocated for social education as a contribution toward a 'more comprehensive and deeper social synthesis organically united with a freer and more thorough-going individual development.'
claimThe term 'social education' entered the vocabulary of United States educationalists by the late 1890s.
perspectiveMark Smith argues that the personalist orientation within the British youth work tradition of 'social education' is problematic and ethnocentric, and that the term has been so misused that it should be abandoned.
accountThe author of 'Developing youth work: Chapter 5' previously mistakenly assumed that the scale and quality of developmental work could be enhanced by directing practitioners' attention to the 'education' component of 'social education'.
claimSocial education theory in youth work is criticized for three assumptions: conceptualizing adolescence through problematic notions of 'growing up' and maturity, focusing too heavily on individuals and small groups while ignoring political contexts, and potential ethnocentrism and sexism in how the self is conceptualized.
claimDavies and Gibson emphasized that social education is a specific type of process directed toward the social development of adolescents.
claimThe Youth Service Review (HMSO, 1982) discussed the term 'social education' in a superficial manner.
claimEvans (1965) included a chapter titled 'Social Education' that discussed youth work's contribution to the social development of young people, though Evans did not explicitly define or interpret the term 'social education'.
claimThe term 'social education' in youth work is considered by Mark Smith to be a useless theoretical and practical tool due to the magnitude of its definitional and strategic problems.
perspectiveThe Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) argued in 1986 that the variety of meanings attached to the term 'social education' hinders its usefulness as a helpful concept.
claimThe appeal of 'social education' within youth work stems from the linking of the concepts of 'social' and 'educational', though Mark Smith argues that simply joining these words does not constitute a theory or a practice.
claimSocial education is often perceived as a high-risk, low-status area, which creates implications for how youth workers relate to mainstream education.
claimDefining the boundaries of political education is less problematic than defining the boundaries of social education.
claimBooton (1985) suggests that the concept of social education was in use within the Charity Organizations Society in 1919, where it carried a more literal meaning related to an individual's education, knowledge, and understanding of society and social processes, rather than just manners.
claimThe association of social education with 'less able' students can lead to a deficit model, where those lacking specific skills are socially educated, while those with appropriate social capital continue with academic study.
quoteThe Albemarle Report (1960) stated: 'To encourage young people to come together into groups of their own choosing is the fundamental task of the Service. Their social needs must be met before their needs for training and formal instruction. . . . It means too, that it is the task of the Service to offer, in its own different environment, social education of the kind that has long been valued in the corporate life of those pursuing formal education in schools, technical colleges and universities.'
claimSocial education can be defined by the context or setting in which a process or task is situated, specifically occurring 'in society' such as through community involvement programs.