Latest Publications
Has the UK forgotten the social?
How have decades of neoliberal reform shaped children’s services in the UK, and what can social pedagogy offer as a relational, ethical counterbalance to support children, young people, and those who work alongside them?
The future of social pedagogy starts here
Reflecting on more than a decade of the International Journal of Social Pedagogy, the editors explore how social pedagogy is growing as a global, interdisciplinary movement that is shaping research, practice and policy through ethical, relational and socially just approaches.
Can social pedagogy transform care in the UK?
Drawing on the UK’s early experience of introducing social pedagogy into residential care, this chapter explores how a relational, values-based approach can enrich children’s everyday lives while highlighting the opportunities and challenges of embedding social pedagogy within existing care systems.
Can good practice really be written into a manual?
This article explores the tensions between highly manualised interventions and social pedagogical practice, arguing that meaningful change depends not on rigidly following programmes but on practitioners using professional judgement, relationships and ethical principles to respond to the realities of everyday life.
More care, less control
Why do children’s services continue to prioritise behaviour management, compliance and performance measures over relationships, and what might change if social pedagogy’s ethics of empathy, recognition and authentic connection became the foundation of care instead?
(2013) Kemp, R., A journey towards emerging coherence. In V. E. Cree (Ed.), ‘Becoming a social worker: Global narratives' (pp. 147-156), Routledge
(2012) Kemp, R., Johansen, T., Eichsteller, G., Head Heart Hands Reference Tool, London: the Fostering Network and Social Pedagogy Consortium
(2010) Kemp, R., London Pledge Practice Prompts, NCERCC, National Children’s Bureau, London accessible from http://www.ncb.org.uk/ncercc/london_pledge/practice_prompts.aspx;
(2008) Kemp, R., Self Harm Practice Reference Guide, NCERCC, London: National Children’s Bureau, London retrievable from http://www.ncb.org.uk/ncercc/ncercc%20practice%20documents/ncercc_SelfHarmPracticeReference.pdf;