Never mind what I like, it's who I am that matters: an investigation into social pedagogy as a method to enhance the involvement of young people with learning disabilities

Abstract

Accessible summary Children and young people with learning disabilities should be involved in decisions that affect them, including having a say in how their services are run. In practice, it is difficult to achieve involvement, as service providers can treat young people with disabilities and their families as ‘shoppers’ rather than really listening to them. It can also be hard to find out exactly how individuals feel, because of their difficulties with language and complicated information. Social pedagogy is an approach to working with children who sees them as equals. The study used these ideas to run a group to involve young people with learning disabilities who used short break services. The research found that social pedagogy was a good way to improve involvement, as it helped to build trusting and equal relationships between young people with learning disabilities and the adults who worked with them. Summary The involvement of children and young people with learning disabilities in the decision‐making of the services they use is recognised as an essential principle. However, implementation of this principle has encountered two main obstacles. One obstacle is that meaningful involvement has largely been subsumed by a provider‐driven consumerist agenda. A second obstacle is the lack of methods to gain feedback that take account of an individual's cognitive and linguistic impairments. This article reports on the use of the social pedagogy approach to attempt to overcome these obstacles. The findings show that social pedagogy, which emphasises a balance between ‘head, heart and hands’, provided a means to establish egalitarian relationships with young people with learning disabilities. Thus, social pedagogy was found to be effective in enhancing involvement in the context of a person‐centred approach.

Developing a competency framework for the initial training of educational psychologists working with young people aged 16–25

“…These notions are congruent with research findings detailing the importance of young people's involvement in decisions about their future (Carter, Cameron, Houghton, & Walton, 2013); and the role of self-determination in improving postschool outcomes (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Palmer, Rifenbark, & Little, 2015). This is important even where a young person may have complex communication, learning or emotional needs which makes it more difficult for them to express opinions and make decisions.…”

Social pedagogy as a model to provide support for siblings of children with intellectual disabilities

“…This process was part of the practitioners' reflections on facilitating the group. Social pedagogy is a fluid and dynamic concept, but is well captured in this format, which has been used previously to investigate the application of the approach to interventions (Carter et al, 2013). The use of a grid is by no means intended to suggest an empirical analysis, and it is more akin to a thematic, qualitative approach.…”

“…Social pedagogy continues to be applied in the United Kingdom, including work to involve children and young people with intellectual disabilities in their services (Carter et al, 2013). It has tremendous potential, but as predicted by European social pedagogues, presents a direct challenge to powerful neo-liberal ideologies in UK education, health and social care (Coussée et al, 2010; Lorenz, 2008).…”

The Tyranny of Fit: Yet another Barrier to Mainstream Employment for Disabled People in Sheltered Employment

“…Aspirations can motivate disabled people to participate in social activities (Carter et al . : 316). On a general level, disabled people have the same aspirations as other people including ‘meaningful work, decent housing, financial security, friendships, health and a high quality of life’ (Bond and Campbell , cited in Konrad et al .…”