Authentic PPIE – the (re)search for authentic engagement

Image: Sharon Court – The Yurt at The Mulberry Bush Third Space

For yesterday and today I have been participating in The Gathering – the Social Pedagogy Professional Association conference, at The Mulberry Bush Third Space. It’s a gorgeous location on the outskirts of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, with a range of informal teaching rooms, lovely open spaces and accommodation all on site.

We’ve been looking at ‘Social Pedagogy across the life course’ and hearing talks from a range of speakers (including myself) who are using Social Pedagogy in their various settings.

This is just my initial ‘brain dump’ of things I’ve noticed or thought about. There will probably be more to share in the near future.

There’s an ease which comes with people who speak your language. That’s the first thing I’ve noticed. Usually I have to explain Social Pedagogy or Relational Practice to people who aren’t familiar with it, but here, people already know, so it makes starting or maintaining conversations so much easier!

It’s affirming when people share the same aspirations. Although we’re working in different settings – NHS, residential children’s homes, education, early years, academia, social work, the aspirations are all very similar. We all want the people we’re working with to thrive and achieve their potential. We want to work in a way which is affirming and encouraging, building people up and co-creating positive experiences. That consistency across a range of disciplines and contexts is a unifying force – it helps me feel like I’m not alone, even though I’m the only person who does my role within the organisation I’m working in.

Social Pedagogy is like compost – in that it provides a fantastic underpinning foundation from which to grow all sorts of different things. This is because it’s values-based rather than a system which requires your practice/project/organisation to fit into it. Instead, Social Pedagogy can adapt and be flexible to fit your context, because it’s about ethos – how and why you do something in a particular way.

You might not have colleagues – but you do have allies. I have met people from all sorts of places over the last day or so. As an introvert and someone with ADHD this is both exciting, but also overwhelming, and I feel I’ll need some time to process*! (As I write this I’m sitting in a quiet foyer, while just a few feet away people are tucking into an amazing spread of homemade food. I definitely want lunch, but I can’t quite face a room full of people, noise, scents and choices…so I’ll wait a few minutes and then go in!) I don’t work closely with any of these people, although some of them do work together or come from the same teams. However, because we share the same values and ethos, we can complement each other and offer advice and support. I might not have close colleagues here, but I do have allies 🙂

You might know more than you think you do? It turns out that I had something interesting and helpful to share with people over the last two days. Where I’m based at work, I’m somewhat of an isolated voice, because I’m the only person who does my role, so it’s hard to get any sense of perspective sometimes, of how useful or relevant my knowledge and experience might be? I have been pleased and encouraged to realise that I do have pertinent and useful things to contribute because my knowledge and experience crosses different domain: community & voluntary sector, education, academia etc That’s rather encouraging 🙂

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. I know there’s more to say, but it needs to marinade for a while…I can hear people chatting outside. Time to get some lunch!

*This is a bit like when you’re feeling thirsty but you’ve been drinking water from a shot glass and now someone has offered you a bath full of water?! What do you do with that? Do you dunk your head in? Do you look for a big bowl to drink from? Do you just get in the bath fully-clothed?!!