Communication Skills for Working with Children and Young People: Introducing Social Pedagogy

Every chapter connects theory to an experience that relates to practice. The theory here is light touch and most of the lessons will be learned through carrying out the suggested activities as part of everyday working with children and young people.

It is wonderful that this book does not assume that all problems can be solved but is grounded in the reality that things can be made better. It includes frequent reminders about how to overcome everyday obstacles to communicating with each other. In a task-driven world we have to make space for observing, listening, reflecting and communicating or they will be squeezed out by the arid drive for information.

Being an integrating discipline, social pedagogy has the potential, as the author puts it, to "bathe in the same language", sharing a vocabulary that supports integrated services. Using this book we will help practitioners to start in the right place, as the development of children starts with communication. And how can we integrate if we cannot communicate with each other?

Jonathan Stanley, National Centre for English Residential Child Care