Alan Smith

An introduction to critical pedagogy for all those working within higher education. Critical Pedagogy is an approach that is fundamentally democratic, informal, non-hierarchical, determined by participants, privileges the oppressed and their perspectives and is committed to action. Higher education (HE), conversely, is often un-democratic, formal, hierarchical, determined by tutors and national bodies, re-inscribes existing privileges and is distant from lived experience. The book starts from the premise that critical pedagogies are possible in HE, while recognising the tensions to be ameliorated in trying to enact them. It re-examines the concept and explores its practical application at an institutional level, within the curriculum, within assessment, through learning and teaching and in the spaces in-between. The Critical Practice in Higher Education series provides a scholarly and practical entry point for academics into key areas of higher education practice. Each book in the series explores an individual topic in depth, providing an overview in relation to current thinking and practice, informed by recent research. The series will be of interest to those engaged in the study of higher education, those involved in leading learning and teaching or working in academic development, and individuals seeking to explore particular topics of professional interest. Through critical engagement, this series aims to promote an expanded notion of being an academic – connecting research, teaching, scholarship, community engagement and leadership – while developing confidence and authority.

As we face the challenges of enforced austerity, and their cumulative effects on the most disadvantaged in society, the profession of youth and community work has never been needed more, and yet it faces an uncertain future in both the academe and publicly-funded social services. Drawing on the recent history of professional education and training for youth and community workers in England, and the validation processes that have developed to support this, the paper will offer a view on the current challenges faced by educators, practitioners and students who are looking to protect this area of professional practice and ensure it continues to be supported and valued. We will look at the lessons that can be drawn from the validation and endorsement processes for youth and community work education and training in England, and the more recent development of the Joint Education and Training Standards committee for England, Scotland, Wales and the island of Ireland. The paper will highlight the competing and contradictory messages that make for uncertainty and confusion, whilst also celebrating the opportunities that are emerging. It will explain the key agencies, policies and organisations which are shaping the current debates, and assert the need for an educated and research-informed set of professionals to work in this new and challenging environment. Using examples from youth and community work provision offered by Leeds Beckett University (both under and post-graduate) , alongside the competing expectations placed on academics, practitioners and students, the paper will seek to highlight particular curriculum developments currently underway which present interesting and exciting opportunities for those who educate and train future youth and community workers and associated social welfare professionals. Finally, in taking a more outward-looking view, the paper will discuss new and emerging areas of practice and pan-European collaborations which reflect an increasing desire to draw on a rich and diverse set of traditions that can shape the future education and training of locally active, globally connected youth and community workers who are committed to working with young people, communities and the voiceless in society.

This review explores how critical pedagogy, often cited by educators of informal educators as a key influence, actually informs teaching of informal educators in higher education and assesses its potential to do so. It explores the background to critical pedagogy, its principles, aims and approaches and examines its worldwide influence on the teaching of informal educators. The authors argue that critical pedagogy is crucial for the teaching of informal educators, enabling lecturer and practitioners to interrupt the hegemony of neo-liberal and neo-managerial thinking in their practice and in higher education, and re-orientate themselves and examine their positionality within their institutions. It will focus on practical examples of enabling critical pedagogy in the teaching of informal education in higher education institutions.

this chapter acts as the introduction to a new publication on critical pedagogies in higher education. It is presented as a 'conversation' between the two authors, showing the challenges that exist for educators who believe in empowerment and a system that seeks to impose structure.

Exploring the competing tensions and possible opportunities faced by Universities in the professional education of youth and community workers

This chapter looks at the shared history of Union Education models, Popular Education and Youth and Community Work traditions, and how these have adapted in a neo-liberal age, where unions and youth and community work services are continually under threat.

As a relatively new ‘profession’ and one which lies outside the protection afforded to the statutory services and bursary-funded qualifications (like social work and teaching), the profession of youth and community work has come under sustained attack during this period of austerity. Services throughout the country have been decimated and with them the traditions which underpinned the education and training of future generations of youth and community work graduates. There is now a shortage of qualified supervisors, mentors for new workers, or support for volunteers to become workers in training with progression to part time employment-based routes to graduate qualifications and apprenticeships. Yet this paper does not seek to lament their passing, or discuss the political and social challenges which face the most disadvantaged in society and for whom support from professional youth and community workers has never been more needed. Instead it is about how one profession, working in partnership with employers and the Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB), have, despite a number of institutional hurdles, sought to change these threats to opportunities in developing a partnership model with the potential to offer a sustainable approach to restore part-time routes to graduate qualifications, and in doing so, support and develop the capacity within the youth and community work sector. The paper will outline some of the challenges and threats to professional youth and community work education, within the Higher Education Institutions, including: • changes to higher education funding, student finance and ‘responding’ to the league tables, • the ‘marketplace’ of higher education, student numbers, DLHE, NSS and KIS data. And, given the impact of austerity on service delivery, the challenges faced by youth and community work educators, and the inter-related issues that have a direct impact on recruitment and sustainability. This will include: • capacity issues within the sector and a lack of qualified and experience supervisors; • the impact of becoming a graduate profession in 2010, and • changes to student finance for part-time study In September 2014, Leeds Beckett University was awarded the national pilot to develop a part-time, work-based sustainable route to qualification, in partnership with the National Youth Agency (our PSRB). The partnership enables students to access part-time student finance to pay for their studies and the University pays the National Youth Agency a fee for each student recruited and retained, and for their support in finding high quality placements and well equipped training venues.

Exploring the challenges and opportunities faced by higher education courses that provide youth and community work education

In this article, we reflect upon the use of duoethnography as a mechanism to explore and understand teaching practice, and as a tool for use within classroom contexts. Duoethnography is a research methodology used in the form of paired dialogue to prompt reflexivity, critical reflection and inquiry to generate data on a shared cultural context about which the two participants may have different views and experiences (Norris & Sawyer, 2012) Initiated by the Centre for Learning and Teaching at Leeds Beckett University, we used duoethnography in a project to generate insights from our four Visiting Professors, through the exploration of tensions and agreements in their conversations. In paired conversations, we explored their narrative ideas about the core nature of teaching in higher education. The Visiting Professors used their duoethnographic conversations to focus on three key themes – student agency, belonging and challenge, which are at the forefront of current higher education policy and pedagogic, scholarly debate. We discuss these in relation to existing evidence and the future of course design. Our work makes a significant contribution to the scant scholarship on Visiting Professors in higher education with broader implications for academic development and practice also outlined.