I spent most of my working life in higher education. For many years, I was the Rank Foundation Research Fellow and Tutor at the YMCA George Williams College, London. My focus was on the development of practice within youth work, social work, community education/learning, and informal education and social pedagogy. This led, thirty years ago, to the establishment of infed.org – and what became, and remains, the online encyclopaedia of pedagogy and informal education.
Among my books are Creators not Consumers (1980, 1982), Developing Youth Work (1988), Local Education (1994), Informal Education (1996, 1999, 2005 with Tony Jeffs), The Art of Helping Others (2008, with Heather Smith), Youth Work Practice (2010, edited with Tony Jeffs), Journeying Together (2011, edited with Alan Rogers) and Youth Work and Faith (2015, edited with Naomi Stanton and Tom Wylie). [Click for a full listing]. I am currently working on a new book with Tony Jeffs that explores the need to reimagine education.
Educated at the Cavendish School, Hemel Hempstead and Lancaster University (Furness College), I undertook my doctorate at Goldsmiths, University of London.
I now live on a farm in South Ronaldsay (one of the 40-plus islands that comprise Orkney).
Educational and developmental projects
I have worked in careers advice, youth and community work, and education programmes. The first of the latter was a Department of Education and Science, England (DES) funded developmental project focused on political education. It was based at the National Association of Youth Clubs (1978-81).
A second DES developmental project (1981-85) took me to the YMCA College, London. The team’s task was to develop and run a new distance-learning programme focused on the professional training of youth and community workers and community educators. I finished working for the College 39 years later (in 2020). Major reductions in government support for community learning and development, as well as for work with young people, meant the programme and the College were headed for closure. [It finally shut its doors in 2025]. Over 1500 practitioners had passed through and graduated from the distance learning programme.
The third Department for Education (and Big Lottery Fund) project involved a critical evaluation, undertaken with Jean Spence, of the myplace initiative (completed in 2011).
Finally, I also worked for Developing Learning (2013-21), a small, London-based consultancy and development company specialising in pedagogies for change (another organisation now uses the name). Some time before that, I was also a visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde.
Other activities included chairing the Two Towers tenants’ cooperative in Bermondsey (which managed the tower blocks pictured above) and the Community and Youth Worker’s Union (now part of Unite). I have also served on the editorial board of Youth and Policy and been a Resident Friend at Westminster Quaker Meeting House.
Current projects
Since 2019, I have lived in St Margaret’s Hope, South Ronaldsay. While somewhat different to, and 700 miles from, London, we do share some similar challenges, such as fuel poverty and major housing shortages. One of the projects I am involved in is seeking to establish a community-led, affordable, fully rental cohousing initiative (Hope Cohousing). I am also a trustee of the Cromarty Hall, which has been a centre for community activities since 1878.
St Margaret’s Hope, like Stromness to the west, is a magical gateway to the Orkney Islands. A new project, Exploring South Ronaldsay, focuses on the history and the lived experience of South Ronaldsay and Burray over the last 13,000 years or so (starting in Palaeolithic times). Designed for both Orkney residents and visitors to the islands, it features various archaeological sites, churches, schools, listed buildings, and walks and other activities to enjoy. Look out in particular for the listening walks and a new page on the history of Burray and South Ronaldsay, which now covers 1472-1799. This was when Orkney became part of Scotland (rather than being Norse or, before that, Pictish).
Opening image: Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash.