‘Does My Haltung Look Big In This?”: The Use of Social Pedagogical Theory for the Development of Ethical and Value Led Practice

The aim of this article is to set out how the use of social pedagogical Haltung can support the exploration of values and how this informs and shapes a practitioner’s direct work. Haltung is a German concept that has no direct English translation but means ‘mind set’, ‘ethos’ or ‘attitude’ (Eichsteller, 2010) and relates to an individual’s value base. Mührel’s (2008, cited in Eichsteller, 2010), sets out that a social pedagogical Haltung is based on the two concepts of empathic understanding and regard. This paper argues that the use of a social pedagogical Haltung gives practitioners a philosophical framework to support the reflection of core values and ethics held on a personal level. It also supports an understanding of how these influence practitioners and students when using ‘self’ in relationship based practice. The understanding of Haltung is important but for social pedagogical practice to be undertaken it also has to be demonstrated by actions. The reflective activity Values Alive in Practice, set out in this article, provides a tool for social workers, practitioners and students to critically explore their own values and practice and make more meaningful connections between their Haltung and their behaviours demonstrated in their everyday work. In the UK, values and standards for social work practice are set out by British Association of Social Work and Social Work England. Arguably, these have, at times, been reduced to a checklist for students and practitioners and can lack more in depth and explicit links to practice. The analysis of practice is more likely to focus on the skills and abilities of practitioners rather than the value base that underpins these. Whilst the understanding and key application of core knowledge and skills is essential for competent social work practice (Forrester et al., 2019), this article argues that it must also be supported and shaped by ethical principles. This article seeks to explore how social workers can be supported to adopt value led approaches to complex work within an outcome focussed culture

Reaching Socially Excluded Young People: A national study of street-based youth work

Detached youth work is at the most informal end of state sponsored interventions with young people outside school. As such it continues to reflect the core philosophy and principles of the traditions of English youth work, which emphasise voluntary involvement by young people. Detached youth work is therefore only possible with the clear and explicit consent of the young people who are worked with. The research was carried out in the context of both the emergence of the Connexions Service and the ‘Transforming Youth Work’ government policy. While the former was clearly committed to engaging a population of socially excluded young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEETs), the latter provided additional funding on the basis of a centrally defined curriculum of purposeful activities. As such the research highlighted the potential contradictions between engaging young people, particularly those groups who traditionally avoid engagement by state agencies - social inclusion – and the regulatory tendencies of New Labour’s social investment state