Welcome to youthwork @ the encyclopedia of informal education. On this page we provide some links to materials concerning the theory and practice of youthwork held within the encyclopedia.
introducing youthwork
What is youthwork? How has it developed? Includes a guide to further
reading.
school-based youthwork
The growth of youthwork in schools and current practice reviewed + an
annotated bibliography.
detached youthwork and project work
The background to the development of the work + a full annotated
bibliography concerning theory and practice.
club work
An exploration of the development of club work with links to key youthwork
writers and archived youthwork materials.
young people, informal education and association: Mark K. Smith argues for the recovery of association as a central theme in youthwork, and the need to re-embrace the notion of the club.
summer camps, camp counselors and informal education: We survey the development of organized camping and examine proposals for youth summer camps in England.
The problem of 'youth' for youthwork
The full text of the Youth and Policy 63 article by Tony Jeffs
and Mark K. Smith that argues 'youth' has become a deeply problematic notion and
that just as 'youthwork' appeared at a particular moment, so it will disappear.
Jettisoning the obsession with age-specific activity allows workers to focus on
education and association and, in so doing, helps all to create for themselves,
in the words of Margaret Simey, ‘a life worth living’.
Lily Montagu
A pioneer of youthwork, one of the founders of the National
Organization of Girls Clubs (now Youth Clubs UK) and a key figure in the
development of Jewish youthwork. A short biography and bibliography prepared by
Jean Spence
Robert Baden Powell
the founder of Scouting.
Josephine Macalister Brew
pioneer of informal education and of youthwork.
Lily Montagu
a pioneer of youthwork.
Charles Russell
Writer of a classic text on boys' club work and innovator in practice.
Tom W. H. Pelham
Writer of one of the first texts on boys' club work and and an important
figure in the development of the work.
Maude Stanley
A key figure in the development of girls' club work.
Baden-Powell, Scouting, Guiding and Covent Garden
boys’ club work in central London
Lily Montagu and girls' club work
Emmeline Pethick and work with girls and young women
St Annes, Soho and the development of youthwork
Maud Stanley and work around the Five Dials
Maud Stanley and the Soho Club and Home
West Central Jewish Youth Club and Settlement
Jeffs and Smith - the problem of
'youth' for youthwork
Article argues that 'youth' is now a deeply problematic notion and just
as 'youthwork' appeared at a particular time, so it will disappear (1999).
Montagu - The girl in the
background
Lily Montagu's seminal (1904) piece on the working with girls and young
women.
Pethick - Working girls'
clubs
Fascinating and important exploration of work undertaken by Emmeline
Pethwick ) and Mary Neal (1898).
Russell and Rigby - the aims
and growth of lads' clubs
A classic statement of the aims of boys’ club work taken from Chapter 3 of
Charles E. B. Russell and Lilian M. Rigby’s book, Working Lads’ Clubs
(1908).
Smith - creators not consumers.
rediscovering social education
Full version of this 1982 youthwork text
Smith - developing
youthwork. informal education, mutual aid and popular practice
The full text of the 1988 edition is now on line.
Stanley - the way to
start and run a girls' clubs
Maude Stanley’s (1890) handbook Clubs for Working Girls was the first
substantial exploration of what was involved in girls’ club work. Here we
reproduce Chapter II. In it Stanley sets out her view of some of the key
characteristics of such youthwork
Stanley - 'night schools'
This piece provides an insight into the way in which parish visitors
approached their tasks – in particular, how they related schooling and club work
to outreach. Taken from Chapter IX of Maude Stanley’s (1878) Work About The Five
Dials, London: Macmillan.
Sweatman -
youths' clubs and institutes
Arthur Sweatman’s (1863) groundbreaking paper was the first to describe and
advocate club provision for youths. It provides a particularly helpful insight
to some of the activities of early clubs and institutes.
Note: This page is part of our virtual walk around the history of informal education (in central London).
Walking for real: If you would like to do the informal education walk for real then why not join us on our next scheduled walk. It's free! Follow the link for joining details.
