find the right learning experience for you

With its strong emphasis on more equal relationships, learning cultures, well-being and ethical purpose, social pedagogy has profound implications for leadership across all levels of an organisation. Its concepts and principles apply not only to the people you support in practice but equally to how you work within your team and collaborate with other professionals.

Over nine three-hour sessions, you will explore how key principles in Social Pedagogy and Human Learning Systems translate into leadership practice – what this means for you, your team, the wider organisation, and most importantly how relational leadership benefits the people your organisation supports. We use experiential learning activities, group discussions, theoretical inputs, reflection and action planning, and build an increasingly strong peer learning community in which participants take on greater responsibility for supporting each other’s development.

Senior managers, team leaders and others in leadership roles across human services.

When working in complexity – where challenges are dynamic, interdependent and often unpredictable – learning becomes a critical means for navigating uncertainty, adapting to change and finding ways forward together. This course is for leaders who want to make learning a genuine organisational strategy, not an occasional activity.

Leading with Learning supports you in reflecting on how your organisation currently enables learning – or limits it. It explores how different forums such as supervision, team meetings, induction and informal conversations can be developed into connected learning cycles that enable growth across all levels of the organisation. You will leave with practical tools and a clearer sense of how to create meaningful learning spaces that go beyond training.

Leaders and managers in health and social care, public services, community work or related fields who want to embed learning as a core feature of their leadership practice.

The Diamond Model is one of the most powerful and widely used concepts in social pedagogy. This six-session programme introduces participants to a range of tools and approaches for developing genuinely relational practice even in complex, high-pressure environments.

Drawing on social pedagogical theory and the Diamond Model’s five dimensions – well-being and happiness, holistic learning, authentic relationships, empowerment and positive experiences – this interactive course focuses on the central role of relationships in working with individuals, families, teams and organisations. We know that trusting relationships matter deeply to the people accessing social care, and our course is designed to strengthen your capacity to build and sustain them.

Practitioners and practitioners-in-training working in social care, educational settings, across public services or related fields who want to develop a deeper relational approach.

What if we could find the courage to address the elephant in the room constructively? What if we could have meaningful conversations about difficult issues in ways that actually improve the relationships between us? These are the questions at the heart of this experiential online learning programme, tailored to the particular professional context of social care though applicable far more widely.

Over six three-hour sessions, you will develop your skillset and gain first-hand experience of the benefits of having courageous conversations both within your organisation and with the people you support. Drawing on communication theory, conflict resolution methods, self-reflection and peer learning, you will plan and carry out small real-world micro-interventions between sessions, bringing back your experiences to share and learn from with the group.

Anyone working in social care, public services, community work or related fields who wants to communicate more constructively, address difficult issues with greater confidence and strengthen relationships.

There is growing recognition that children, young people, adults and their families are too often excluded from meaningful participation in the decisions that shape the services they receive. This intensive learning programme is designed for practitioners who want to change that by developing genuine co-production that makes a real difference.

Drawing on social pedagogical principles, you will explore what co-production really means in practice, how to address issues of power and hierarchy and how to create the conditions for authentic participation. You will learn from a variety of experiential methods, group discussions and real-world examples, thus gaining a first-hand understanding of what it feels like to be genuinely included – so that you can create those conditions for others.

Practitioners, team leaders and managers in health and social care, education, public services, community work or related fields who want to embed meaningful co-production in their practice.

Our Erasmus+ funded Massive Open Online Course is available to anyone, anywhere in the world. Developed by us here at ThemPra in partnership with eight organisations across six European countries – including the University of Central Lancashire, UCC Copenhagen, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Ghent University, Masaryk University and KJSH Verbund in Germany – it offers a unique and comprehensive introduction to social pedagogy.

The MOOC videos cover the history, philosophy and key concepts of social pedagogy across different countries, with examples from various practice contexts. You can work through it at your own pace and return to it as often as you like. A certification option is available for a fee of £36.

Students, practitioners, team leaders and managers in health and social care, education, public services, community work or related fields who want to broaden their horizon, learn more about and be inspired by social pedagogical practice across Europe.