Social Pedagogical Reflections in a Danish Version - Challenging an Individual Perspective in the Modern World

In Denmark our way of understanding Social Pedagogy has changed during the last 100 years and perhaps especially during the last 40 years. In a contemporary perspective I draw on multiple sources of inspiration. Theoretically I am inspired from especially German social philosophy and from some of the German traditions in the pedagogical field, and I want to show – also in practical examples – how some of this inspiration can be transformed into practice in a way from which both the community and the individual benefit.
Drawing upon 3 different conceptual models of social pedagogy and drawing from my research in a field, where social pedagogy in Denmark takes place, I show that the pedagogical approach in combination with a social philosophical approach seem to have a broader ethical and human potential than former models. Social Pedagogical work is a field based on many different values related to attitudes among the professionals, related to community and community building, and related to relations and social interaction. This calls for reflections on the relation between the individual and the group, on concepts of the ‘other’, on education and professionalism.