Radical Youth Work: identity, politics and justice in education and practice

Presenters: Dr Naomi Thompson, David Woodger, and Lara Pereira (Goldsmiths)

This session will explore the process of experiential group work that is central to the BA Applied Social Science, Community Development and Youth Work programme at Goldsmiths. Running for over 50 years, teaching methods on the programme focus on dialogue, interaction and sharing experiences, as well as models of reflective practice and empowerment. Together with an emphasis on social justice within the curriculum, this approach values collective learning over individual - and the process of learning over its product - representing a challenge to the dominant culture in Higher Education.

In their presentation, Dr Naomi Thompson and David Woodger (Goldsmiths), and Lara Pereira (an alumna of the BA programme), will outline how experiential group work allows students to explore their own experiences of oppression and power in order to reflect on wider power structures and forms of institutional oppression.