Informal Education, Childhood and Youth Geographies, Histories, Practices

This collection of original chapters brings together cutting-edge research on informal education - that is, learning practices that emphasise dialogue and learning through everyday life. For the first time, it highlights the way in which geography matters to informal education practices. Through a range of examples from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and from a range of geographical contexts, the authors explore the relationship between history, geography and practice in the field of informal education. Case studies include youth work, Scouting, Guiding, Care Farms, youth music programmes and the use of online/information technologies. This book will be of interest to geographers and sociologists of education, childhood and youth scholars. It also provides an engaging resource and collection of case studies for educators, youth workers and other professionals who work with young people.

1. Introduction: Geographies, Histories and Practices of Informal Education; Sarah Mills and Peter Kraftl 2. Inside-Out: Connecting Indoor and Outdoor Spaces of Informal Education through the Extraordinary Geographies of The Boys' Brigade Camp; Richard G. Kyle 3. 'Like a Scout Does... Like a Guide Does...' The Scout of Guide Camp's Lessons of Identity; Catherine Bannister 4. 'Alternative' Education Spaces and Local Community Connections: a Case Study of Care Farming in the UK; Peter Kraftl 5. 'A Powerful Educational Instrument': The Woodcraft Folk and Indoor/Outdoor 'Nature' 1925-1975; Sarah Mills 6. People, Places and Spaces: Education in Robert Owen's New Society; Ian Donnachie 7. The Tarpaulin and the Tablecloth: Cover and Non-Traditional Education in Traditional Spaces of Schooling; Stephen T. Sadlier 8. Limiting Spaces of Informal Learning among Street Children in Peru; Dena Aufseeser 9. Learning How to Behave in School: a Study of the Experiences of Children and Young People withSocio-Emotional Differences; Sophie Bowlby, Jennifer Lea and Louise Holt 10. Education, Technology and the Disruptive Innovations Challenging the Formal/Informal Education Divide; Kate Edwards 11. Rehearsal Spaces as Children's Spaces? Considering the Place of Non-Formal Music Education; Luke Dickens and Douglas Lonie 12. Managing the Spaces of Freedom: Mid-Twentieth Century Youth Work; Simon Bradford 13. Feminism and Informal Education in Youth Work with Girls and Young Women 1975-1985; Jean Spence 14. After School: the Disruptive Work of Informal Education; Richard Davies 15. Catalyzing Cultural Change: Youth-Led Cultural Development as Informal Education; Shanene Ditton 16. Learning in/through Public Space: Young Girls and Feminist Consciousness-Raising; Maria Rodo-de-Zarate and Mireia Baylina 17. Leading the Way: Youth-Led Non-Formal Learning in the Girl Scouts; Denise Goerisch 18. iLearn: Engaging (In)Formal Learning in Young People's Mediated Environments; Gregory T. Donovan 19.Concluding Reflections; Peter Kraftl and Sarah Mills

Sarah Mills is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the Department of Geography, Loughborough University, UK.
Peter Kraftl is a Reader in Human Geography at the Department of Geography, University of Leicester, UK. He has previously published Geographies of Alternative Education and Critical Geographies of Childhood and Youth.

Dena Aufseeser, University of Washington, USA

Catherine Bannister, University of Sheffield, UK

Mireia Baylina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

Sophie Bowlby, University of Reading, UK

Simon Bradford, Brunel University, UK

Richard Davies, Aberystwyth University, UK

Luke Dickens, The Open University, UK

Shanene Ditton, Griffith University, Australia

Ian Donnachie, The Open University, UK

Gregory Donovan, Macaulay Honors College, USA

Kate Edwards, Pearson Education, UK

Denise Goerisch, San Diego State University, USA

Louise Holt, Loughborough University, UK

Richard G Kyle, University of Stirling, UK

Douglas Lonie, National Foundation for Youth Music, UK

Maria Rodó-de-Zárate, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

Stephen T. Sadlier, University of Washington Educational Outreach, USA

Jean Spence, Durham University, UK