Author Archives: Amy Lynn

The International Journal of Social Pedagogy (IJSP) is inviting proposals for a special series titled ‘The Loss of the ‘Social’ in Social Pedagogy and Social Work? Implications and Future Directions’. The series will explore how the social, relational, and community-based foundations of these professions are being challenged – and how they might be revitalised. Read the full call for proposals.

Social pedagogy and social work have historically been rooted in values of inclusion, solidarity, and collective care. However, in recent years, these professions have increasingly been shaped by individualised, clinical, and managerial approaches. Frameworks such as trauma-informed care and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have gained prominence, often sidelining the broader social and political dimensions of practice.

This special issue asks what happens when the social mandate of these professions is lost, and and crucially, how can we reclaim it?

What the editors are looking for

Guest editors Mark Smith (University of Dundee), Sebastian Monteux (Abertay University), and Mie Engen (Aalborg University) welcome contributions that critically reflect on:

• The political, economic, and epistemological shifts affecting social pedagogy and social work
• How the ‘social’ has been conceptualised, lost, or reimagined across different national and cultural contexts
• Practice-based examples that resist dominant paradigms and centre relational, community-rooted work
• Philosophical and theoretical reflections on the future of the social professions

The editors are particularly interested in work that challenges the dominance of psychological and public health discourses, and that foregrounds relationship-centred, socially engaged practice.

Who should submit?

This call is open to both new and experienced authors. The journal encourages submissions from practitioners, researchers, and educators working across disciplines and sectors. Support is available for those less confident in academic writing or writing in English, and the editorial team is happy to discuss ideas in advance.

Submission to this special issue

Expressions of interest

Please send early expressions of interest to the IJSP Editorial Office (editors@internationaljournalofsocialpedagogy.com) by October 31st 2025 in the form of an abstract of 300-500 words, up to six references, and a 50-word biographical statement.

Full-draft submission deadline

Authors will then be invited to submit a full draft for editorial review by April 30th 2026 through the journal’s online submission system. Please consult the notes for authors on the journal’s webpage at https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/ijsp/.
Pre-submission enquires about your ideas are welcomed by emailing the journal, who will be happy to provide further guidance. The journal is keen to encourage new and existing writers and as such we can offer support in a variety of ways, e.g. for new writers, or for writers who are less confident about writing in English.

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About the journal

The International Journal of Social Pedagogy is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by UCL Press. It is free to publish in and free to read, and it welcomes contributions that explore social pedagogy in its broadest sense—from early childhood to elder care, from theory to practice.

UCL Press is delighted to announce the appointment of Prof. John Gray and Prof. Miguel Pérez-Milans, both from UCL IOE, as joint editors-in-chief of the open access journal London Review of Education. With their extensive expertise and commitment to educational research, they bring a wealth of experience that will help shape the journal’s future while maintaining its core values of openness, diversity, and scholarly excellence.

Commenting on their appointment, they said:

‘We’re both delighted to have joined the LRE, one of the most exciting open access journals in the field, and we look forward to championing the journal over the coming years and extending its global and disciplinary reach.‘

They replace Prof. Hugh Starkey, who was editor-in-chief from 2014, and oversaw the journal’s transition from UCL IOE Press to UCL Press in addition to its transformation into a fully open access journal. We thank him for his long tenure as editor-in-chief.

Looking Ahead

Under the leadership of Professors Gray and Pérez-Milans, LRE will continue to champion high-quality, interdisciplinary research that challenges and informs educational debates worldwide. Their expertise in language, discourse, and pedagogy will further enrich the journal’s scope, ensuring it remains a vital platform for educators, researchers, and policymakers engaged in shaping the future of education.

We look forward to the innovative perspectives they will bring and invite researchers from around the world to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on education through LRE.

Find out more about the journal at journals.uclpress.co.uk/lre

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About the Editors

Professor John Gray is a Professor of Applied Linguistics and Education at the UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics. With a background in English language teaching and teacher education, he has worked extensively in Spain before transitioning to higher education. His research explores the intersection of language, culture, and pedagogy, with a particular focus on language teaching materials and teacher identity.

He has authored several influential works, including The Construction of English: Culture, Consumerism and Promotion in the ELT Global Coursebook (2010) and Social Interaction and English Language Teacher Identity (2018). With experience serving on editorial boards and research councils, Professor Gray brings a deep understanding of linguistic education and its broader social implications to his role at LRE.

Professor Miguel Pérez-Milans is a Professor of Language, Discourse and Communication at UCL Institute of Education, where he also co-directs the UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics. His research delves into the intersections of language policy, discourse, and urban multilingualism, examining how education and language shape social identities and power structures globally.

His editorial experience includes serving as Editor-in-Chief of Language Policy (Springer, 2020-2025) and co-founding Language, Culture and Society (John Benjamins, 2019-2024). His global academic journey, with positions at universities in Madrid, Hong Kong, and London, reflects LRE’s commitment to fostering international collaboration and dialogue in education.

About London Review of Education

London Review of Education is a fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal that provides a diversity of perspectives on all types, sectors and phases of education. It is free to read and free to write for; there are no article processing charges.  Founded in 2003 by the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), but independent from it, LRE maintains the Institute’s principled concern for social justice.

To mark Peer Review Week 2024, Amy Lynn caught up with Claire Cameron and Gabriel Eichsteller, editors of the International Journal of Social Pedagogy to discuss the importance, challenges and considerations of peer review.

Amy Lynn (AL): What are the challenges with getting a good peer review?

CC/GE: There are two main challenges: Good reviewers are often very busy academics and have limited time to undertake extra work such as doing a thorough peer review. Also, particularly for niche topics, it can be hard to find peer reviewers who have just the right mix of expertise. Particularly as an international journal, we rely on reviewers who have a detailed understanding of the authors’ national context as well as thorough thematic expertise.

AL: How do you select reviewers for each paper?

CC/GE: We often select editorial board members or previous authors as reviewers, so have built up a pool of reliable reviewers over the last 12 years. We also ask them for recommendations from within their professional networks. And we draw on our own professional networks within the editorial team. Every now and again, we need to do a bit more research to find potential reviewers who have the right expertise.

AL: If you could give three key points for reviewers to consider when they are writing what would you say?

CC/GE: A lot of authors tell us that the peer review process hugely adds to the quality of their publication. And it helps us as editors make sound decisions. That’s easiest when reviewers are constructive (pointing out how authors can strengthen their argument rather than critiquing what’s wrong), are clear and specific (so that authors know exactly where their argument might lack focus or what they might not have considered), and focus on the content and contextual factors that an international with a variety of different backgrounds might need to be aware of.

AL: How would you encourage early career researchers to get involved in the peer review process?

CC/GE: Ask to read a few initial submissions and practice your critical thinking skills, compare the review recommendations you would give with the review reports submitted to the journal, and then check out how these are reflected in the published manuscript. You could also do a peer review together with a more experienced colleague. Definitely play to your strengths, so you can approach journal editors and offer to review any submissions that are clearly within your area of expertise. You can also ask for guidance from the editors and for feedback before you log your peer review. Even some very experienced peer reviewers ask every now and again whether their reviews are sound. And don’t worry about getting it wrong! Authors might disagree with your comments but will reflect on them (which is important), and editors usually appreciate different perspectives and interpretations, which enable them to make better publishing decisions.

AL: How should authors consider peer review comments when revising their paper?

CC/GE: Consider them a gift and try not to become defensive. Instead, read them with a focus on how these comments can help you write an even better paper. Peer reviewers are reflective of your paper’s future readers, so each review tells you something important about how your argument will be received and what you might need to strengthen. Remember that the world’s greatest novelists go through loads of edits before their work is published. It’s an essential part of the writing process.

AL: This year’s theme for peer review week is Innovation and Technology in Peer Review. With the advent of A.I. tools to assist writing up research, do you imagine A.I. could be used to provide a good review?

CC/GE: A.I. can be really helpful in some respects, such as improving an article’s structure and focus, ensuring that the writing is clear and concise, that spelling, grammar, referencing styles, etc. are correct. As A.I. has been trained on an incredible amount of publications, it can also potentially help interrogate an article’s rigour. So it can add to the review process in several important ways. However, I don’t think it can replace the professional judgment which a good peer reviewer can provide, because some of that is about the wider contribution to their field’s discourse and how well this paper might fit into that.

AL: Do you have a message for the journal’s peer reviewers?

CC/GE: You have helped us bring out the very best in the authors who have published with us! I’m hugely appreciative of your reviews – not just because they improve the quality of the papers we accept, but also because they reflect social pedagogical principles of being constructive, supportive and collaborative.

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About the editors

Amy Lynn is Journals Development Editor at UCL Press. Her portfolio covers a variety of topics includes UCL IOE’s flagship journal London Review of Education and the International Journal of Social Pedagogy.

Claire Cameron is Professor of Social Pedagogy at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL IOE. She is co-editor of the UCL Press open access books Transforming Early Childhood in England (with Peter Moss) and Social Research for our Times (with  Alison Koslowski, Alison Lamont and Peter Moss) in addition to co-editing International Journal of Social Pedagogy..

Gabriel Eichsteller is co-founder of ThemPra Social Pedagogy, a social (pedagogical) enterprise supporting the development of social pedagogy in the UK through short courses, capacity-building programmes and strategic development. He is also co-editor the International Journal of Social Pedagogy.