Role
Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Department of Social Work, Care & Community. Course Leader for the Masters in Youth Work Leadership and Practice (MAYW) degree. Teaching modules: (i) Research Project/Dissertation, (ii) Professional Practice (Placement), (iii) Work-Based Learning Pedagogy, (iv) Leadership & Management in Practice; and (i) Reflective Practice & (ii) Transition & Practice on the BA (hons) Youth Work Degree. Previously teaching on the FdA Working with Children, Young People and Families; BA Youth Justice; and BA Youth Studies degrees.
Ian is also an active member of several internal groups including the Practice & External Engagement Committee (PEEC) / Strategic Partnership Project (Project Lead) / Knowledge Exchange Seed Funding Panel / Knowledge Exchange Lead; Clifton Project Management Board, Community Identity Workstream; previously a staff representative on the School Employability Working Group (2022-2025) and School Research Ethics Committee (SREC) 2020-2022. He is also the Lead for the Youth Professional Practitioners Network (YPPN).
Ian can offer Consultancy Work & Commercial Activity as a Practice Consultant/Educator & External Mentor. Services include professional advice, guidance and consultancy with individuals, teams, and/or organisations working with children and young people.
Career overview
Drawing from 30 years practice experience of working with children, young people and families in the statutory, third and charity sectors. Actively participated in various Community Engagement activities, a Co-founder and Director of a Children’s Play Organisation, School Governor, Parish Councillor, and former member of a Scottish charitable organisation offering therapeutic opportunities for children/young people experiencing traumatic, challenging and difficult lives. Discipline professionally qualified, a member of various regional, national and international professional associations and bodies. Currently a Director of PALYCW-Professional Association of Lecturers in Youth & Community Work which develops links/collaborations with a wide range of local/regional/national/international agencies/organisations.
Teaching since 2013 joined NTU in 2020 as Senior Lecturer working across the portfolio of 'Youth' degrees. Current research interests/areas include child welfare, kinship foster care, therapeutic practice models for working with children (e.g. DDP – Dyadic Development Psychotherapy), social pedagogy, informal pedagogy, and the notion of the ‘pracademic’ in teaching.
Part way through PhD research study focusing upon contemporary child welfare practice in England drawing upon the notion of Social Pedagogy as a possible conceptually based approach for practice and improved outcomes for children and young people.
"‘Are children's welfare needs, especially those in crisis, being fully met?' A phenomenological mixed-methods exploratory study of the ‘Children's Workforce’ consideration of social pedagogy."
Research areas
I am interested in a range of social justice areas including children, young people and families. Key themes of interest include:
- Informal / Social Education Pedagogies
- Social Pedagogy
- Practitioner Research Methodologies
- Kinship Foster Care
- The 'Pracademic' in HE Teaching.
Current Research Study:
"‘Are children's welfare needs, especially those in crisis, being fully met?'. A phenomenological mixed-methods exploratory study of the ‘Children's Workforce’ consideration of social pedagogy."
Other:
Exploring
- how 'social pedagogy' can transcend across professional and personal domains.
- the notion of the 'pracademic' within the HE teaching environment.
- the lived experiences of 'kinship carers'.
Member of:
External activity
Lead for the Youth Professional Practitioners Network (YPPN).
Practice Consultant/Educator & External Mentor: Offering professional advice, guidance and consultancy with individuals/teams/organisations working with children and young people.
Director (Trustee) of the Professional Association of Lecturers in Youth & Community Work (PALYCW) (Previously Strategic Development Committee member) TAG:PALYCW (tagpalycw.org)
PALYCW Association Representative as Critical Friend and/or Panel Member (Validations) TAG:PALYCW (tagpalycw.org)
Panel Member - Youth Work of the newly formed 'Quality Endorsement Framework (QEF) / Youth Charter' (Training/Funding/Practice) with Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) and Nottinghamshire Police & Crime Commissioner .
External Examiner: University of Bradford – BA (hons) Working with Children, Young People & Families
Reviewer of several journals - Education Sciences (ISSN: 2227-7102): Education Sciences | An Open Access Journal from MDPI / Youth (ISSN: 2673-995X): Youth | An Open Access Journal from MDPI / IJERPH (ISSN: 1660-4601): International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | An Open Access Journal from MDPI / Teacher Education (MDPI) Teacher Education / Behavioural Sciences (MDPI) Behavioural Sciences / Healthcare (MDPI) (ISSN 2227-9032) Healthcare .
Publications
Jones, I. (2025). An Option or Necessity: Can the ‘Informal’ and ‘Formal’ Co-Exist Within Higher Education? Youth, 5(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth5010005
Book Chapter (9): Jones, I (2025) Men's Experiences of Grief Across Dual Emotional Domains IN Jones, K and Robb, M. (Eds.) (2025) Men and Loss: New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity. Oxon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003333999
Jones, I.D,; Brady, G. (2022) Informal Education Pedagogy Transcendence from the ‘Academy’ to Society in the Current and Post COVID Environment. IN Alldred, P & Howard, F (Eds.) Education Sciences, Educating Informal Educators (Special Issue Print). Link to Book Chapter: https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-0365-4222-5
Jones, I.D,; Brady, G. (2022) Informal Education Pedagogy Transcendence from the ‘Academy’ to Society in the Current and Post COVID Environment. International Journal of Education Sciences. Special Issue, Educating Informal Educators, 12, 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12010037
Jones, I. (2021) The Journey So Far: The Pandemic, Life-changes, and what happened to my Haltung? Social Pedagogy Development Network (SPDN) Webinar. Exploring Social Pedagogy Concepts during Turbulent Times. Presenting auto-biographical case study of Academic and Kinship Carer role in the pandemic.
Previous Publications
Jones, I. (2019) What does social pedagogy mean to to you? Social Pedagogy Professional Association (SPPA) Annual Conference. Workshop delivery - bringing together stakeholders, trainers, researchers, organizations and those interested in the notion of social pedagogy and its uses. Lincoln.
Jones, I. (2019) Children's Workforce understanding of Social Pedagogy in England - an exploratory study. Research Poster Presentation - Postgraduate Research Society Conference. Leeds Beckett University.
Jones, I. (2018) Comparative Analysis of Research Fields and Designs. University Centre - Bradford College Symposium.
Jones, I. and Rodgers-Gray, T. (2016) The Faculty Research Centre, 'REFLECT' and the key themes of social pedagogy, safeguarding and comparative practice through international collaboration. "The Bradford College Spring Colloquium - Exploring the Bradford Context". Conference in sharing and celebrating the scholarship and research portfolio of the faculty as 'teacher-scholars'; and showing our role as contributors to the social, economic and cultural life of people and communities locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
Jones, I. (2016) Social Pedagogy, Youth and Social Transformations, a UK context. International Conference on Social Pedagogy: To explore the theoretical concept of social pedagogy, comparative practice and border pedagogy from a UK perspective. Abstract and full paper published in E-Book. University of Girona, Spain.
Jones, I. (2016) Social Pedagogy, Comparative Practice and Border Pedagogy. Children and Young People in a Changing World: Action and Participation. Liverpool Hope University.
Jones, I and Koral, N. (2015) Questioning Teaching and Learning in Youth and Community Work, New Communities of Practice - where should the craft of youth work fit? 'Questioning Paradigms in Youth and Community Work – Imagining a Different Future', Annual Conference: Education Otherwise – Creating Communities of Practice. Professional Association of Lecturers in Youth and Community Work.
Jones, I and Roders-Gray, T. (2015) Recognising Heterogeneity and its Impact. University Centre - Bradford College. The findings of the three scholarly activities in relation to ‘Internationalisation: Comparative Practice in Social Care, Scandinavia and the UK.’
Jones, I. (2015) The Future Challenges both in NGO, Youth Work and Cultural Management, to try to find answers to the current and future questions. 'Future in Our Hands’ Humak University of Applied Sciences, Finland.