Mr Nigel Godfrey
Lecturer
Youth work
Department of Social Work Counselling & Social Care , School of Childhood and Social Care
I am a senior lecturer in youth work. I joined UEL in November 2009 and teach on the youth and community work programme, reflecting over 20 years of youth work experience in East London.
Areas Of Interest
- Youth Work
- Residential and outdoor experiences
- Youth Participation
OVERVIEW
I joined UEL in November 2009. I was recruited to teach on the youth and community work programme, reflecting over 20 years of youth work experience in East London. My youth work career began in 1986, when I started teaching water sports in London's Docklands and volunteering as a part-time youth worker in Brick Lane. For 15 years, I then worked for Oxford House Youth Club in Bethnal Green, before managing the detached team for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in 2000.
From 2000-2009, I worked as a youth service manager for the London Borough of Redbridge. My first 3 years with Redbridge were spent co-managing the borough's detached / mobile unit team, before moving on to youth involvement and voluntary sector capacity building. My role included overseeing the Youth Opportunities Fund. Towards the end of my time with Redbridge I advanced to Youth Officer, and my remit expanded to include; Information and Advice, disability work, child protection, quality assurance, workforce development and Extended Schools.
In 2003, I successfully completed an MA in Applied Anthropology and Youth & Community work from Goldsmiths, University of London. In 1996, I graduated in Leisure and Tourism management from the University of North London and in 2000, I gained a certificate in Counselling from Waltham Forest College.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Youth work continues to be my passion. I believe in the importance of keeping informal education both accessible and fun. I remain convinced in particular of the power of residential and outdoor experiences and currently this is my research interest.
Youth participation is a particular speciality of mine. For example, in 2006 I helped the Methodist Church develop a new £4 million youth participation strategy.
Other consultancy roles I have fulfilled previously, include evaluating Tower Hamlets' Sure Start programme and guiding South Hertfordshire's multi-agency youth provision action plan.
TEACHING
MODULES
- ED1000 Critical Reading and Writing
- ED1017 Youth Culture and Policy
- ED2041 Anti- Discriminatory Practice
- ED3026 Managing and Leading Youth Work
Publications
The last four years of publications can be viewed below.
Full publications list
Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications
- Could the Comfort Zone Model Enhance Job Role Clarity in Youth Work? Insights from an Ethnographic Case Study of the United Kingdom-based National Citizen Service Youth. 3 (3), pp. 954-970. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth3030061