Call for papers: The Responses of Social Pedagogy on the Contemporary Challenges of Youth Transitions
Vol. 16, Issue 2 (Year 2026)
Issue Editors: Darja Zorc Maver and Špela Razpotnik
In the focus issue, the authors will concentrate on specific challenges of contemporary society, especially from the point of view of youth transitions (educational and in adulthood). In recent years, many changes connected with the Covid-19 epidemic crisis and its social consequences have arisen. Challenges that existed even earlier became clearer, and inequities between those with sufficient resources to cope with the complexities and consequences of the epidemic and those who lack such resources became even more polarised. In addition, the importance of social background and the limited possibilities of certain social groups to support their children in their transitions to adulthood needs to be reconsidered. In this focus issue, we want to discuss those topics from several perspectives.
One perspective will be the topic of the psychosocial distress of youth and their experiences with different kinds of (formal and non-formal) support. We also want to address the educational system as a possible protective factor for youth (or additional stressors in contrast). We want to discuss the possibilities for building the role of school as a preventive of psychosocial distress for youth. Specifically, we also want to investigate the possibilities for schools regarding the implementation of a trauma-informed approach. We will analyse those aspects of the school system that are already working in line with this approach and discuss what changes would be needed to develop so-called trauma-sensitive schools.
The student population will also be of particular interest to the focus issue. We are also interested in the challenges students face in their prolonged transitions into adulthood. Particular focus will be on how the epidemic and its prolonged consequences changed the possibilities of intersubjectivity and the co-creation of knowledge. Intersubjectivity, according to Daniel Stern, is an emphatic network in which interchanging and co-creating of affects, intention, and attention is taking place in a life-long process. With a strong influence on the creation of self, it is also closely linked to one's mental health. During the epidemic, identity issues and instability, both strongly associated with 'emergent adulthood', had to be dealt with in the context of immense global insecurities and a humanitarian crisis. How did 'social' distancing and other Covid-19 restrictions in social life, during which many Slovenian students returned to or continued to live with their parents, contribute to a rise in mental health issues? We want to address the issue of in what way the crises in 2020-2021 and onward prolong the transitions and are making possible outcomes even more (un)certain.
We would also like to focus on the topic of residential care organisation for youth, especially where we can witness certain condensation of the vulnerability and see in a more transparent way the neuralgic points within youth transition to be discussed.
Through all these focuses, a primary line of thought will also be developed: what is the role of social pedagogy regarding newly emerging social challenges?
Article submission timeline:
30 December 2024: submission of paper title and abstract with up to five keywords [250 words max.]
30 September 2025: paper submission [between 5,000 and 7,000 words]
June 2026: publication of the focus issue of the CEPS journal
Please send the abstract to editors@cepsj.si clearly stating the title of the focus issue.
Manuscripts should be from 5,000 to 7,000 words long, including the abstract and reference list. They should be written in UK English. Submissions should be original and unpublished work not currently under review by another journal or publisher.
When preparing the manuscript, please follow our authors' guidelines, which are available here: https://cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/about/submissions.
