Mark K. Smith edits infed.org – a space where people can explore education, pedagogy, community-building, and change. As well as this, he is part of a team developing a community-led affordable rental housing initiative close to where he lives in Orkney (Hope Cohousing) and a trustee of the Cromarty Hall Trust. Formerly the Rank Research Fellow and Tutor at the YMCA George Williams College, London, he was also a visiting professor in community education at the University of Strathclyde.
Among his books are Creators not Consumers (1980, 1982), Developing Youth Work (1988), Local Education (1994), Informal Education (1996, 1999, 2005 with Tony Jeffs), The Art of Helping Others (2008, with Heather Smith), Youth Work Practice (2010, edited with Tony Jeffs), Journeying Together (2011, edited with Alan Rogers) and Youth Work and Faith (2015, edited with Naomi Stanton and Tom Wylie). He is currently working on a new book with Tony Jeffs that explores the need to re-imagine education – and recognize why the differences between pedagogy and teaching matter.
Educated at the Cavendish School, Hemel Hempstead and Lancaster University, Mark undertook his doctorate at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has worked in career advice, youth and community work, education projects, and higher education.
Other activities have included chairing the Two Towers tenants’ cooperative in Bermondsey (which managed the tower blocks pictured above) and the Community and Youth Worker’s Union (now part of Unite). He also served on the editorial board of Youth and Policy, and was a Resident Friend at Westminster Quaker Meeting House.