ABSTRACT
This article reflects upon a project on Action Competence in Pedagogical Practice (ACP).
The project developed and tested an intervention strategy in residential homes aimed at
enhancing socially endangered children’s life opportunities through learning and social
inclusion. The ACP intervention was built upon a principle of ‘soft’ evidence-based
practice and upon the premise that innovation based on research-generated knowledge
and success with implementation strategies presupposed a linkage between professionals
and researchers. The study of 200 children and young people in six residential homes was
further based on an experimental design, prompting the participating institutions to
change parts of their practice. Those changes were understood as social innovation which
was at a later stage tested by the practitioners who worked with evidence-based
knowledge about (1) socially endangered children (2) international research findings on
intervention effects and (3) legislation plus a focus on three important factors: school,
friendship and home. The article presents the intervention-model and its phases, its
theoretical base and considers the methodological question, the barriers and eventually
points to some interesting findings.
