Reflecting on the Past: Essays in the History of Youth and Community Work - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905541732 ISBN 13: 9781905541737

Publisher: Russell House Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

In order to encourage and foster the study of the history of youth and community work, the British journal Youth and Policy has sponsored five bi-annual conferences on the topic during the last decade, each held at Ushaw College Durham in the UK. Since 2006, the Extension Center for Youth Development at the University of Minneapolis has hosted a similar initiative in the US. This book is the fifth collection of essays developed from the Durham/Minnesota conferences on youth and community work. It is designed to seek out better solutions, more enlightened policies, and ways of working with young people, and it will stimulate dialogue and democracy rather than uniformity and conformity. The essays show the authors' enthusiasm and determination to expose and preserve the cord of history, linking contemporary practitioners with those who came before. Their work is underpinned by a belief that dissent is essential for intellectual and social progress. Contents include: the development of youth work with girls and young women in the 19th century * a journey through the history of social pedagogy * Amelia Earhart, occupation: social worker * from Raikes' revolution to rigid institution - Sunday schools in 20th-century * the UK's HM Inspectorate and youth work, 1944-2009 * anomalous identities, youth work amidst 'trashy daydreams,' and 'monstrous nightmares' * crossing borders: reflections on Scotland's first experimental youth center * the Kingston Youth Service: space, place, and the Albemarle legacy * lessons from the US National Youthworker Education * the rise and fall of the National Community Development projects 1968-1978: lessons to learn? * from Community and Youth Services Association (CYSA) to Community and Youth Workers Union (CYWU): a radical journey subverted.

About this title

About the Author:

Tony Jeffs is an editor of Youth and Policy, part-time teacher Durham University and member of the Institute of Applied Social Research, Bedfordshire University. Jean Spence Durham University School of Social Sciences and member of the editorial board of Youth and Policy. Tracey Hodgson is a member of the Youth and Policy editorial board and a researcher working with Durham University and West End Women and Girls' Centre, Newcastle. Naomi Stanton is researching Christian formation in young people at the Open University. She is also a part-time youth worker and a member of the editorial board of the journal Youth and Policy. Joyce Walker University of Minnesota, Extension Center for Youth Development.

Review:

"The book sets out to chart the history of youth and community work in an engaging and challenging fashion. The 'case' for exploring history is succinctly made... This is a book about the construction of professional identity, positioning, meaning and purpose. It is intended to challenge current thinking and direction in youth and community work with the editors seeing the book as 'oppositional activity'... it foregrounds the importance of engaging with and understanding history in order to build stronger and relevant practice... Matters of professional identity, leadership and the impact of managerialism are debated against a shifting backdrop of competing demands, expectations and priorities... A concern to stimulate debate about democracy, participation, social justice and equality lies at the heart of the volume. I would recommend this book to those in training, practitioners and mangers of youth and community services. Those interested in young people and the factors that can shape and influence their lives will also find interest." Children and Society

About this edition

• Publisher: Russell House Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1905541732
• ISBN 13: 9781905541737
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: Gilchrist Ruth, Hodgson Tracey, Jeffs Tony, Spence Jean, Stanton Naomi, Walker Joyce