Youth Work in Communities and Schools

Working across professional and disciplinary boundaries, young people and youth workers collaborate to create powerful learning environments in communities, schools, and other settings. This book explores how youth work, as a critical and problem-posing pedagogy, enables young people to transform their lives. The main themes of the book are the historical and contemporary practices and policies on youth work, interdisciplinary and collaborative practices, and education in a socially situated learning environment that is potentially transformational. The result is a critical appraisal of youth work in the context of an increasingly risk averse and surveillant society. Problem posing and critical pedagogy provide a framework for the discussion of a range of contemporary educational youth work practices. Chapters combine the findings of empirical research with practice experience to provide a critical overview of contemporary youth work in Scotland. National policy suggests an increased role for youth work in schools, in health promotion, and in the regeneration of communities, so this volume offers a timely insight into those interdisciplinary practices that contribute to enhancing young people's lives through educational youth work. (Series: Policy & Practice in Education - No. 28)