Youth Worker:Probably the Most Difficult Job in the World

Guest Editors' NoteOne of the most central principles for social pedagogues is to critically examine their role and the purpose of their practice: What are the social aspects of relevance for their practice? How can they help the children they work with to develop social competences, to feel included in a social network and the wider society, to have a sense of belonging and take more responsibility for their community? To what extent must social pedagogues be advocates for those marginalised within society, be a critical voice that challenges social inequalities? And on the other hand, what pedagogical aspects are important within their work context? How can they create learning opportunities that prepare children and young people for many aspects of life? To what extent are they expected to be formative and socialise children and young people to fit in, and to what extent must their practice nurture the individual's autonomous development? These are not easy questions to answer, and they need to be asked over and over as the answers will change, depending on the individual with whom social pedagogues work, but also their work context and, importantly, the wider societal–political framework, which might make particular aspects more relevant at times.</jats:p

Social exclusion and youth work: from the surface to the depths of an educational practice

The current dominant discourse on social exclusion and youth work depicts inclusion in youth work as an instrument for inclusion in other more pivotal institutions of society. Recent studies have shown, however, that the participation of socially vulnerable young people does not necessarily yield the anticipated inclusions. Suggestions are subsequently been put forward to bring more structure into youth work initiatives. In this article, we assert that this technical reasoning fails to acknowledge the complexity of social reality. By means of a social pedagogical case study of the coming into being of a Flemish youth work field, we show how youth work actors in Flanders have come to reinforce the social exclusions they were so eager to solve. Our findings raise questions about individualistic fallacies and cultural biases in youth work practices and policies that have relevance well beyond the Flemish context

We make the road by walking: challenging conceptualisations of leisure time for children in poverty

In this article, we discuss a research project focusing on the ways in which children in poverty spend and experience their leisure time. We argue that the dominant conceptualisation of leisure time participation reduces poverty to a lack of social and cultural capital, marginalising poor children as passive objects of socialisation. Inspired by the interpretative paradigm of lifeworld orientation, three insights are identified throughout poor children’s experiences, which include the following: (1) challenging taken-for-granted divisions of time; (2) giving meaning to regimes of time as an on-going learning process; and (3) imagining a socially just future