Sustainability and Social Justice
BECOMING A YOUTH WORKER IN A UNIVERSITY-BASED COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Document Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
Expert youth workers appear to have a magical ability to read young people’s minds and understand their motivations and triggers. When confronted with a difficult or potentially harmful situation, these youth workers are able to “diagnose” what is happening and choose effective responses more times than not. Unlike novices who can get stuck in figuring out what to do and sidetracked by a desire to be liked by the youth, experts steadfastly keep the young person’s interests and well-being at the center of their analysis and actions. How does one become such a youth worker? Are some people just born for this work? Is time on the job what it takes to eventually “get it”? Is there a role for higher education to prepare youth workers to resolve complex dilemmas of practice?. © 2016 Information Age Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
Publication Title
The Changing Landscape of Youth Work: Theory and Practice for an Evolving Field
Publication Date
2025
First Page
109
Last Page
125
ISBN
9781681235653
DOI
10.1108/978-1-68123-565-320251010
Keywords
community of practice, education, youth workers
Repository Citation
Ross, Laurie, "BECOMING A YOUTH WORKER IN A UNIVERSITY-BASED COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE" (2025). Sustainability and Social Justice. 584.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_idce/584
