Approaches To Youth Participation In Youth And Community Work Practice: A Critical Dialogue

This publication reflects a dialogue held between a colection of practioners from across the world focusing on the principle of “youth participation”, while reflecting in detail on its meaning and the various understandings of its use and application in the practice of professional youth and community work. The dialogue takes the form of a moderated discussion between authoritative voices in the fields of youth and community work, who are both practitioners and academics. Critical dialogue (Freire 1972) is the proposing of provocative questions and reflecting on them critically, enabling the responses to challenge and inform future action. Critical dialogue is a common practice within youth and community work. The publication is a transcript of this dialogue, with minor edits for clarity.