Listen to thisI have been attending a fairly sophisticated Child and Youth Care conference sponsored by the University of Victoria. I have been a bit perplexed and even put off by the academic flavour of the speeches and workshops, with some exceptions, but I have persevered and even learned some as I simultaneously resisted what I would call the gentrification of our field. I understand such terms as post-modern and deconstructing, I even can grasp post-colonial oppression, but I also need to hear how these frameworks can be embedded in a rigorous way into life space practice with youth and families.
I am also preparing to visit South Africa, where I will be meeting with workers through the sponsorship of the NACCW in South Africa, where the issues of AIDS, poverty, and scarce training have not dimmed an energetic, well organized Child and Youth Care community. This is a country of limited resources but intelligent, committed Child and Youth Care professionals. The commitment to quality Child and Youth Care services to youth and families is unparalleled in any other country I have visited. They probably have the most obvious manifestation of post-colonial and post-modern reality that I have seen, but need a more vigorous, practical explication of Child and Youth Care theory.
I think I'll reread Milan Kindura on the plane trip.
