"Written in an inviting and conversational style, this text introduces foundational research methods for the study and practice of child and youth care, aiming to awaken a lifelong interest in how research can inform, improve, and evoke critical reflection on what child and youth care is, and can be, about. The text builds basic practical research skills, such as how to conduct interviews and focus groups, construct research questions and surveys, recruit research subjects, collect and analyze data, and select qualitative and quantitative research designs to best serve each project. Drawing all its examples from the field of child and youth care and written from an explicitly anti-racist perspective, the text covers the intersections of research and advocacy work and includes a chapter dedicated to Afrocentric and Indigenous research approaches."--

In an inviting and conversational style, author Kiaras Gharabaghi offers a concise guide introducing foundational research methods for the study and practice of child and youth care, aiming to awaken a lifelong interest in how research can inform, improve, and evoke critical reflection on what child and youth care is, and can be, about. Presenting research as a relational tool, the text builds basic practical research skills, such as how to conduct interviews and focus groups, how to construct research questions and surveys, and how to select research designs to best serve each project. This essential volume highlights research as an important element of child and youth care practice, explores different qualitative and quantitative research designs, and examines how they are implemented, including various aspects of recruiting research subjects, the collection and analysis of data, and the limitations of research. Written from an explicitly anti-racist perspective, the text includes a chapter dedicated to Afrocentric and Indigenous research approaches and draws all its examples from the field of child and youth care. The rich in-text pedagogical features include a glossary of key terms and two appendices that detail an ethics protocol and describe a small research project from start to finish. Students of child and youth care, social work, and youth work/development programs are bound to appreciate this engaging and highly readable text. FEATURES: - Covers the politics of research, the intersections of research and advocacy work, and Afrocentric and Indigenous research lenses - Features text boxes showcasing research insights, interviews with child and youth care researchers, and ethical considerations - Accessible for those new to research in child and youth care, while offering insight into how to deeply understand research at more advanced levels of engagement

The first of its kind, this practicum-specific resource serves as an accompanying guidebook for fieldwork, placement, or classroom instruction in child and youth care practice. Child and Youth Care in the Field: A Practicum Guidebook uses critical reflection to facilitate student learning and growth throughout the practicum experience. Students can apply and build upon the theory and skills acquired during their fieldwork by utilizing the engaging workbook features and writing spaces included in the text. This resource helps prepare students for practicum and expand their self-awareness by discussing the challenges and difficulties they will encounter in the field, and by providing insight on how to navigate the decision-making process. With the increasing need for a hands-on resource in child and youth care studies, this book is well suited for first year, field placement, and professional skills courses in child and youth care programs at the college and university level.

This book provides an overview of the core professional issues in the field of child and youth care practice. The author explores themes ranging from relationships and the exploration of Self to career building and field-specific approaches to management. The book is written from a pragmatic perspective, and serves both to advance current thinking in the field about professional issues as well as to provide the student of child and youth care practice and practitioners with practical and accessible approaches to developing a strong and sustainable professional identity. All of the themes in this book are explored within a context of ethical decision-making and practice approaches informed by a commitment to children’s rights and empowerment. Throughout the discussions, concepts and themes are considered in relation to four specific lenses: the power lens, the diversity lens, the language lens and the transitioning from theory to practice lens. These lenses serve to ensure that the reader adopts a critical understanding of the professional issues in the field and is able to develop his or her own professional identity while mitigating the power and identity issues necessarily associated with being a practitioner in a helping profession. This book was published as a special issue of Child and Youth Services.

Approaches to Research in Child and Youth Care in Canada is a fundamental text for child and youth care programs with the aim of making research methods more approachable to students. Priscilla Bengo breaks down foundational research methods in an accessible way and explores the roles of objectivity and logic in sound decision making in child and youth care practices. Opening with the core functions of scientific inquiry in the field, Bengo introduces students to the ethical, political, and cultural contexts of child and youth care research and provides the tools to become a culturally competent researcher. Students will gain a thorough understanding of problem formulation, measurement, and data collection methods for large data sources, and how to work with both qualitative and quantitative data. Grounded with practical examples and exercises throughout, Approaches to Research in Child and Youth Care in Canada is a must-read for research methods courses in child and youth care programs that will build integral research skills for students in child and youth care, social work, and the programs focused on the helping professions.

Provides an overview of the spectrum of concerns within the field of child care in Canada. The book pays particular attention to developments in the field from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.

Critical and postmodern perspectives have been largely underexplored in the field of child and youth care. This book addresses the gap, showcasing cutting-edge approaches to policy, pedagogy, and practice from diverse perspectives and professional settings. The authors of Child and Youth Care challenge deep-seated assumptions about child and youth care by reinterpreting core concepts such as ethics and outcomes and raising questions about underlying goals and premises. Can the ends of practice be separated from the means? For whose benefit are interventions designed? By recognizing a range of social and political influences on children and youth, this volume bears witness to exciting developments in child and youth care.

The first of a two-volume series, Child and Youth Care across Sectors covers a comprehensive, critical, and forward-looking examination of the continuously evolving child and youth care field in Canada. This edited collection guides readers through a wide range of settings and contexts where practitioners are engaged with young people, their families, and their communities. By drawing on a variety of experiences, the authors address crucial topics in today’s child and youth care practice, including gender diversity, anti-oppression, anti-Black racism, and colonialism.This groundbreaking series is the first of its kind to cover the breadth of Canadian child and youth care in its full diversity. Volume 1 considers traditional sectors such as residential care and foster care; often neglected contexts and groups such as French-language services, trans youth, autistic young people, and Deaf communities; and newly emerging and innovative sectors such as cyberspace and outdoor adventure settings. Bringing together top scholars and practice leaders from across Canada, this collection is an invaluable resource for students, practitioners, and educators in the field of child and youth care.

This path-breaking book brings together an international list of contributors to collectively articulate a vision for the field of youth work, sharing what they have learned from decades of experience in the training and education of youth workers. Carefully designed evaluation and research studies have legitimized the learning potential of youth programs and non-school organizations over the last twenty years, and recent attention has shifted towards the education, training, and on-going professional development of youth workers. Contributors define youth work across domains of practice and address the disciplines of knowledge upon which sound practice is based, reviewing examples of youth practitioner development both in and outside of academia. Raising critical questions and concerns about current trends, Advancing Youth Work aims to bring clarity to the field and future of youth work. Advancing Youth Work will help youth work practitioners develop a common language, articulate their field in one voice, and create a shared understanding of similarities and differences. This book is also an invaluable resource for higher educators, researchers, and students involved with youth work.