“We Need to Talk About It!”: Doing CYC as Politicized Praxis

Abstract

Like many others seeking to make room for alternative voices in the narrow canon of CYC theory and practice, our work is steeped in theoretical and activist perspectives on colonialism, neoliberalism, normativity, social power, and social change. This critical, multidisciplinary lens is too often cast outside the realm of authentic CYC. In this article, we share our simultaneous struggles with and passion for our work and the CYC field and consider what can be gained from a critical ethic of practice, research, and activism. Our transtheoretical framework, drawn from Indigenous, postcolonial, queer, feminist, and poststructural perspectives, helps us unpack how coming together critically, hopefully, productively enables us to trouble exclusionary notions of CYC. We present vignettes from our practice and research that explicitly challenge the assumption that critical practice is somehow less effective and less responsive to the realities of the diverse children, youth, families, and communities with whom we work.

An Ethos for the Times: Difference, Imagination, and the Unknown Future in Child and Youth Care

“…I am not asking these questions as a judging outsider, but rather as one who is firmly embedded in the field and implicated in these practices. This questioning approach to practice is in keeping with a critical ethics of practice (Jeffrey & Nelson, 2011;Rossiter, 2005;Skott-Myhre & Little, 2014;White, 2011), where the confusing, messy, and contradictory nature of "caring" practice requires ongoing interrogation, critical reflexivity, and a high tolerance for uncertainty and contradiction.…”

“…These are complicated and troublesome questions that require richer, more politicized conceptualizations of practice that go beyond the articulation of professional ethics and competencies (Little, 2011;Loiselle et al, 2012;White, 2007). In other words, we need practice and pedagogical frameworks that can help us to engage with unprecedented levels of complexity.…”

“…As Chapman, Hoque, and Utting (2013) put it, "white people's naming of racism [frequently] contributes to their exaltation as moral and as on the side of justice" (p. 35). I will say a bit more about how complicated all this is (see also Hoskins, 2012;Skott-Myhre & Little, 2014), but for now, I will just note that Child and Youth Care, as a professional field of helping, is never innocent or outside of this colonial history (Little & Walker, 2014;Loiselle, de Finney, Khanna, & Corcoran, 2012;Saraceno, 2012;SkottMyhre, 2006).…”

“…The field of CYC, like most fields of professional helping, has emerged out of a Euro-western, liberal humanist tradition and has been strongly influenced by colonial logic and the ideals of the Enlightenment (de Finney et al, 2012;Saraceno, 2012;SkottMyhre, 2006). Among other things, this includes the acceptance of the bounded, autonomous, and individual Western self as natural and desirable, coupled with an unquestioned faith in the value of professional interventions and expertise (Wexler & Gone, 2012;White, 2011).…”

“…The creative work of Julian Stodd, who writes (and illustrates) a blog on the topic of the social age, social leadership, and collaborative learning, has also been an important touchstone. I am also building on the important work of many CYC scholars who have been thinking and writing about diversity, ethics and, sociopolitically informed approaches to practice in theoretically robust and imaginative ways (deFinney, Little, Skott-Myhre, & Gharabaghi, 2012;Hoskins, 2012;Pacini-Ketchabaw, 2014;Skott-Myhre & Little, 2014;Kouri, 2014;Loiselle et al, 2012;Newbury, 2009). …”