Ethnograpy of professionalization

I have just published a video to youtube in regards to what victorian youth workers think about the professionalisation of their vocation.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=naeYDQ4mxsM

This being said a good ethnographic research piece requires some recomendations to end with... a part i intentionally left out.

As a sector we need to discuss what this means for us. What are your recomendations from this research?

Lisa Darmanin

Jethro Sercombe

Georgie Ferrari on professionalization

if you havent seen these yet here are the clips from the forum held at RMIT on the professionalization of youth work in Victoria. starting with YACVic's CEO Georgie Ferrari.

how do our country counterparts feel?

quite often us city folks can be a little too edgy to get things done that we forget our country counterparts. some of the conversations that i have had recently in the Hume region have enlightened me to the other side of the debate for professionalization.

what would we get out of it? how would you help us out? why fix it it isn't broke? these are just some of the statements that i have heard this week as i have spoken to some of my country brothers and sisters. there is mixed emotion from it would help us get more money in our pay packet. to its just another hair brained scheme that will amount to nothing for the country workers.

if you are from the country we want to hear from you. if you are from the city and have a relevant retort i want to hear from you.

Who should head up the association?

What skillset should the board of a professional association have? What personality traits should they have? What qualifications should be had? Should there be only youth workers on the board or should other professions have a say? Perhaps young people???

If you could describe the perfect board member what would they be like? who do we want heading us as a profession?

Whats the difference?

I have been thinking lately about how the different generations of youth workers see the idea of professionalisation. it is a rather big issue in the academic world of youth work at the moment but i was wondering what other workers thought about it.

Do we use the same language? Are we on the same track? What is your history with professionalism?

Leave me a post with your age and how long you have been in the field so that we can get a feel for how the generations view this question.