Abstract
This paper reflects upon the underpinning principles of informal education and youth work practice via the philosophical lens of post-structural philosopher Jacques Derrida, by introducing notions of the trace, différance, justice and the gift. Once these philosophical themes are introduced, they are then applied to the underpinning principles of informal education and youth work practice, as introduced by Jeffs and Smith (1999, 2005), paying particular attention to notions of voluntary participation, democracy, fairness, conversation and well-being. The paper asserts that such philosophical consideration of theory, and practice, can provide further insight into important dimensions of youth work, such as how it has been historically difficult to evaluate such practice in a policy domain, as well as pondering the tensions between its principles and pressures to ‘professionalise’ its service. The paper concludes by asserting the importance of informal education and youth work as a form of an improvised ‘gift’, one that is difficult to be subsumed within an overly administrative rational ‘economy’ so as to inform discussion and debate in theoretical, practice and policy domains. The paper argues that the use of a Derridean lens opens up such discussions via new considerations so as to assert the importance of youth work endeavours that challenge economic rationality.
Highlights
Informal education and youth work are important factors that contribute toward the development of many young people transitioning toward adulthood in late modernity (Jeffs and Smith 2005; Hendersson et al 2007; Davies 2010; Williamson 2007)
The paper argues that the use of a Derridean lens challenges the technocratic and managerial economy at play in the evaluation of youth work practices, an invariably violent quantification of reality, where policy tends to challenge informal education principles of voluntary participation with no pre-set curriculum, so as to serve its funding masters
An important principle of both informal education and youth work, provide a sense of openness, a flexibility to work from the position of the learner, to avoid indoctrination and an overt sense of economy, where the actions of the learners are to not explicitly succumb to the wishes of the educator, yet may still become economised if indoctrination is to occur via coercive practice
Summary
Informal Education as a Derridean Gift: a Deconstructive Reading of the Principles Guiding Youth Work Practice Within Neoliberal Policy Regimes. Received: 23 April 2020 / Revised: 3 September 2020 / Accepted: 6 September 2020 / Published online: 15 September 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
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