ABSTRACT
The first professionally qualified youth workers in England completed their studies during the 1940s. At the time, the concept of the full-time paid youth worker was relatively recent, having come into being during the 1920s. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, youth work had been undertaken largely by philanthropic volunteers. This chapter focuses on the training and development of today’s paid workers over six decades later, and looks at some of the current controversies in the field. Although many people who work with young people refer to themselves as “youth workers,” in England the term also applies to a profession with specific characteristics and principles. I will go on to suggest that our predecessors developed values, knowledge and techniques, which are in danger of being overlooked and even forgotten by today’s youth workers.
