This course provides an overview of representations of young people across time and place and the implications for youth work practice. The course opens many lines of inquiry into how diverse young people have been and continue to be depicted and labelled in research and the media. The course considers how these representations effect the lives of young people.  

Adopting a critical stance, you will explore how these representations can be interrogated and analysed to resist the problematisation of young people. You will learn methods and skills that are theoretically grounded, critically informed, culturally responsible, creative and which meaningfully involve young people.  

You will be introduced to different historical and contemporary representations of diverse young people and consider these in relation to your experiences. You will develop skills in identifying, challenging and changing problematic, prejudicial and harmful representations of young people.