It knows that it has a distinctive methodology, a set of values and a history. These characteristics enabled it to hold at bay the heady, and entirely unrealistic, talk of forming "a new profession" in the early days of creating Connexions.
Eventually the prevailing view was that what was needed was not a new profession but a new professionalism in the different occupational groups which contribute to the Connexions strategy.
The professionalism of youth work is grounded in several features: a comprehensive set of national occupational standards; effective arrangements to validate training, especially in higher education; adherence to an explicit statement of ethical conduct. The 'softer' features include the burgeoning interest, animated by Tony Jeffs and his colleagues at Durham University, in the profession's history and hence the enduring, as well as the changing, nature of its practice.
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