The Educateur Returns to America: Approaching the Development of Professional Child and Youth Care Cross-Culturally Through ILEX

Abstract

Issue Title: Festschrift for Jerry Beker, Volume 2

Following a brief discussion of the historical roots of the educateur as a child and youth care work professional and a description of the ILEX program, the article compares American and European approaches to group care as experienced by visiting educateurs. Included are the philosophical frame of reference, the role of the worker, techniques, pedagogical action, and agency structure and orientation. The impact of the program on the European participants and its implications for practice in group care settings in the United States are discussed.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]