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עט השדה
2012
ספטמבר
Professional Discourse
Challenges in the Development and Work Spaces in the Social Realm
Anat Pessate-Schubert, Director, JDC-Ashalim Knowledge and Learning Center
JDC-Ashalim attributes great significance to promoting professional discourse as part of the
overall discussion regarding ways to develop learning channels among professionals who work
with children, youth and young adults in situations of risk and their families. The ninth issue of
EtHasadeh deals with the development of such a professional discourse in the broad sense,
and comprises four parts: Professional Discourse; Field Journal; Knowledge Management and
Development; and a Reading Corner.
This issue reflects the various challenges with which professionals contend in the social action
field. In the first section, Professional Discourse, we elaborate on three relevant issues in the areas
of program development, work and evaluation in the social realm: the building of partnerships;
matching evaluative research to a specialized intervention program that operates in a unique
space – the street; and retaining volunteers from the various generations in the social world.
The issue opens with an article by Omri Gefen and Yoav Holen of the Gevim Group, which strives
to strengthen and deepen partnerships within organizations, communities and families. Gevim
promotes learning and growth processes in the management of interpersonal space, while instilling
a worldview of communication as a core value and as a means of obtaining effective results. Omri
and Yoav portray the unique challenges that those in positions of management, coordination and
inclusion face in the social field, while stressing the need for fostering professionalism as part of a
new perception of the role of a leading player in the social field. They argue that the professionalism
beyond professionalism is the ability to create high value through effective, structured and skilled
management of interfaces and partnerships in general, and particularly in the social field.
The second article deals with the challenge of developing a unique work concept for working with
those youth for whom community and social services have not been successful in providing suitable
solutions. The article focuses on addressing the results of an evaluation study that accompanied
the “Off the Streets” (in Hebrew: “B’roshAher”) program – an intervention program that aims to
reach youth who have been excluded and are marginalized at the social periphery, primarily young
people whose time is spent mostly on the street. The uniqueness of this program, the result of
an initiative and cooperation between JDC-Ashalim, the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, the
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