This paper seeks to look at youth justice (YJ) personnel training and education and the recommendations about it made in Time for a Fresh Start.
The pedagogic tensions that currently shape YJ training are described – particularly those around the question of instructionalism vs education and what “specialist” means in the context of YJ.
The paper suggests that the authors of Time for a Fresh Start missed the opportunity to better serve the public and young people's interests by neither acknowledging the pedagogic tensions nor articulating what a “specialist” “YJ” professional training can mean in twenty‐first century England and Wales.
The paper highlights an urgent need for an open debate between academics, practitioners and policy makers about YJ pedagogy.
