Professionals’ perceptions of discursive change in socio-educational practice with care-experienced youth: insights from a participatory, reflective process

The transition to adulthood presents complex challenges for care-experienced youth, including accelerated emancipation, limited family and social support, and persistent stigmatisation. Recent socio-educational approaches emphasise strengths, autonomy, and the role of professionals in shaping life trajectories. This qualitative study explores how professionals perceive and re-elaborate their discursive practices within a participatory, reflective process in an innovation project on care-experienced youth emancipation. The sample included 142 professionals from 36 organisations. Findings indicate that professionals describe a shift in their discursive practices adopting communication strategies that are more empathetic, horizontal, and trust-building. Participants also reflect on how their expectations influence opportunities for youth and the importance of challenging stigmatising narratives. Professionals’ shared spaces for reflection were highlighted as valuable for supporting professional learning and fostering more reflective and situated socio-educational practice. The study provides insights into the discursive strategies that professionals can use and into how participatory, reflective processes can facilitate professionals’ discursive development.