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 Youth
work is informal education which offers
a distinct approach to working with
young people. Using participatory
methods, youth work enables young
people to develop both personally
and socially.
The
origins of youth work lie in the first
youth clubs and youth organisations
that were established over 100 years
ago, with the philanthropic aim of
providing activities for young people.
These included membership organisations,
like the Scouts, as well as traditional
meeting places such as youth clubs.
More
recently youth work has been carried
out by
a mix of local authority youth services
and voluntary organisations in a variety
of settings including street-based,
centre-based and outreach work. Increasingly
the core elements of the youth work
approach are being used by a wide
variety of agencies working with young
people: Connexions, Youth Offending
Teams, Health Promotion Agencies,
Social Services and others.
The distinctive features of
youth work have included:
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voluntary
involvement: Youth work's
special advantage is that young
people choose to get involved.
This means that quality youth
work must appeal to the enthusiasms
and energies of young people. |
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an
informal style: Youth
work has been called 'informal
education'. This means that the
work is carried out in a setting
that is comfortable for young
people; workers won't insist on
formal language and so on. |
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an
educational purpose:
Whatever the differences in activity,
target group or setting, the underlying
purpose is common. Youth work
is about what has been called
'social' education, 'life skills'
or, more recently, 'soft skills'.
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young
people's participation in decision-making:
Youth work starts from the needs,
interests and concerns of young
people. From the start, young
people themselves are fully involved
in the process, deciding what
and how they learn. |
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a
concern with social justice:
Youth work acknowledges that all
young people are important. Some
face particular challenges in
their path towards adulthood.
This could be through lack of
employment, social skills, through
the circumstances of their lives
or the attitudes of others. Good
youth work practice actively promotes
equality of opportunity and cultural
awareness.
(Edited from Best of Both
Worlds, published by CEE) |
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Youth
work policy
In 2003 the Department for Education
and Skills published Transforming
Youth Work (PDF) which outlined
the values and purpose of local authority
youth services and emphasised the
importance of links with Connexions.
The Strategy identified the common
values of youth work and set out objectives
and standards of provision for local
authority services. It is within this
context that the youth work voluntary
sector in England has to operate.
The UK government's introduction of
the Connexions Service in England
has created a new personal advice,
support and information service for
young people, particularly related
to education, training and employment,
for the 13-19 age range.
Sources
of information
The National
Youth Agency provides
information on all aspects of work
with young people. Their resources
include a statement of values and
principles for youth workers and an
electronic library of resources for
working with young people.
You can find information
about strategic
organisations for youth work,
youth organisations with a focus on
sustainable
development, and government
programmes and departments in the
Links pages.
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