Tim Davies on youth work

January 2008 - Posts

• Exploring the Positive Youth Development model further

  When Tony Taylor launched some very insightful and detailed discussions in reply to my introduction to the Positive Youth Development model on this blog post, I quickly realised that holding an online discussion on such a complex topic could be tricky. But - social media technologies do offer a lot of new ways of hold discussions - so I thought I would offer one here. I've put the presentation that Sarah Schulman and me gave last Monday online as a VoiceThread. That's a sort of online slide-show you can flick through, but with the added benefit that you can hear our narration of the slides, and you can record or type your own comments against each slide. You can access and join in discussion on the PYD Voicethread at http://voicethread.com/share/45855/. Posted Jan 29 2008, 03:27 PM by Tim Davies with no comments Filed under: positive youth development, voicethread, debate

• Gaming the system: influencing workforce development

  I've just put the finished touches to an interactive online consultation game that aims to gather young people's views on training and development for leaders and managers of services for young people in England. In Youth Workforce Dream Team you get to choose your ideal team of leaders for a youth project, and to select the sort of training you think they will need.  The team you create is entered into a league where others can vote it up or down depending on whether they think your leadership team is well equipped to manage a dynamic service for young people. The choices you make, and the votes that are cast will feed into a research report that will influence the future of training and development opportunities for leaders and managers of services for young people. Create your team now at http://tinyurl.com/243wr7 The consultation side of the site will be open until 18th February 2008. (The consultation is targeted at young people - but response from managers and workers are welcome...) The research report is being prepared by The National Youth Agency and FPM Training for DCSF commissioned research being undertaken by and with the full support of both CWDC and Lifelong Learning UK SSC. Why a game?  I'm always interested in exploring different methods for making consultations accessible and available to a wide range of groups. Sometimes a consultation needs to dig deep into a complex issue - and to empower those responding involves giving them as much information as possible. The catch is, if that information comes as a long list of written facts and figures, it's not helping make the consultation itself more accessible. So, I've been exploring how using 'games' can help facilitate consultations in considering complex topics, but without needing everyone who responds to read stacks of background information. Through a game, information can be made available when it is needed, and some of the 'constraints' and 'context' that otherwise need to be explicitly set out in a discussion, or at the start of a survey, can be built in to the rules of the game. Plus - and this is an important one - games can be fun. The Youth Workforce Dream Team Game If you work with young people in England, it would be great if you could let them know about the game at http://tinyurl.com/243wr7. I've also prepared a pack that can be used to run the game as a 'card game' with a group - rather than as an online game. If you think you could use that and could feed back young people's views before the 18th February then please do get in touch (timd@nya.org.uk)   Posted Jan 29 2008, 02:50 PM by Tim Davies with no comments Filed under: workforce, participation, games

• Now up to 17 reasons to be blogging

  Andreas has offered 10 more reasons for youth professionals to start blogging over at non-formality. Which along with the 7 reasons I shared 10 days ago takes us up to 17. The number of statutory sector youth workers blogging we've discovered still remains at 0, but we're still hopeful and, along with DK and Mike, I'm putting together an offer of support for those who want to get started in the blogosphere. Are you interested in getting started blogging? Use the comments to let us know...   Posted Jan 23 2008, 03:10 PM by Tim Davies with 2 comment(s) Filed under: youth workers, blogging, networking

• Fares Fair for the environment as well...

  "10% [of young people] would support a complete ban on cars if global warming continues to get worse" (Oxfam Generation Why Blog) Yet, alternatives to the car remain unattractive to many - and avoiding getting a car is, for many, a very difficult thing to do. At today's NYA Research Programme Review Day, John Barker presented his recent research into bus travel for young people in the UK. One of the (many) interesting points raised through his presentation, was the way in which pricing schemes for bus travel seem almost designed to push young people to learn to drive and escape 'reliance' on busses as soon as they can. When prices are put up to full fare at ages 14 or 16 - ages when young people are not neccessarily gaining any significant increase in disposable income - bus companies provide little incentive for young people to think about developing their lifestyle to fit with public transport. Instead they create a cost pressure to force young people away from the bus, and to eagerly await the time when they can drive. Surely that can't be good for any of: long term business of bus companies, for creating a more sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to transport and of course, for young people accessing and participating in their communities? To take action: See the UKYP Fares Fair campaign See also: announcing the research on the Aiming High blog here and this post about the research on the innovation exchange site. Posted Jan 16 2008, 08:40 PM by Tim Davies with no comments Filed under: transport, fares fair, travel, bus travel

• One less reason not to be blogging.

  Three days ago I offered '7 reasons why youth workers should be blogging'.  In the discussions that have followed, mostly over here on my main blog, we've explored a number of reasons youth workers may not be active bloggers. Andew K Brown highlighted that the way most statutory sector youth workers are employed may means they're reluctant to blog for fear of 'rocking the boat'. Tony Taylor reflects on the way in which  "in the hurly-burly of practice folk are run off their feet [and] knackered" suggesting that finding the time to blog could be a challenge. DK and Mas both suggest a skill shortage - youth workers are not sure how to blog - and more senior management isn't supportive of blogging as a mechanism of communication and reflective learning. Tony goes on to suggest "the prospect of an upsurge in blogging will be related intimately to a resurgence of collective struggle around the meaning and purpose of youth work." But blogging is not just about identifying the barriers - it can provide a platform for collaboration aimed at overcoming them - and that's just what has happened in this case. As a start on addressing the skills gap, Mas has put together a draft guide on blogging for youth workers - you can find it attached to this post. If you think you might like to start blogging - head on over and take a look at the guide. Does it help you? What more does it need to say? What should the next draft include? You can share your thoughts in the comments on Mas' blog post. As for the comments below (you may need to sign-up and log-in to be able to comment on the C&YPN blogs) - if you're a youth worker it would be really interesting to hear if the barriers about are those that are stopping you from starting to blog? Or are there other reasons we need a collaborative campaign to overcome? What are the barriers to blogging for you?  Posted Jan 13 2008, 01:43 PM by Tim Davies with no comments Filed under: blogging, guides, social media

• 7 reasons why youth workers should be blogging...

  On the back page of this months Youth Work Now Michael Bracey highlights the lack of engagement between youth work and new technology. Search online for 'Youth Work' and you find very little from anyone outside of the world of youth ministry. And I've not yet managed to find a single one of the 27,000 statutory sector youth workers out there blogging about youth work!* When you look at our colleagues in education, not only is there masses of technology innovation happening in places like Futurelab, but the 'eduBloggers' are so active they even have their own awards ceremony for best blogs of the year! So perhaps it's time for youth work to catch up and get blogging. Why should you be blogging?: A blog is a flexible platform for sharing and communication. You've probably seen blogs that are someone's personal diary telling you everything they did or thought this week - but blogging is about a lot more than that. It is about generating communities of practice sharing news, resources and stories. It is about building strong networks and championing causes. And it's about creating the space for innovation, exchange of ideas, and new connections that all spill over into our day-to-day work and make youth work work better. Reason #1: Sharing resources How many different resources have you used in the last month? How many have you put together? How many would others benefit from knowing about and being able to use? With a blog you can share links to useful resources, or, if you've created your own, you can easily upload digital copies and make them available for others to download and use. You don't only have to share the resource, you can also share the story of how you used it to give context to the tools, and you can invite feedback from others through the comments feature of a blog. Try, for example, these resources from a consultation I ran on promoting the local offer... Reason #2: Reflective practice A blog can be your professional reflective journal. It is a space to 'think aloud' about the successes and challenges of day-to-day work with young people. And you can invite others to join you in your reflections through the comments on your blog, or making postings on their own blogs. Blogging has a real role to play in lifelong learning and professional development. Michelle Martin provides some great pointers on blogging for reflection and learning over here... Reason #3: Building networks The chances are that your professional interests are not just in 'youth work'. You might be interested in 'youth work' and 'health', or 'youth work' and 'activism'. You have a network of interests, and there are networks of bloggers out there with interests that overlap with yours. You can use a blog to join in those critical conversations, find and share ideas and to build dynamic and evolving interdisciplinary networks. Plus, your blog doesn't just sit there on the internet linking you to 'virtual people'. You can use it to carry on the conversation after a conference, or to keep in touch with a growing network of colleagues across the country. Reason #4: Innovating and raising the bar Good ideas should spread. If you've had a good idea - share it. Stories of good practice should inspire and challenge us. If you've seen a great example of youth work doing what youth work should - share it. When I say 'share it' - I mean, 'blog it'. A blog gives you a platform to make sure everyone can hear the new ideas, and can see what good youth work can achieve. Reason #5: Sharing positive stories about young people We all know there are too few positive stories in the media about young people. But with a blog you can be the media. What are the positive stories you have to share? Readers of your blog can subscribe to get updates using an RSS reader, or sometimes be e-mail as well. What is your local paper was reading your blog of positive stories? And your local councillors? You might even want to experiment with audio and video and create a vodCast or podCast. Reason #6: Linking with the local community The guardian recently ran a story on the evolution of local 'blogospheres'. Blogging isn't just about talking to people the other side of the country - it can be an effective tool for sharing information locally. Take for example Andrew K Brown's overview of the blogosphere in Lewisham. Does your area have a vibrant community of local bloggers? Could being part of it help you develop links and social capital, and promote a positive local voice for young people? Reason #7: Enhancing your youth work All the reasons above are about why youth workers should have person blogs. But there are many more opportunities to use blogs in your work with young people. Does your youth forum have a blog? How could a blog be used to showcase young people's work? What role does a blog have to play as a portfolio of informal learning? If this group of 9 and 10 year olds can do it, so can you... Why else should youth workers be blogging? I'm sure the list above only touches a few of the reaons you might want to start blogging as a youth worker - if you've got other ideas, do drop them into the comments. And if you're inspired to get started with a blog - do let me know as well - we could try and launch a bit of a learning journey together to get started blogging and building the youth work blogosphere community... --------- (*Are there really no youth workers blogging: I'm very much hoping someone will correct me on this and point me to lots of great youth worker blogs. If you do, I'll link to them here and on a future post...) Posted Jan 10 2008, 03:01 PM by Tim Davies with 5 comment(s) Filed under: professional development, lifelong learning, youth workers, blogging, community, networking

• Positive Youth Development: a new model for youth policy?

  Just before Christmas I put the finishing touches to a literature review co-written with Sarah Schulman on the evidence for the impact of 'Positive Youth Development' programmes. We're going to be launching the research in London on the 21st January (drop me an e-mail if you're interested in coming along) - so I thought I would make use of my first blog post on the CYPN community site to share a little of what the literature review is all about: What is Positive Youth Development? Positive Youth Development as a concept has its roots in US based work with young people. It draws upon ideas from the science of adolescent development to inform the design and structure of 'developmentally appropriate' programmes, activities and settings for work with young people. In the US there is a strong Positive Youth Development that is seeking to create a positive 'public idea' about youth - challenging negative attitudes towards young people and replacing them with a vision for young people as thriving members of communities. In the United Kingdom the recent Ten Year Strategy for young people referenced a number of Positive Youth Development sources when it set out a vision for young people - although the substance of the document was only an incomplete shift towards Positive Youth Development ideas. Why should I care? I first came into contact with Positive Youth Development (PYD) when co-facilitating particition training for health professionals in the US in 2006. Since exploring it further, I've found it to be a school of thought with a lot to offer thinking about young people in the UK: PYD can help us articulate a vision for thriving young people PYD can help us think about what it means for an activity to be structured - or why it is that positive activities will be so positive PYD encourages us to shift from measuring deficit to measuring the positive assets young people develop PYD offers both an intellectual, and a practical, framework for thinking about work with young people PYD ideas shouldn't be wholesale imported into the UK context - but I strongly suspect there is a lot to be gained from a deeper conversation about what they have to offer us. And it's that conversation we're hoping to make a start on on the 21st January in London. (This post was adapted from one to be found over on my main blog at http://www.timdavies.org.uk)   Posted Jan 08 2008, 06:09 PM by Tim Davies with 17 comment(s) Filed under: positive activities, research, positive youth development, structure