Tim Davies on youth work

June 2008 - Posts

• A youth work innovation lab session at 2gether08?

  (Cross posted from Tim's Blog) [Summary: seeking youth workers and young people interested in developing ideas at 2gether 08 on an innovation lab for youth work and digital technologies] I've just been putting together a pitch for a session at the 2gether 08 social innovation event. 2gether describes itself as: A festival of ideas and action. On July 2-3 in London more than 300 people will gather to explore how digital technologies can bring us major social benefits. The festival organisers have invited participants to suggest ideas for sessions and conversations at the event, and I've suggested a session called: Towards an innovation lab for youth work 2.0 - Informal education and work with young people in a digital age Here's what I've put down as the session objective: To sketch out what an innovation lab for youth work and informal education might look like.   Young people (13 - 18) face more challenging transitions and challenging environments in their lives than ever before. Youth work should be there supporting young people's personal and social development in the digital realm, and using digital tools. This session is about creating a vision, and identifying next steps, to bring greater use of social technology into work with young people outside of school settings. The session will involve some inputs about current youth work challenges (video/stories etc.) and will facilitate idea exploration around youth work 2.0. It would be great to see this help in the development of some sort of Futurelab for Youth Work. However, if this sessions does get the green light in some form, I'm going to need some help. I'm not, after all, a youth worker. After spending the last six-months spending time in youth centers and with youth workers I'm convinced that, when it's well resourced and supported, youth work has an amazing amount to offer. But for a youth work innovation lab to really work it's going to need both young people and youth workers directly involved - those who understand the territory from working in it every day. So - if you're interested in exploring youth work 2.0, you could spare some time on the 2nd or 3rd of July, and could get yourself along to 2gether 08 - get in touch and lets see what ideas we can weave into, and bring out of, this rather innovative looking festival... I've started a thread over on the UK Youth Online network for anyone interested in exploring this more, even if you can't make it along to 2gether (or this pitch doesn't end up in the final festival...). Posted Jun 15 2008, 07:03 PM by Tim Davies with 1 comment(s)

• Towards Youth Work 2.0: youth work for a digital age

  Summary: New mini-social network for exploring youth work and new technology launched. Join here...  I've just been watching a fantastic presentation by Ewan McIntosh on how teaching should engage with social media and it provides yet another reminder of the need for informal educators to be developing a clear vision and idea of what work with young people should look like in the digital age. What new ways of working are needed to engage with the 'constantly connected' generation of young people who are using digital devices to be in touch with friends and other peers almost every minute of the day? And what should we be doing to support the young people who remain disconnected - the wrong side of a new digital divide and excluded by lack of access to technology? How can we harness new tools to support young people's creativity and exploration if ideas and identities? How can positive activities and developmental projects 'compete' with the many commercial media and entertainment opportunities open to young people? And how can youth work that involves digital media use it to contribute to young people's positive development - rather than falling into the trap of seeing media as an ends in itself, or casting projects as preparation for a career in the mainstream media? How in a 'red button' culture of interactivity and participation can youth work offer participation that really means something - and leads to true empowerment and change for young people? These are big questions (and there are many more questions to be asked). But - as the Youth Work and Social Networking research has been showing me - the answers are already out there in projects being run, ideas being developed, and conversations over coffee in youth centers between sessions. The challenge is in bringing those answers together. And what better way to try and do that than with the new media technologies we're talking about. So - if you're interested in any of these big questions - and in working out what Youth Work 2.0 could be all about - come and start or join the discussions in the newly created UK Youth Online network.     Posted Jun 09 2008, 08:28 AM by Tim Davies with no comments Filed under: social media, youth work, uk youth online social networking, youthwork 2.0, digital