Tim Davies on youth work

(If you only click one link in this blog post - click this one...)

I've had a pretty exciting and intense couple of days at the 2gether08 festival of ideas and action in Shoreditch in London.

You can read a bit about what I was up to exploring models for Youth Work 2.0 over here, and creating a pitch for Detached Youth Work in the online social networking space here (all things arising from the Youth Work and Social Networking Research Project).

But rather than tell you all about the amazing potential of social technologies for youth work, I wanted to ask for your help. Your help in finding resources which offer an audience who've never knowingly encountered Youth Work before a sense of what it is about.

I've only really become familiar with what makes Youth Work what it is through my research over the last year - but I find I'm almost always having to spend the first five minutes of any conversation on 'Youth Work 2.0' going round in circles to explain Youth Work as it is now. And right now I can't invite people to search the web to find out more, because frankly, there appears to be a real lack of clear resources presenting what youth work is.

That's why, in the 'just sort it out' spirit of 2gether, I've stared this discussion over on UK Youth Online to invite you to help out and share your resources that tell an audience who have never knowingly come into contact with Youth Work what it is all about.

You could share a video, a presentation, a leaflet - anything that helps tell the story of youth work more... 

[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...).

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.
 

• Should youth workers be using MySpace and Bebo to communicate with the young people they work with?
  
  
• How can PodCasts provide a platform for young people's voices?
  
  
• What role have multiplayer online games and virtual worlds got in work with young people?
  
  
• How can youth work support young people online?
  
  
• How could viral videos help promote a skate park revolution?
  
  
• What's the role of the web in helping young people find places to go and things to do?
  
  

Hopefully, those, any many other things, will be topics of discussion at BarCampUKYouthOnline - an informal participant organised conference on the 17th May 2008.

And you're invited to take part.  

A BarCamp is a particular style of informal conference/gathering where everyone can be part of setting the agenda and leading sessions on the day. It provides a way of having the discussions you really want to have around the topic of young people and the web.

There are more details over at the event website where you can also sign up or just drop me a line if you would like to know more.

And if you can't make it - you can still share the questions you would like to see explored. Drop your thoughts in the comments below... 

I've really enjoyed reading two new blogs over the last few days.

Dave Petrie from Essex has started recording an Educators Journey Through Youth Work using his blog as a tool for reflective practice and sharing.

And Hilary Mason in East Sussex has started Youth Blog from the UK sharing her experiences and reflections as an interim manager in the youth service.

Do take a few moments to read and hopefully subscribe to their blogs - and if you're still thinking about getting blogging, now is the idea time to start and to join a growing community of youth work bloggers...
 

The Innovation Exchange is a new initiative seeking to incubate and support innovations in the third sector. Last week John Craig, Innovation Exchange director hosted a gathering as part of exploring how the Exchange can best support innovation on two themes: Independent Living and Excluded Young People.

This week, programme co-ordinator Raj Cheema has thrown that exploration wider - and is asking for comment and input on ideas that could make a real change for excluded young people.

Raj asks: Can you suggest a single change in policy which would be likely to encourage development of better ways of meeting unmet needs relating to excluded young people?

If you can - then head over to the Innovation Exchange blog and make sure they know about it.... 

The Buzz Off Campaign has had overwhelming press coverage of it's launch - calling for a ban on the use of Mosquito Device - and dialogue has broken out on the topic right across the web.

You can find much of it pulled together via the wonder of Web 2.0 on this site here. 

The big challenge now is to track down these indiscriminate sonic weapons being used against young people - so that we can get them switched off.

To that end, I've just put an online form onto the Buzz Off site where you can 'shop a mozzie' and let us know about devices you're aware of. Whether you've heard a device, seen one on your local shops, or just read in the paper about where one can be found - head over there and let the campaign know about it...

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/.

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 18^th 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)

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...
 

"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.

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? 

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...

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(*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...)

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:

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)