WHY YOUTH WORK? A participatory workshop
with Bernard Davies
Tuesday 5th October 2010, 10.00-13.00
Park Road Community Centre, Elswick, Newcastle NE4 7RW
This workshop is organised by the Developing and Defending Youth Work in the North East. It will provide an opportunity for all those who work with young people and who have a commitment to youth work (as volunteers, paid workers, managers, trainers and educators) to discuss key issues facing us in the constantly changing context for practice and policy.
- Is there something special about the process of youth work? What makes it special? Does it have a purpose and if so what? What do young people actually get out of youth work and the relationships they have with youth workers?
- Can youth work make a difference to young people’s lives? Can we define what is meant by ‘good youth work’?
- What are the success stories of youth work? Can they be put into words? More often than not our work is measured by numbers and by outcomes that have been set by politicians and funding bodies. But what effect does our work really have?
Following an introduction from Bernard Davies, participants will be invited to form discussion groups to explore their experiences of youth work around themes such as:
- Building & sustaining relationships with young people
- Working in groups
- Detached youth work
- Inter-agency working for surveillance
- Meeting young people on their terms vs meeting pre-determined outcomes
We aim to create a report from the discussions at this event to record the fine detail of the youth work process that is often not recognised by the general public and politicians. You will also get the choice to be (or not be) in a discussion group that is video-recorded. We aim to make a DVD to capture the stories that highlight the real value of youth work. Only those participants who give permission will be included in the DVD.
10.00 Tea, coffee & registration
10.30 Introduction, Bernard Davies
11.00 Discussion groups
12.30 Feedback
13.00 Buffet lunch
BERNARD DAVIES has been involved in youth work over many years as a practitioner, manager, trainer, policy-maker, researcher, writer and trade unionist. He has published widely on young people and youth work, including: Threatening Youth; Youth Work: A Manifesto for Our Times; A History of the Youth Service in England; and Squaring the Circle, a recent inquiry with Bryan Merton into the state of youth work.
DIRECTIONS TO VENUE – Coming by car: Just off Scotswood Road, turn off right when heading out of town from Newcastle onto Park Road next to Cruddas Park flats, the centre is half way up the road on the left. Public Transport: next to the No1 Bus route from Newcastle Central station, look for buses heading towards Slatyford or Buddle Road, get off at Cruddas Park shopping centre on Westmorland road. The community centre is just behind the shopping centre.
BOOKINGS – in order for us to plan lunch, please register your intention to attend and state any specific dietary or access requirements by contacting: pearl@thestrategy.org or 0191 2742429, ask for Pearl or Don.
IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK 