THE 8th IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK NATIONAL CONFERENCE and AGM

YOUTH WORK: EDUCATING FOR GOOD OR PREVENTING THE BAD?

FRIDAY, MARCH 17 at THE BIRMINGHAM SETTLEMENT

from 12.45 – 5.00 p.m.

Across at least the last two decades, arguments for the importance of youth work have turned increasingly to its preventative function. This has been especially noticeable in the campaigns across the country to protect and defend youth services. To take but one quote from a young activist involved in the brilliantly organised and ongoing campaign in Brighton, ‘there can be no doubting that the proposed cuts will lead to a marked increase in gang violence, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, homelessness and suicide attempts among young people in the city.’

To what extent is such a claim a hostage to fortune, playing into the hands of those, who wish to fund only outcomes-led, targeted work as well as being deeply difficult to evidence? Or is it, in truth, the only argument, that will be listened to by both politicians and the community? Indeed, is this the reason we hear very little about defending youth work as, for example, education for active citizenship, even as this is rendered explicit through young people taking direct action on the streets?

We will be receiving participants from noon with the conference starting at 12.45 and finishing at 4.30 p.m. Our collective discussion in small groups will be organised around the stimulus provided by Bernard Davies’s historical overview of the tension in practice between education and prevention, followed by a Question Time session with activists involved in campaigns, drawing on their experiences of struggling to defend our work. We will do so in the supportive and reflective atmosphere, which over the years has characterised IDYW debates. A short AGM will follow, closing at 5.00 p.m.

Drinks will be available on arrival and at a break, but as per tradition bring your own lunch.
Cost will be £10 minimum waged, £5 student/unwaged

For directions to the welcoming Birmingham Settlement, 361 Witton Road, Aston, see http://www.birminghamsettlement.org.uk/contact-us/ Click on larger map.

To book a place contact Rachel at info.IDYW@gmail.com

Please circulate the flyers and encourage folk to attend.

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theeighthindefenceofyouthworknationalconferenceandagm [pdf]