Monthly Archives: March 2017

Transformative Youth Work International Conference: Developing and Communicating Impact, 4-6 September 2018

by Tony Taylor

Advance notice of this conference from Jon Ord – hope you will think, if appropriate, of submitting a proposed paper.

The University of St Mark & St John is pleased to announce the hosting of an International Conference on the Impact of Youth Work, from 4-6 September 2018, in association with our partner universities in Estonia, Finland, France and Italy. The conference, supported by Erasmus +, will bring together a range of experts from across Europe and the wider world, to showcase the latest research on the Impact of Youth Work, including publication of the Erasmus + funded 2 year comparative study of the Impact of Youth Work in UK, Finland, Estonia, Italy and France.

The conference is being held at our campus in Plymouth, in Devon, which is located in beautiful South West England. It is situated close to Cornwall, adjacent to the Dartmoor National Park and the historic naval port of Plymouth. The university has pioneered research in youth work and the training of youth workers for nearly 30 years and is proud to host this event.

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This will be the 1st major International conference to specifically address the issue of outcomes and the impact of youth work. The purpose of the conference will be to both promote the Impact of Youth Work and to stimulate debate and discussion about the processes which bring this impact about. The conference is open to youth workers, youth work academics & trainers as well as policy makers.

Call for Papers

The first call for papers will be sent out in May this year.

Confirmed speakers to date are:

Hans Joachim Schild (Ex-Head of European Youth Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe) – The History of Youth Work Impact in Europe

Dr Dimitris Ballas, University of Sheffield – “A Human Atlas of Europe – A Continent United in Diversity”

To register your interest email:events@marjon.ac.uk

MMU BA Y&C course under threat! Advice and support appreciated.

by Tony Taylor

The BA [Honours] Youth and Community course at the Manchester Metropolitan University is facing a precarious future. Against this worrying backcloth Janet Batsleer, Reader in Education and Principal Lecturer, Youth and Community, writes to ask our readers the following question.

What would you design into a Community Education course for the future that builds on the learning of the past 40 years or so? Or would you just close it down?

Your replies should be sent to Janet at J.Batsleer@mmu.ac.uk and would be much appreciated.

 

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Tony Taylor, Jon Ord and Janet Batsleer at the IDYW conference

 

These are indeed troubled times.

The cuts are taking youth clubs back to their Victorian roots – Sue Shanks in the Guardian

by Tony Taylor

Just in case you missed it here’s the link to Sue’s insightful piece in the Guardian this week.

The cuts are taking youth clubs back to their Victorian roots

 

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Sue chats to Malcolm Ball at last week’s conference – ta to Justin Wyllie

 

8th National Conference

by justinwyllie

The 8th national In Defence conference was held at the Birmingham Settlement on 17 March 2017. The theme was “Youth work – educating for good or preventing the bad”. The following are some images from the event.

Still room at the IDYW conference plus can we measure and treasure character?

by Tony Taylor

On Thursday I’m contributing to a Centre for Youth Impact event, ‘The Measure and the Treasure: Evaluation in personal and social development’ in London. It’s sold out. OK, I accept there is unlikely to be a connection. However I will post next week a report of the proceedings and a summary of my sceptical input into the morning panel debate.

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The Measure and the Treasure: Evaluation in personal and social development

The Centre for Youth Impact is hosting a day-long event on the 16th March 2017 focused on issues of measurement and personal and social development.
The day will explore policy, practical and philosophical debates about whether, how and why we should seek to measure the development of social and emotional skills in young people – also referred to as non-cognitive skills, soft skills and character, amongst other terms. We want to structure a thought-provoking and engaging day that introduces participants to a range of ideas and activities. The day will be designed for practitioners working directly with young people, those in an evaluation role, and funders of youth provision.

Speakers and facilitators include: Emma Revie (Ambition), Daniel Acquah (Early Intervention Foundation), Graeme Duncan (Right to Suceed), Robin Bannerjee (University of Sussex), Paul Oginsky (Personal Development Point), Jenny North (Impetus-PEF), Tony Taylor (In Defence of Youth Work), Sarah Wallbank (Yes Futures), Jack Cattell (Get the Data), Mary Darking, Carl Walker and Bethan Prosser (Brighton University), Leonie Elliott-Graves and Chas Mollet (Wac Arts), Tom Ravenscroft (Enabling Enterprise), Phil Sital-Singh (UK Youth) and Luke McCarthy (Think Forward).

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Then on Friday it’s our eighth national conference in Birmingham. To be honest the number of people registering is disappointing, well down on previous years. Although, obviously, the smaller audience, around 30 folk at the moment, will make for intense debate. This said, we’d love to see you there so it’s not too late to register or even turn up on the day.

Youth Work: Educating for good or Preventing the bad?

Details on this Facebook page or at this previous post.

Greetings on International Women’s Day. #Be Bold, Be Brave!

by Tony Taylor

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Originally called International Working Women’s Day, it was first celebrated on February 28, 1909, in New York in remembrance of a 1908 strike of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union when 15,000 workers, including many immigrants, marched through the city’s lower east side to demand social and political rights.

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The first modern International Women’s Day was held in 1914, five years after its inception, on March 8. The day was chosen because it was a Sunday, which the majority of women would have off work allowing them to participate in marches and other events, and has been celebrated on that date ever since.

And today, in the USA, women are proposing ‘A day without a woman’.

In the same spirit of love and liberation that inspired the Women’s March, we join together in making March 8th A Day Without a Woman, recognizing the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system–while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity. We recognize that trans and gender nonconforming people face heightened levels of discrimination, social oppression and political targeting. We believe in gender justice.

Strike women

Just a question – what conversations are taking place in the youth work world today about women’s liberation, the idea of a women’s strike – the collective struggle?