Very interesting thread on Facebook about Participatory Action Research [PAR] sparked by Lucy Hill’s opener, full of recommended links, the offer by Roy Smith of an initial meeting of interested parties and the chance of an IDYW seminar on PAR in the Autumn. Will keep my fingers crossed. Have a look.

Ta to IDS

Hi, I will soon be carrying out a dissertation on ‘Co-creating a community space with young people through participatory action research’. I am in the lucky position that we have secured funding for a purpose-built youth centre so the research will feed directly into this.

I will be exploring the concepts of participation, community and asset-based community development but can anyone recommend some key reading around PAR with young people?

A new article from Steve Case and Kevin Haines, our friends at Positive Youth Justice, in Crime Prevention and Community Safety: An International Journal.

Transatlantic ‘Positive Youth Justice’: a distinctive new model for responding to offending by children?

This paper examines the origins, main features, guiding principles and underpinning evidence bases of the different versions of positive youth justice developed in England/Wales (Children First, Offenders Second) and the USA (Positive Youth Justice Model) and their respective critiques of negative and child-friendly forms of youth justice. Comparing and contrasting these two versions enables an evaluation of the extent to which positive youth justice presents as a coherent and coordinated transatlantic ‘movement’, as opposed to disparate critiques of traditional youth justice with limited similarities.

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BRITAIN’S BIG SQUEEZE

The New York Times comments via the Daily Telegraph: Well worth reading in full.

In Britain, Austerity Is Changing Everything

Parts of central Liverpool that were rebuilt to attract tourists stand alongside largely neglected areas. credit Andrea Bruce for The New York Times

After eight years of budget cutting, Britain is looking less like the rest of Europe and more like the United States, with a shrinking welfare state and spreading poverty.

PRESCOT, England — A walk through this modest town in the northwest of England amounts to a tour of the casualties of Britain’s age of austerity.

The old library building has been sold and refashioned into a glass-fronted luxury home. The leisure centre has been razed, eliminating the public swimming pool. The local museum has receded into town history. The police station has been shuttered.

Now, as the local government desperately seeks to turn assets into cash, Browns Field, a lush park in the centre of town, may be doomed, too. At a meeting in November, the council included it on a list of 17 parks to sell to developers.

“Everybody uses this park,” says Jackie Lewis, who raised two children in a red brick house a block away. “This is probably our last piece of community space. It’s been one after the other. You just end up despondent.”

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Roy Smith is running a workshop on Family and Democracy in London on the 9th June as part of AntiUniversity 2018. He says it would be great to hear from people interested in political education and how families might work together for political and social change.

How do we learn about democracy? The biggest influence on most young people’s political views and behaviours are those of their parents and community. Many people feel let down by politicians creating negative experiences, alienating them from democratic processes that should exist to help them. This leads to apathy and conclusions like ‘they are all as bad as each other’ or ‘nothing ever changes’. I am researching how families could improve learning about democracy and lead social change together.

The first part of this workshop will be a chance to discuss some of the challenges and inequalities in our political system, sharing experiences and opinions on political education as well as imagining how things could be better.

We will then be experimenting with photovoice, a research method that uses photography to answer questions, to explore how political decision-making impacts on physical spaces, the family and everyday life. This may involve going outside and using camera phones to capture images.

It’s a free event, but please book a place on Eventbrite if interested. If you look at http://www.antiuniversity.org there are loads more events going on over 2 weeks. Sadly this is the last year, but it would be good to make it a great one.
https://www.facebook.com/events/176787719693906/?ti=cl

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