Leadership Teams Development
Consultancy Report
CARL BOWEN Youth work related consultancy, training & coaching
Leadership Teams Development Programme Report Content 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Introduction Summary Background Rationale Programme Reach Programme Content Emerging Themes Evaluation & Outcomes YouthWork XL Acknowledgement
Page 3 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 5 Page 5 Page 8 Page 10 Page 11 Page 11
Appendices a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i)
Example Example Example Model: Example Example: Example Example Example
j) Example k) Example l) YouthWork XL
Advanced Team Work Methods & Settings Diversity of C&YP Area overview (Youth Scene) Project Principle Vacuum of Expectation Identifying Developmental Need C&YP At Risk From Discrimination Effects of Discrimination on C&YP’s Personal & Social Development Advancing Equalities Work Advancing C&YP’s Voice & Influence Examples of other work
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1.
Introduction
1.1
This report details training delivered by Carl Bowen of YouthWorkXL to youth and play workers for Bristol City Council /Youth Links, between May and December 2012.
2.
Summary
2.1
The training was provided during a period of service transition. It commenced in May (following a recent restructure into seven teams) and continued parallel to a process of staff re-alignment - through to mid-November (prior to newly-appointed consortia taking over the management function)
2.2
The purpose of the training was to enable workers to continue developing as professionals through this period of change and revamp their ambition for the work going forward. As such, it was designed to encourage colleagues to discover the full potential of their new teams and to collectively strive for the greater outcomes associated with achieving more consistent, systematic and inclusive practice.
2.3
From the outset, it should be said that this training was not from a ‘standing Start. Although there was the expected level of unsettlement associated with this degree of organisational change, teams none-the less comprised mainly highly motivated individuals, who in each case and together, represented many years of locally-attuned practice in developmental work with children & young people (C&YP). This was ‘quarried’ and shared as part of the training process, so that much of what participants learnt was actually from each other.
2.4
In total, the programme engaged over 70 staff, who each attended a course of 3 team-based learning-set sessions. These were structured around the following themes: 1. Achieving Advanced Team Work 2. Maximising Methods & Settings 3. Mainstreaming Equalities & Participation
2.5
Prior to each team’s 3 sessions, a 1to 1 consultation took place with the Senior Practitioner (SP). This gave him or her the opportunity to calibrate the proposed content to their own team’s learning needs – and to quality assure the over-all programme from the vantage point of their new city-wide crosscutting responsibility.
2.6
End of course feedback and subsequent evaluation material suggests the training achieved its intended outcomes, leaving teams with:-
1
Greater clarity of purpose 3
2.7
2
A commonly understood framework for improved team work
3
An improved understanding of how to plan and deliver more diverse, flexible and creative programmes, in response to children and young people’s ever changing needs
4
A renewed commitment to exploring and countering all theforms of discrimination that undermine children and young people’s personal and social development
5
A renewed commitment to welcoming young people into their decisionmaking processes at all levels, so they can practice the skills they will need to continue exercising influence over other spheres of their lives.
Throughout the course of this programme, some key themes emerged that may be of interest to future managers: 1. The significance of dedicated youth and play centres to the process of children & young people’s personal and social development. 2. The value of street based work as a means of teams maintaining and developing a working over view of their geographic ‘youth scene’. 3. The importance of ensuring all programmes retain within them, an element of universal ‘open access’ provision. 4. The need for more confident and frequent use of developmental group work 5. The need for continuing development of cross-agency collaboration and understanding
3.
Background
3.1
Bristol Youth & Play Service had recently undergone a review to build on its many strengths and improve consistency. This included integrating positive activities with targeted support and mainstreaming its equalities work. The review had also been in response to the changing policy environment and the opening up of the market to new providers.
3.2
The three main strands of the BYPS’s response had been to: 4
1. lead the Bristol Youth Links commissioning process 2. redesign its own organisational structure, so as to offer the young people of Bristol increased and more equitable access to its resources and 3. commit to training staff to deploy their skills and resources to greater effect 3.3
In relation to this, the training was designed to assist the service to achieve the second and third of these strands, which in more detail involves: re-aligning the service delivery teams from 10 locality areas to 7 NDT areas; mainstreaming specialist work; securing greater capacity in the front line; improving the ways teams work; and achieving more flexible and effective delivery, to better deliver the menu of services
4.
Rational
4.1
As with any process of change, the turbulence created is often best settled by enabling staff teams to refocus on the organisation’s core purpose and their own invaluable contribution to it. Arguably, it can help at such times if this process is independently led, in order to separate it from other necessary managerial processes. At this particular juncture, it was also important that the process offered something of value to each youth and play worker as a professional in their own right - irrespective of where or for whom they would be working on into the future
5.
Programme Reach
5.1
In total, the programme engaged over 70 integrated youth and play workers from across all BYL Neighbourhood Delivery Teams (NDTs). This included the senior practitioners, full and part time paid staff, and youth volunteers.
6.
Programme Content
6.1
PHASE ONE - 1 Engagement & Tailoring session with each Senior Practitioner This afforded Senior Practitioners the opportunity to: 1. Review their area’s provision and practice - including the training needs of staff - and to prioritise areas for development 2. Influence the content and style of the training sessions 3. Quality Assure the content of the programme in relation to their City-wide cross-cutting lead. 5
6.2
PHASE TWO - 3 Learning Set sessions per team, as follows: Achieving an advanced level of professional team work. This involved an exploration of the critical components and understanding how these inter-relate: 1. Clarity of common purpose o Agreed across the service to be: the personal and social development of children and young people. 2. Excellent Communication – examples included: o Keeping each other informed sufficiently to maintain a shared working overview and agreed approach o Routinely exchanging constructive feedback on each other’s practice to maximise peer development o Sharing & solving problems 3. Professional Integrity – examples included: o Being seen to practice what we preach in terms of values o Accepting responsibility for our own roles and tasks o Watching over each other o Offering each other appropriate challenge and support. o Working within the organisation’s policy and guidelines o
Being willingly accountable to each other and managers
o Being reflective Examples of definite team ‘NO’s included o Being seen to adopt a NEGATIVE attitude – as this always undermines everybody else’s efforts o Putting your own needs and interests before children & young people’s as this turns our purpose inside out.
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4. Flexibility – examples included: o Being willing to work in any combination of sub-teams o Being prepared to play different roles at different times o Entertaining the possibility that things could be done better differently o Tailoring our work to meet the different needs of different groups 5. Developmental Processes – ‘so that as we work we learn’ o Sharing responsibility for our own and each other’s professional development o Developing a culture where it is ‘normal’ to be reflective o Expecting to always give and receive feedback – as a matter of course. 6. Team Leadership o Structural – a preparedness to take an overall lead from the person who is organisationally responsible for the work and appointed to manage it o Distributive – becoming practiced at leading and following each other, as and when agreed, according to our areas of expertise and experience. This ensures all elements of delivery are properly guided.
6.3
Methods & settings -‘mixing & matching’ in response to changing needs 1. Exploring the vast range of possible methods and settings available to workers in this field; and how these may be selected and combined over a given time to achieve projects and programmes that are bespoke to the needs of any one group. 2. Extending these variables by factoring in the diversity of children and young people teams work with, and how their needs will change over time not least, because of the team’s own work and interventions. 3. Understanding the specific benefits of street-based work; and how these combine with other strands of the programme to achieve a more informed, accessible and holistic area-based delivery 4. Applying the ‘project principle’ – treating every aspect of the programme as a ‘Project’ i.e.planned with an agreed time span and framework of selfimposed targets and/or outcomes that can be used to assist ongoing evaluation at every level, from end of session to end of term . 7
5. Recognising how this translates to an improved delivery of the Menu of Services 6.4
Mainstreaming equalities & participation work. 1. Considering the many and various ways children and young people worked with, experience being discriminated against; and remaining aware of how prevalent and broad ranging discrimination is. 2. Considering the many and various ways discrimination acts to inhibit children and young people’s personal and social development – the work’s core purpose 3. Identifying strategies to increase young people’s level of participation in decision-making, which in turn enables them to have greater voice and influence. 4. Generating ideas for new and more challenging work in relation to equalities and participation. This included interventions that participants had often thought of, but not previously had the confidence to attempt.
7.
Emerging Themes
7.1
Throughout the course of the programme, some key themes emerged that may be of interest to future managers: 1. The significance of dedicated youth and play centres to the process of children & young people’s personal and social development. These were often discussed as providing the most effective form of ‘practice ground’ for social skills development. Not only do they represent a prominent reminder of children & young people’s right to a portion of the community’s capital; but they afford countless groups over time, the chance to learn by re-inventing their use, rules and processes in negotiation with workers separately from other shared community facilities where such things will have already been determined by adults. 2 The value of street based work as a means of teams maintaining and developing an over view of their geographic ‘youth scene’. It was recognised that without an element of planned and pro-active streetbased work, teams can fail to notice - let along engage - some groups of children and young people in their area; and would certainly not be in a position to assess their relative levels of need. Also, without street-based 8
work, teams are unlikely to have developed sufficient trust among groups to intervene effectively in community conflict or ASB scenarios. 3 The importance of ensuring all geographic provision retains within it, an element of universal open access provision. Despite the fact that open access/drop-in style sessions can sometimes be a little unpredictable and challenging to manage, it is this element of the work that throws the service’s metaphorical door open wide enough for all who may wish, to wander in. It’s what qualifies the service to call itself genuinely ‘child &/or young person friendly’; and is the acid test of whether an organisation’s staff are skilled enough to ‘start from where children & young people are actually at - as opposed working only with those who align with an organisation’s particular specialism or bias (e.g. ‘at risk’, from a specific equalities group, or pre- interested in the arts or sport) 4 The need for more confident and frequent use of developmental group work It was recognised that developmental group work (the art of engaging and sustaining groups in more structured and intensive periods of experiential learning) was at the other end of the work’s spectrum to open access; and vital for accelerating the processes associated with development and change. Probably less than a third of the staff group felt truly confident in their ability to facilitate this type of work effectively, and the majority of these, only with groups who were perceived to be responsive to start with. This is not uncommon. Facilitation skills, once acquired through training, need to be regularly practiced. And the whole process is made more challenging in the youth and play work context by the additional skills needed to move c&yp out of their relative comfort zone into this type of work to start with - without coercion and often in the face of pressure from their peers. 5 The need for continuing development of cross-agency collaboration and understanding Whilst joint and partnership working with other agencies was recognised by all to be an important response to many group’s needs, it continues to be impeded by levels on uncertainty about what exactly other agencies do. This is not surprising given the rate of organisational flux; and was suspected to be ‘two-way’, with many teams feeling that the full extent of their own work was rarely properly understood by others. It was felt no amount of joint-working protocols and top-down frameworks will generate the trust necessary for inter-agency working, unless staff are also enabled to come together in person - on a periodic basis - to put names to faces and talk with each other about what they do, and why they do it.
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8.
Evaluation & Outcomes
8.1
End of course feedback and subsequent evaluation material suggests the training was experienced in the following ways: 2 The process gave new and restructured teams a timely opportunity to gel and ‘re-start’ - with sharpened clarity of purpose and aspirations to function at a more autonomous level 3 It reminded people of the full spectrum of children and young people’s developmental needs, and how to recognise them as such. 4 Similarly, it reminded people of the full spectrum of possible working responses (methods & settings); and how - with sufficient creativity and flexibility - these can be mixed & matched to ensure the menu of services leaves fewer groups needs unmet. 5 The idea of treating every element of the programme as a ‘project, appealed to many because it provided them with a way of ensuring the work was more consistently planed, evaluated and prioritised - in response to need. 6 Many also found the concept of maintaining a Area Overview helpful, because it underlined the importance of street-based work; and provided a rationale for apportioning centre-based time and resources to groups more on the basis on need than proximity. 7 Talking about the many forms discrimination and how they deminish children & young people’s personal and social development - helped many to visualise how the issue of equality runs inseparably through all aspects of practice. 8 For many of the more experienced workers - especially the Senior Practitioners - the content tended to affirm what they already knew to be the components of best practice, but were non-the-less pleased of the chance to explore with their teams. 9 Some participants fed back that the delivery could have been more interactive in places. 10 A small minority were convinced it was a ‘management sop’ to sugar-coat the pain of the restructure . 11 New younger workers & youth volunteers said they experienced being valued in the process and enjoyed learning with others as part of the bigger team. 10
12 Another common theme was how the process had helped people think and talk more clearly about their work. 13 Many said they felt better equipped to enter into discussions with others about what needed to be maintained and developed in their area, and how best this could be managed and supported on into the future
9.
YouthWork XL
9.1
YouthWork XL was set up by Carl Bowen in 2005 to assist individuals and organisations seeking to excel in their delivery of developmental work with young people and children. It offers independent consultancy, training and coaching; with a focus on improving user-involvement, inclusion and demonstrable impact. Carl has been a committed exponent of this style of education for nearly 30 yrs, and continues to maintain a portfolio of work that utilises his accrued experience from operating at all service levels.
9.2
Most recently Carl worked in an internal consultant-style role for Wiltshire Youth Development Service where his contributions included: in-situ coaching to improve practice; acting Senior Manger for Operations & Staffing; and project planning the strategic convergence of this and other services into one targeted function. Before this, Carl had been Deputy Head of Service in Bristol; and previoulsy a Community Education manger in the Midlands with responsibility for both Children’s Work and Youth Work. For examples of other YouthWork XL contract work, please see Appendix ‘l’.
10. Acknowledgement 10.1
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for participating in this training and being prepared to share so much of your own professional expertise and passion. Also, thanks to those offered helpful criticism and feedback. I’ve enjoyed learning with you and ‘good luck’ on into the future Carl.
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11. Appendix a)
Example: ‘Advanced Team Work’ (NDT2)
Principle
Explanation
1. Clarity of purpose
Our purpose is simply to achieve best practice in Children & young people’s personal & social development
2. Excellent Communication
Our communication will be friendly & professional in tone. We will use properly run meetings and debriefings to:
3. Professional Integrity
i)
keep each other fully informed (maintain a shared over-view and agreed approach)
ii)
Exchange constructive feedback on each other’s practice (peer development)
iii)
Share and solve problems
We will be relying on each other to work to the highest professional standards - so we can take pride in our own and each other’s work: o
Being seen to practice what we preach in terms of values
o
Accepting responsibility for our own roles and tasks
o
Watching over each other
o
Offering each other appropriate challenge and support.
o
Working within the organisation’s policy and guidelines
o
Being willingly accountable to each other and managers
o
Being reflective
Two definite team ‘NOs’ are: i)
Being seen to adopt a NEGATIVE attitude – as this always undermines everybody else’s efforts
ii)
Putting your own needs and interests before children & young peoples’ – as this turns our purpose inside out 12
4. Flexibility
5. Leadership
We treasure our professional flexibility, as this enables us to respond creatively to new challenges and change: i)
Being willing to work in any combination of subteams
ii)
Being prepared to play different roles at different times
iii)
Entertaining the possibility that things could be done better differently
iv)
Tailoring our work to meet the different needs of different groups
v)
Being prepared to ‘lead’ and ‘follow’ each other according to our areas of expertise and experience
We recognise the importance of leadership, both structural and distributive i)
Structural – being prepared to take an overall lead from person who is organisationally accountable for the work of our team and appointed to line manage it.
ii)
Distributive - Being delegated to ‘lead’ and ‘follow’ each other - according to our areas of expertise and experience
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Appendix b)
Example: ‘Methods & Settings’ (NDT3)
The group took time to consider the significance of flexibility in their work as defined, in part, by the enormous range of professional methods and settings available to them*
Cooking On- & other Line life skills Working 1to1
I. Building A. confidence G, through
Performing
Trips & Visits Discussion & Debate Sexual Health
Providing safe Decisionenvironments making & consultation Targeted with specific groups &/or Collaboration individuals with other Building Agencies Advocacy Structures Open Access Residentials Community IssueMentoring based based Arts/Crafts & support projects & settings Spots & physical Group Work
activity
Games
Negotiation Risk /Benefit
Accredited projects
Single sex
Issuebased
Reactive & spontaneous Conflict Res & Volunteering & work with encouraging C&YP to targeted work gangs accept responsibility with specific Adventure Play individuals & Helping C&YP Play Youth 4 all groups to resist peer Grounds Centres Ages pressure Pro-active & planned Arts/Craft/drama/music/dance
The highest performing teams become very practiced at mixing &matching these methods and settings over time, in response to the ever changing needs and interests of the children & young people they responsible for working with in any given area.
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* Methods = types of work. Settings = environments. Often the concepts overlap and inter-relate e.g. street-based work, which some would see a both ‘type’ and ‘environment’.
Appendix c)
Example: ‘Diversity of C&YP’ (NDT7)
When the diversity of the children and young people we are working with is added into the mix, we get an even greater sense of how important it is to be flexible in our approach
Working class and C&YP with G middle class learning a difficulties n Motivated Creative Clever & special g needs Creating All s At-risk and subject So High/under Good examples Black & to, peer rts N achieving Minority to others pressure E Ethnic E Lesbian, Talented Depressed Lonely T Gay, (Anti-) Discriminating Bisexual & social & Discriminated Misrepresented Transgendre against Creative Young ‘EveryCarer Ambitious day kids’ Seeking Asylum
NonNonattenders attenders
Angry
Able
Bereaved & grieving Someone else’s: ‘Child’ ‘Sibling’ ‘Ward’ ‘Friend’ ‘Pupil’ ‘Student’ ‘Employee’ ‘Parent’ Hetrosexual
8 to 18+ Labelled Individual & Unique
Happy Chaotic
Bully
Vulnerable
Helpful Representative Sporty/ physically energetic
Ambitious
Sad
Peacemaker
Disabled Shy & withdraw n
The process also reminded us that however we experience individual children, young people or groups at any given time, the pressure to catagorise them inevitably slows up the core process of relationship building i.e. getting to know them for who they really are.
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Appendix d)
Outline Squares Circles Shading
= = = =
Model: Area Over-view (Youth Scene).
The team’s geographical area of responsibilty Building based provision (e.g APG, Youth Centre etc) Groups and their relative size Group responsiveness (unshaded = distrusting & hard to engage, through to fully shaded = Cooperative & responsive)
This graphic can be used to represent many of the processes that were discussed in relation to the best practice of mixing and matching methods and settings in response to children & young people’s changing needs and interests For example: 1. Teams that only work in centres, can sometimes only understand the needs of those groups that come in. They may not even realise the other groups out there exist, even though they have a responsibility to consider their needs 2. Teams that use a variety of methods over time, may find that the group they found so hard to work on the streets a couple of years ago (white circle) has since become a trusted users of the centre. (shaded circle inside box) 3. It may simply be that the graphic represents the centre’s facilities being used by different groups on different days of the week. So, the groups on the outside represent all that make up the youth scene, and the ones in the boxes are those of them that are making use of the centres on this particular day.
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Appendix e)
Example: ‘Project Principle’ (NDT4)
It was recognised that where ever possible, all elements of a youth or children’s work programme should be ‘projectised’ (i.e. treated and developed as a project) - even those elements that have traditionally be regarded as ‘non-projects’, like open access sessions Projects are pieces of work (or elements of the programme) that exist because they make a contribution to the over-all aim (or purpose) of the team’s work i.e. C&YP’s personal and social development Projects have a number of critical features:
1
An agreed title or name, (usually reflecting their purpose of activity)
Example: Wednesday Open Access Project
2
An allocated period
3 months, January to April
3
Allocated resource
3 staff, use of centre and equipment
Carefully chosen Objectives / Outcomes
(where possible, reasonably measurable & quantifiable; and capturing all main aspects of this particular project’s contribution to the process of C&YP’s personal & social development)
To have provided 100 local C&YP with a recognisable point of free access to the service To have provided 100 C&YP with a safe & stimulating environment in which to socialise To have attracted 20% new C&YP For 75 yp to have experienced at least 2 supportive & trusting 1to1 discussions with a worker To have enabled 50 C&YP to access appropriate IAG To have acted as a spring-board for 50 C&YP’s involvement in other more developmental projects & processes in response to their needs and interests To have involved C&YP in the planning and review
In this case, the team identified a COOKING PROJECT as an example of a more developmental type of project that would either grow out of - or continue within - the open access project. (i.e. the concept of a project within a project) (see over) 17
1
Title /Name
Example: Developmental Cooking Project
2
Allocated period
3 months, January to April (Mon & Fridays)
3
Allocated resource
3 staff, use of kitchen and equipment within the Open Access Setting. £50 programme budget for ingrediants
Carefully chosen Objectives / Outcomes
To have worked intensely with a targeted group of 20 yp, judged to be need of life-skills development.
For the project to have resulted in them each being able to demonstrate the following - the ability to work well as part as a team - the ability to plan and organise - basic cooking skills - increased cultural awareness - improved numeracy & literacy
Level 1 or 2 Food Hygiene
If a project continues beyond its time span, this should only be because it has been reviewed/evaluated towards the end of its time span (with the involvement of some or all of the users) and found to be a success and/or a continuing priority for this use of the resource. Finally, it was agreed important for teams to take the initiative in setting their own objectives/targets for the work, unless they want others to do it for them!
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Appendix f) Example: ‘Vacuum of Expectation’ NDT2 Nature abhors a vacuum – so do managers and funders. Over every piece of funded work or element of the programme there is a ‘dome of expectation’ waiting to be filled by what the work could or should achieve. Quite simply, either team’s fill this space with their own anticipated outcomes and measures of success, or someone else (usually managers funders or partner organisations) will come along and fill it with theirs!. The team looked at what these should be...
Briding gaps + C&YP’s voices heard (consultation) Helping other hard-to agencies to reach connect with groups local C&YP engaged
Improved assessment of need Raising awareness Alternative & diversionary activities
On the spot IAG
Facilitating Reduce involvement Impact in community of ASB processes (incl. On Improved C&YP) Worker presence intercontributes to generational C&YP’s community understanding safety Improved take up of Services
The team’s own stated expectations of their Street work work
Reduce youth crime & ASB
What could happen if a vacuum of expectation is left for others to fill!
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Appendix g) Example: Identifying Developmental Need (NDT7) If we say the purpose of our work is children & young people’s personal & social development, it is really important that we are able to identify exactly which aspects of a group or individual’s personal and social capabilities need developing (!) In this case, the team practiced on their new up and coming open access group, who are now starting to replace the older ones. The group’s developmental needs: It was agreed the group needs to become better at...
adjusting to structure managing and regulating their own behaviour resisting peer pressure and offering each other respect developing ownership of/responsibility for – the things they do discussing things with each other and workers – so that they can make decisions and explore important issues Achieving more when in school
The Team’s Programme Once a group’s developmental needs have been identified, it’s important that the team’s youth or children’s work programme is seen to be helping them with these things. Open Access It was agreed the open access element should always be approached as a project (see separate sheet about Project Principle), and that in Hartcliffe, it offered the group the following things toward their developmental needs:
a safe and enjoyable social space encouragement to develop social skills and more positive peer relationships an opportunity to think up and do other more structured things (projects to do with things they are interested in) the chance to develop trusting relationships with adult workers Encouragement to seek support, advice and information
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Appendix h) Example: C&YP at risk from discrimination (NDT1) Discrimination is prevalent. It’s often not simple or obvious and can be multi-layered. Many people experience discrimination of one kind of another - especially when they are young or old, as society is quick to under-estimate young or older people’s capabilities
Children from low income families
Children in Care (LAC) Body image: large, small, fat, thin tall short etc
Seen to be unfashionable or ‘out of step’ Shy with current young carers trends Yp in criminal Young justice system Parents
C&YP with identifiable disabilities & learning difficulties Due to their religion or culture ALL – at some time or another & just because they’re YOUNG
C&YP from single parent families
Children from Black & Minority Ethnic Backgrounds
C&YP with mental Lesbian, Gay ill-health Bisexual or C&YP C&YP from labelled Transgender young people who families, whose are parents/siblings Class & postLess may be older, Ill, codes popu drug/alcohol Traveller Children lar dependent, involved Community Location Because of their with social workers Gender or know to Police etc
Those groups that are more regularly and systematically discriminated against are often referred to as ‘equalities groups’ or ‘protected groups’ (e.g. BME, LGBT, Disabled People)
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Appendix i)
Example: ‘Effects of Discrimination on C&YP’s Personal & Social Development (NDT6)
Increased Mental illness – More vulnerabili depression, likely to Low self ty addiction live in esteem and Anxiety poverty Victimisation confidence Anger & Poverty Frustration Self-harm Bullying & Mental health Alienation It limits Self Harming problems personal and Fear It blocks Suicide social Poor development their learning education Poor Determination Unhappiness results Heath HopelessIsolation Confusion ness Violent Crime Society Many looses out Apathy & Forms on talent of depression & abilities abuse Criminal activity and Dis Mistrust of authorities, unemployment Breads police, teachers & adults Unemployment
Dis
Withdrawing from society
in general
It can lead to a desire for revenge & retaliation
Developing work designed to dismantle these blocks and barriers (i.e. equalities work) is therefore not specialist, but key to our mainstream work. The team agreed that to NOT take on discrimination, is to NOT do youth or play work!
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Appendix J)
Examples: ‘Mainstreaming Equalities Work’ & supporting processes
As part of the session on mainstreaming equalities work, participants were asked to ‘offer up’ pieces of equalities-related work that they had often thought it would be good to do, but had previously not felt confident enough to action – or in some cases, even discuss.
A programme of Inter-cultural group work – with very different cultural groups, designed to enable a real exploration of their difference and similarity (NDT1)
A piece of trusted group work with children & young people experiencing different forms of discrimination (NDT1)
Really focus on mainstreaming disability work so that all our work is more accessible to disabled children and young people (NDT1)
Develop targeted single sex work with Black young men – in response to their over-sexualised behaviour (NDT2)
Develop an appropriate local response to the needs of LGBT young people so that they are not solely dependent on centralised specialist provision. (NDT2)
To plan a creative project with Somali young men, who normally only seem to get offered opportunities for sport (NDT3)
Developmental Group work with children &young people designed to increase emotional intelligence – as this the starting point for children & young people being able to talk about their own values and being able to empathise with other people’s experiences of discrimination. (NDT3)
Targeted work with Black young men around attitudes to sexuality. (NDT3)
Extending work on community cohesion – reaching out to, and drawing in, groups from different back grounds with a view to developing respectful curiosity about groups who are ‘different’ as opposed to discrimination and oppression.(NDT 4)
Targeted work with girls and young women to increase their self esteem and confidence (NDT4)
Collaborative work with a Muslim worker or organisation to promote better understanding of Islam among local children & young people (NDT6)
Creative and fun ways to explore the subject of stereotypes, so that children and young people become more used to spotting them (NDT6)
Collaborative work with either celebrities or influential local business people to help young people to consider the benefits of non-traditional careers, because 23
many of the group are still very blinkered in the way they think about their futures. (NDT7)
Gender-wise developmental group work with the young men, so that they get more chance to make more choices about the sort men they want to be. (NDT7)
Work with the core group in a more planned and pro-active way to explore and challenge the issue of racism (NDT7)
Supporting Process: ‘3 to1 Problem-solving’ In some sessions a structured problem-solving model was used, as a way of harnessing the problem solving power of the team to think through the inevitable difficulties and challenges associated with this more intensive end of the work.
Step 1
A person takes 2 minutes to describe their problem or challenge to a panel of 3 other team members/participants sitting in 3 chairs facing them (All other team members/participants sit back around the edge to observe)
Step 2
In turn, each panel member has 2 uninterrupted minutes to offer the person his or her individual advice and suggestions
Step3
Any other team members - who by now will have been able to consider both the initial problem and the 3 pieces of advice already given, can – if they so wish – swap in to one of the 3 seats to offer a further layer of suggestion or advice
Step4
The owner of the problem then talks the group through the value of the various suggestions they have received in relation to the initial problem or challenge
When used with NDT1 to explore further their aspiration for mainstream disability work, the first panel of 3 team advisers offered suggestions that included:
Don’t limit our ambitions to just some session, aim to make every session accessible, then it becomes the norm Thinking about how we market ourselves and the messages we give out Try to avoid stigmatising - either disabled young people themselves or others involved or the session (e.g. don’t label some participants as ‘Disabled Young People’ and other ‘Volunteers’) Take the opportunity to develop young people’s interest and motivations 24
When others from the outer row then swapped in to offer a further layer of considered advice - building on that already offered, the following was added:
Enable young people to participate in the planning and decision-making Use all our environment – don’t close anything off or limit it Work as much on making all other sessions accessible as part of the plan, so that disabled young people don’t jet ‘stuck’ in the initial access session or project. Develop the work in collaboration with other organisations, especially those who have links with disable clients and user-groups Ensure this element of the work is shared by all but also led Research good practice elsewhere (including nationally) and emulate the best.
Supporting Process: ‘Engaging young people in developmental group work’ In most sessions, it was recognised that work with children and young people around developing their understanding of equalities and /or their involvement in decision-making required some level of developmental group work – i.e. the art of engaging and sustaining groups in more structured and intensive periods of experiential learning. However, the challenge for many was how to engage young people in this process to start with - especially since those they thought would most benefit, were also those most in the grip of peer-pressure not to cooperate. When NDT7 looked at this issue in relation to some of the equalities work they wanted to achieve, they realised the process actually started with how it was ‘seeded’ in the less formal end of the work, as follows:
Step 1
Engage some of all of the group first in an informal relaxed discussion within part of their open access session/environment. And which ever members of the team are leading, to have pre-planned some info, questions, facts and prompts to deepen the discussion once it has started
Step 2
Keep it pacey and interactive, with loads of questions and comments being written up in front of the group to create the sense of young people’s views being valued
Step 3
Stop it short, (well before they start to get bored or it fizzles out). Ask them if they are enjoying having this discussion and whether they would like it to continue. If yes (which is likely if it has become a bit animated 25
as planned) then offer to improve it by agreeing to continue at another specific time/place where they would be able to talk in more comfort and greater confidentiality, maybe also with food and drink Step 4
Make the first group work session soon after the informal discussion. Have it facilitated by a pair of workers. Take the group by surprise with the exercises and ideas you have planned to further the discussion. Place a lot of emphasis on trust and being honest with each other. Agree a contract, which helps to make make them and the process feel more special. Once again, don’t let it drag on. Bring it to an end while they are fully engaged so that they are motivated to want another session. If they are, then agree another 5, taking it to a total of 6.
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Appendix K) Example: ‘Advancing C&YP’s Voice & Influence (NDT3) The team agreed that C&YP’s work projects, programmes and processes should be used as ‘practice ground’ that enables acquisition of the skills and confidence associated with ‘decision-making’ - as this is an essential element of C&YP’s personal and social development. For Central and strategic youth forums to be truly representative, there needs to be a voluminous level of participation and decisionmaking going on a programme and project level – almost as a matter of course. Therefore, any decisions about the service or its delivery simply taken by workers or managers alone, is an opportunity for learning lost to C&YP. To this ends, the team identified the following as: Effective strategies for increasing C&YP’s involvement in decision-making processes in priority order
1. Talking about Leaders Engaging C&YP in conversations about leaders & leadership as it’s a concept that they start to become familiar with from a young age. Developing games and exercises around this, where there are decisions to be made and the need to find ways of taking other people’s opinions into account.
2. Incentivising Developing appropriate incentives and longer-term rewards. Making young people feel valued and special for offering up their opinions and ideas. Respecting them as providing us with ‘expert insight’ into their needs and interests –as this is knowledge even we as trained professionals don’t have, because – by definition – its their lives!
3. Making it happen Making sure that C&YP actually experience their ideas and suggestions being turned into real life projects that actually happen. This is very motivational and will help them to gain an understanding of the relationship between ‘decision-making’ and ‘action’, not to mention the basics of Plan, Do, Review – an important life skill.
4. Building Rapport & Trust Without first achieving a sound working rapport and trust, young people and children aren’t going to want to even start talk with us about their ideas, needs and interests in the first place
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5. Monitoring & Evaluation Like all other aspects of its work, the team needs to monitor and evaluate the true extent to which C&YP are actually influencing things. For example:
Looking back over the last 3 months phase of work, which projects were actually initiated by the C&YP? Where have C&YP’s ideas actually altered the course of what we were going to do? What were the main decisions we took about the work over this period, and what role did C&YP actually have in this?
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Appendix l) YouthWorkXL - Examples of other work
Devon Youth Service - developing a more effective and integrated approach to street-based youth work - including policy development and training. (16 days)
Wiltshire County Council Community Safety - An independent evaluation of the diversionary impact of Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Salamander Course (10 days)
Bristol Youth & Play Service - work with delivery team and other agencies to improve the impact/credibility of delivery in the Henbry/ Brentry ‘ASB hot spot’ area (23 days)
Somerset County Council – Working with Workforce Development to achieve meaningful involvement of children and young people in their Children & Young People’s Workforce Development Strategy (14 Days)
Bristol Youth & Play Service - work with delivery team in Barton Hill to address community tensions between Somali young people and Police, via multidisciplinary intervention project (13 days)
Somerset County Youth Service – Delivery of training county-wide to up-skill staff’s response to young people’s challenging behaviour (30 days)
Carl Bowen YouthWork XL - Youthwork related consultancy, training & coaching Email: carlbowen@mail.com Mail: 07915664720 Barge: Skyloom - Hanover Quay, Bristol Docks Mail to: 10 Clifton Hill, Bristol, BS8 1BN
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