Jack Samuel David Wilson

NOCN Level 3 Diploma Youth Work Practice

Unit 1-Theory of Youth Work

1. Understand the key purpose and role of youth work

1.1 Describe the key purpose of youth work

 Youth Work’s key purpose is to provide young people with a holistic approach to help them
develop their personal, social and educational aspects in an informal setting. Youth work is
to help young people develop their own voice to get them to influence on a local, regional or
national level so that they have the best opportunity to reach their full potential.

1.2 Identify current national and local policies and guidance that informs youth work

 Central government provide the overarching policies, guidelines and legislations which
inform youth work provision
 Local government including local authorities can provide funding and advice to a range of
youth services across their borough including statutory youth services and third sector
organisations through service level agreements
 The National Youth Agency provide a range support to youth workers to help them in doing
what they do and to-do it more effectively in their provision. They provide advice, support
and training to youth workers to help build their skills and give them more opportunities to
help young people

1.3 Outline current legislation that informs youth work

Current legislation that informs youth work provision includes:

The Children’s Act 2004

 This provides guidelines for all local authorities across the UK about how to make it a better
and safer place for all children and young people. The acts main purpose is to promote co-
ordination between all local authorities and other official places to improve the overall
wellbeing of children and young people.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989

 This act is in place for countries to sign up to say that they will provide things that are based
on what a child needs to survive, grow, participate and fulfil their potential. It also sets out
that children and young people have their own rights the same as everyone else and
shouldn’t be treated differently by thinking because they are young people they don’t have
the same rights.

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Working together to Safeguard Children 2013

 This legislation is there mostly for the benefit of organisations and the children and young
people they work with as it includes a lot of government guidance for the organisations
themselves about how to get safeguarding right while constantly keeping children and
young people at the centre of everything they do. It also includes rules about the sharing of
information, how organisations can work together for the best solution instead of just going
off their own back and that everyone is responsible for safeguarding of young people and
children

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006-2010

 This Act was set up after the government accepted a recommendation from an inquest to
the ‘Soham Murders’ in 2002. This act brought into play CRB Checks (now DBS Checks) for
everyone who was going to be having any contact with children and young people, in short
in means it is there to protect children and young people from others who might do harm to
them. It also brought in the ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority) which is the one main
point for all Vetting and Barring checks in England, Northern Ireland and Wales (Scotland
have their own independent service which works very closely with the ISA).

Positive for Youth

 This legislation was launched on 1st February 2010. It’s funded by the government and was
made to set out an ambitious vision in which the whole government and society would
support and help young people to realise their potential. The way they set out that they
want to do that is to:
o Increase the quality of education for young people so that they are well prepared for
further education, higher education and work
o That there are high quality options for young people to undertake both academic
and vocational education including apprenticeships and traineeships
o To insure all young people have the tools and opportunities they need to fulfil their
potential regardless of back ground and life circumstances

1.4 Describe own organisations purpose and policies

 ‘Youth Focus: North East’ has one main mission which is “Improving the lives of young
people”
o Our underlying values are:
 We will provide a process of informal education aimed at developing
personal, social and political awareness of young people.
 We will give young people the chance to have a voice because believe that
young people have a right to be heard, and that professionals have an
obligation to respond positively to issues raised by young people.
 We will give all young people the chance to reach their full potential as we
believe in the potential of everyone, and that opportunity needs to be
created for individuals to take on new challenges and develop personally
and professionally.
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  We believe that equality of opportunity is more than just a phrase. We
endeavour to actively challenge discriminatory policies and behaviour,
promote good practice and emphasise the positive aspect of equal
opportunities.
 We believe that the voluntary nature of the relationship between
professional and young person is at the heart of our practice.
 We provide direct delivery projects, strategic and development work to all young people and
professionals working with young people across the North East, these include:
o Direct Delivery- Covering a range of topics including intergenerational work,
education and the arts, health and wellbeing, unemployment and political projects.
We also develop with young people training courses, support projects for health and
emotional wellbeing and groups of young people to influence changes in the local
community.
o Strategic-We have a network of Regional Youth Work Units across the country, offer
Consultancy and training, conferences and seminars and also do International work.
o Development- Our networks (You’re welcome and North east network for
intergenerational work), Learning PODS (Peer Orientated Development Sessions),
Diamond Model (exploring the local implementation of a co-production model for
service development) and Arts Award (providing young people with accredited
qualifications in the arts)
 All the work we provide as an organisation is underpinned by a range of national legislation
on health and safety and safeguarding/child protection policies which we use to make sure
our policies and procedures are up to date and are working to provide the best service for
the young people and professionals we work with

2. Understand key principles of youth work

2.1 Describe the following principles for youth work

1: Active Participation and Empowerment of young people

When it comes to youth work, ‘Participation and Empowerment’ play a huge part in the delivery of
projects and services for young people. If we look at harts ladder of participation (See image below)
we can see there are a range of levels of participation from just using young people for their views in
a tokenistic way, all the way up to shared decision making with adults, and that is where youth work
should be. Participation should give young people the opportunity to make decisions alongside
adults so they can use both their areas of expertise but also young people have different experiences
to adults so to be involved in the decision making process can help make whatever they are doing
more young person focused. We also use youth work to help empower young people to take a lead
in sessions but also to come up with their own ideas and put them in to action, this can also help
empower them in their own personal lives to help them take more control and plan things better.

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Voluntary engagement by young people

In a youth work setting we should always try to make participation and engagement voluntary as this
can have a good positive impact on the young people you are working with, because if they are
volunteering their time to do something it normally means they want to do it and want to make a
positive change through their volunteering, whereas if you were to force them to get involved with
something they may become more reluctant to get involved and would not get the most out of it like
they would of doing it voluntary.

1. Non-formal education and informal learning

a. Youth work is in essence an informal learning and educational environment.
Through youth work provisions young people can take on a voluntary informal
education through a range of projects and learning opportunities. Informal learning
can also mean that the learning and teaching isn’t the main point of an activity but it
is something that happens going through the process. Non-formal education can
take place in a wide variety of environments including indoor centres, outside and
also activity centres.

2. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Equality is the word used to describe that everyone should be treated of equal value and shouldn’t
be discriminated against for any reason whether that be race, ethnicity, disability or anything else
and should be given equal opportunity to participate and also equal resect.

Diversity is the term used to describe a diverse range of people. It is important in youth work that
we encourage and work with a diverse range of people from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities
etc. to make sure they all have an equal chance at opportunities.

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Inclusion in youth work means you have to identify, understand and then try and remove barriers
that exist for young people which could stop them from having an equal chance to participate in an
opportunity. Something’s could be proving travel expenses to attend projects and meetings or could
be work around becoming more confident to attend the project.

Code of Conduct

A code of conduct is there to outline what all youth workers should commit to in their place of work,
all organisations should have a code of conduct and some of them may even have it as a standalone
police. The code of conduct outlines commitment to a range of things including:

i. Working with a range of young people and treating them all equal, with
respect and proving them the chance to come up with their own ideas and
make their own choice
ii. Recognise your accountability to your organisational and the funders
supporting the projects, young people, parents and carers and many more
and you are aware of your duties and responsibilities to fulfil your work
which making sure young people are continually involved in your projects
and are able to participate fully.
iii. Safeguarding and health and safety of the young people and adults you work
with

Employers will like said have their own range of Code of conducts that each employee must follow
but the ones above cover a wide range of topics to make sure you work to the top of your
capabilities.

3 Understand the role of youth work in the young person’s local community

3.1 Describe the different types of communities

 A community can be the term used to describe a number of different groups or places where
people are. If we look at geographical areas of communities there are a number of different
types including rural and urban communities. But communities cover a lot more than that, a
community could be people who share the same beliefs, religions, culture and even
sexuality. But you can also have a mixed community of people for example a local
neighbourhood or a wider selection of the community coming together for a same reason.

3.2 Describe how the local community affects young people’s lives

 Young people can be affected in the same way as many other people. These days there are
increasingly high levels of crim, drug and alcohol abuse, gang related violence and with all
the issues around racism at the minute, these can all have a big influence on a young
person’s life. With all of these issues going on not only nationally but even down to their
local community around where they live the young people could start seeing it as the normal

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 and it could end up drawing them in to these negative things but on the opposite side if the
community has a lot of positive things going on in the local community it can of course have
a positive effect on their life as a young person.

3.3 Outline how youth work impacts on a young person’s local community

In the local communities youth work can play a big part on building stronger and safer communities
for the young people who live in it. For example a lot of work we do at ‘Youth Focus: North Eas’t is
around intergenerational work in local communities, the reason for intergenerational work is to
build stronger and safe relationships between young people and adults.

In relation to their local community this can help young people to build safer relationships with
adults and see it as a safe place they can hangout to avoid all the negative influences that their
community might have. If you go to the youth centres around the community this can help the
young person to find new friends, gain new skills and just be able to hang out in a safe enclosed
space where they can’t get in trouble and are safe from the dangers their community may have.

4 Understand different models of youth work delivery

4.1 Identify the sectors and structures in which youth work is delivered

Youth work can be delivered in a number of different ways through different organisations. The term
youth work can cover any number of sectors including the private sector youth work, local authority
run youth work, educational and schools based youth work and third sector/charity based youth
work. All these sectors deliver youth work in a number of different ways like:

o Detached youth work

o Youth clubs and centres (community based work like libraries, community centres,
medical centres etc.
o Youth councils and parliaments
o Issue based youth work (I.e. Mental health groups, campaigning, influencing and
changing services)
o Specialist services like arts and sports clubs and groups proving fun opportunities to
learn new practical skills.

Like all youth work it needs to have active participation at the centre of the work making sure the
young people accessing the provision all have equal opportunities to progress and learn

4.2 Describe different models of youth work delivery

One model of delivery for youth work is called the ‘Model for Effective Practice’ which has four key
elements to it which are:

 The Central Theme-Personal and Social Development of Young People

 Supported by Three core principles: Preparing young people for
Participation, Promoting acceptance and understanding of others and
testing beliefs and values.

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  Underpinned by Core principles- Equity, Diversity and Interdependence
 Which is then planned an delivered using the Curriculum and Programme
Development Cycle

The reason we place a Young Persons Personal and Social Development at the centre of the model is
because it can have the biggest impact on a young person’s development through youth work. Their
personal and social development is all about them gaining a knowledge and understanding of
themselves as a individual and also as a participant with others. A key factor in this development in
the relationship that is between a young person and a youth worker, being able to support and
guide them through a journey of youth work provision to help them in the above.

The core values which are equity, diversity and interdependence are there because as a youth
worker your job is to create a space where everyone is treated fairly and in line with what they need
as a person, you also have a job of keeping things as diverse as possible and not seeing differences as
a bad or negative thing but embracing them differences for the befit of the group and wider
community and finally interdependence which is all about seeing how different lives can interlink to
provide a wider benefit for the young people and the communities they are working in, it also helps
young people find someone they can rely on because they have different lives and can bounce off
each other for the greater good.

When everything from the effective practice model is combined in to the Curriculum and
Programme Development Cycle above you can see how it all falls together from the central aim, to

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the core values and finally the implementation cycle which youth work should follow to make sure
young people are involved every step of the way and that programmes are developed, ran and
evaluated successfully for the benefit of the young people you work with.

5 Understand the skills, knowledge, qualities and values required to practice

5.1 Describe the skills, knowledge, qualities and values of an effective youth worker

To be a youth worker I feel you must possess certain qualities, experiences, knowledge, values and
skills to make sure your delivery and work with young people is as effective as it can be. Some of the
things I feel a youth worker should possess out of the many things includes:

Values
Empowerment-you need to be able to
empower the young people with the skills
and knowledge to live their own life and
make their own choices and decisions to
develop as a young person
Qualities
You need to be non-judgemental-so that no
matter what the situation is of the young
person you can’t judge them on that one
specific thing as that might be the thing they
need help with the most

Participation-youth work is all around You need to be able to treat everyone

participation which is getting young people
to get involved in different groups, projects
and events which they might not normally
do to help them bring out the real them and
learn new skills
Education-even though youth work isn’t a
main source of education throughout a
project the young people are going to be
constantly learning new skills, knowledge
and other things to help them in life, it also
includes the youth worker as we are
constantly learning about different learning
styles and young people
Equality of opportunity-you need to be able
to offer groups and projects to a range of
people and make sure in everything you do
you include as many young people who want
to take part as possible and don’t not let
people in based on your own thoughts about
race, colour, religion, health etc.
including yourself as an equal-for example if
you start including one person more than
the other it won’t be nice on that young
person as they could start thinking they
don’t matter or you don’t care, also even
though you are the youth worker you need
to class yourself as an equal to the young
person even though you are leading the
session you don’t always want to be talking
you just want to sit back and listen to what
the young people want to say
Don’t discriminate against anyone-you don’t
want to not be there for someone or not let
them join in based on something about them
it could be their religion, colour of their skin,
a mental or physical health condition this
relates back to being able to treat everyone
as an equal so nobody gets left out
You need to be flexible-you can’t always
arrange meetings or activities around your
life you need to take in to consideration the
young people have things to do as well and
you need to be able to work around them as
well

Knowledge
Know the different learning styles of the
young people you will be working with-each
young person will learn differently to the
Jack Samuel David Wilson 10/01/16
Skills
Be confident-if you aren’t confident in the
work you do then the young people are less
likely to develop and learn things as well
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 other so you need to makes sure you take
time to learn about the young person so you
can be better prepared for when you are
working with them
Know as much as possible about the
different barriers, problems and issues they
young people might be facing so you can
support them more i.e. mental health
problems or family problems
Have your own experience and knowledge of
youth work and the problems young people
could face-if you have lived experiences of
things young people could be going through
it will make you a better youth worker as you
will be able to connect to young people
better and understand what they are saying
and how to support them through it
Be able to keep time-if you as a youth
worker are unable to keep time or work to a
schedule you are more likely to let the young
people down which means they won’t be
able to build up their trust and confidence in
you
Be able to manage what you say-each young
person will have a different situation and
you need to be careful what you say to each
of them because it could trigger something
off for them
Be able to provide help and support when
needed-you need to know what support
each individual young person to achieve
things they want to do and also support
them when they are struggling or having a
bad time with their health, family etc.

5.2 Outline how professional boundaries are important to engaging with young people and with
own team

When working with young people and your team you must show a professional manner to the job
and work you have been assigned. Especially when it comes to young people, you need to keep
them professional boundaries between you and them. Even though youth work is an informal
learning environment one thing that could happen if you let them boundaries slide is the young
people start to feel attached through a different bond like friendship, but they always need to see
you as a worker not as a friend. It’s also important for yourself as a worker not to grow emotional
attachments to the young people you may work with as this may put up a barrier to the whole group
receiving a equal part of the project and meaning it can halt other young people’s progression.

5.3 Outline how anti-discriminatory practice can impact on youth work

When it comes to being anti-discriminatory in youth work it can have a huge impact on the young
people you work with and your colleagues. In any aspect of life you should never discriminate
anyone and this includes youth work. You want to treat everyone you work with equal and with the
same amount of opportunities and respect as anyone else and not judging them or stopping them
from being involved due to a factor that you as a worker may not agree with. If you don’t treat
everyone like this it could cause tensions in groups where people are feeling lefty out and like they
aren’t wanted and can also lead to many problems including self-esteem and mental health issues,
and also bullying, if one person is singled out for being different it could lead to other young people
ganging up on them.

6 Understand own skills, knowledge, qualities and values required to practice

6.1 Assess personal skills, knowledge, qualities and values required to practice as a youth worker

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As a youth worker I feel I have built on many skills I already have but have also learned a few new
ones along the way. I feel now more confident to practice as a youth worker and work with young
people in small and larger groups with various needs. I feel I have developed good organisation skills
including time management and priorities as I am now able to prioritize tasks and also fit them in
when I have free time or when I think I can link them in with something else I’m doing to be able to
learn better, which are all important aspects to practice as a youth worker

I am also more able to work under my own direction when in and out of the office and stick to the
things I set myself to see them through. I feel a lot more able to deal and respond positively to
pressures and stress that I face in and out of work whether that be deadlines for work or even just
forgetting to do something which again when it comes to youth work you need to respond positively
to every situation to make the best of it and always keep the young people you are working with at
heart.

I also feel I have the necessary experienced needed to practice as a youth work as I have been a
volunteer with many different youth work charities, mental health charities and NHS foundations in
various roles since February 2012 ranging from participation to leading session and I have been
employed as a Youth Work apprentice since August 2014 building on my experiences as a volunteer
and service user and using them in my every day to day work

6.2 Identify the impact of own prejudice and values could have when engaging with young people

If I let my own values and prejudices impact the work I do with young people it could possibly have a
negative effect on them as youth work should be about supporting young people to reach their full
potential and give everyone a equal chance but say if I had different values to other people and I let
them interfere who I let participate in projects not only would I be being discriminatory but I would
be excluding young people who may need some support the most and this would have an impact on
their life and possibly even my job if I was to do this throughout my work and I would not be
following the values and ethics of the organisation I work for where we let every young person
participate i9n our work regardless of gender, sexuality, race, back ground or anything else.

6.3 Identify the boundaries of own role as a youth worker in relation to young people and
colleagues

My own boundaries in the role as a youth work are the same as the professional boundaries I have
outlined above: I always show a professional manner to the job at hand in front of my colleagues
and the young people, The boundaries between myself and the young people I work with must stay
professional as said earlier youth work is informal and have fun in the process but I must always
keep that professional boundary there and if things get out of hand I always need to remember that
I can be friendly hand have fun in my job but I am not a friend of the young people I work with
where I would be classed in their social groups as that could raise many different child protection
and safeguarding issues for myself and the organisation I work with. I find it myself hard not to grow
emotional attached to someone and when working with young people that can be no different if you

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know and have experienced similar things to what they have been through but if I feel this
happening I know to take a step back from the situation and make sure that it doesn’t cloud my
judgement or even practice as a youth worker when working alongside a wide range of young
people.

6.4 Create a personal development plan to address own areas for improvement

I have always found it hard to assess my own areas for improvement and achievement due to past
experiences and my own issues but since training as a youth worker this has helped me to not only
work better with young people but also manage and work better with myself to help me realise what
I need to do to make sure I develop in all the ways I help young people to developed. Below is a brief
list of things I would like to do/accomplish in the next year or so to help my development:

o Complete and pass my Level 2 in ITC Functional Skills

o Take up my passion for photography in a more in depth way and learn new skills and
knowledge on the subject
o Develop my practice as a youth worker through different opportunities at my
organisation and through volunteering to help me complete and pass my Level 3
Diploma in Youth Work
o Develop greater understanding of problems affecting me and my family currently to
help me understand and deal with the stress and consequences of substance misuse
of a loved one.
o Continually manage my own mental health and develop my understanding of mental
health and mental health problems and how to support young people in a youth
work context in my own place of work.

Well done Jack, great use of diagrams and charts within your neat and well-presented
unit, you have demonstrated your knowledge and understanding and gave an indication
of your personal experience which you have linked to your practice the skills, qualities
required to be a youth =h worker. W Bulmer 11/1/16

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