Beyond Brexit: the impact of leaving the EU on the youth work sector

The UK having voted to leave the EU, Annette Coburn and Sinéad Gormally consider potential problems and possibilities for youth work within post-Brexit Britain, with a focus on Scotland in particular. They outline how youth work has reached a ‘tipping point’ in its evolution, where austerity measures have consistently undermined it. They examine the potential impact of the further loss of EU funding. Recognising that it is entirely uncharted territory, they assert that despite the inherent concerns, Brexit could also be a catalyst for re-imagining youth work as a creative and resistant practice within social and informal education

Healthy Valleys : reversing decline in eight rural communities

Healthy Valleys is a community focused health improvement initiative and our operating principles are our strength – we adopt a community development approach, we are flexible, responsive to communities, effective and innovative. Healthy Valleys adds value when delivering services because we are effective at engaging with disadvantaged communities. Indeed Healthy Valleys engages local people and delivers services in local places, all of which contribute to making a positive difference

Cohesion, commonality and creativity: youth work across borders

No abstract available

'They know what you are going through': A service response to young people who have experienced the impact of domestic abuse

Riverside Women's Aid offers a specialised youth service for young people who have experienced or been affected by domestic abuse in one town in Scotland. This article discusses findings from a research evaluation that examined the advantages of participating in this service. The experiences of young people and youth workers involved showed a commitment to youth work values and methods that contributed to support and helped reduce feelings of isolation. The findings suggested that one-to-one support and group work sessions brought benefits in establishing empathy and generating positive experiences. This helped the young people to better understand domestic abuse and to feel safe and confident about working through their feelings and making new friends. Analysis also suggested that young people valued the services provided by qualified and experienced Women's Aid youth workers, which they perceived as different from other youth work services. The arguments for this kind of specialist service were compelling, yet analysis highlighted a need for caution in order to avoid creating dependency. There were also calls for improved communication and understanding among partner agencies involved in work with young people

Creating educational synergies

No abstract available

Youth work education: is the voluntary principle no longer reliable in defining youth work?

At a time when traditional orthodoxies are open to challenge, it is useful to critically reflect on changing youth work practice contexts. Asserting the voluntary principle and free choice in open access youth work helps us to distinguish educational youth work methodologies from types of work with young people across a range of disciplinary areas where young people are required to attend. Yet, the context in which the voluntary principle became established in the UK, has changed. New roles are emerging for youth workers in contexts where the voluntary principle may be compromised

Youth work:converging and diverging responses in England and Scotland

In March 2019, Annette Coburn was invited to review Austerity, Youth Policy and the Deconstruction of the Youth Service in England by Bernard Davies (Palgrave, 2018). Having submitted the review, Annette, and colleague Sinead Gormally, were then invited to write a response, exploring Scottish perspectives and questions generated by the original review. Both are presented below

Youth work: converging and diverging responses in England and Scotland

In March 2019, Annette Coburn was invited to review Austerity, Youth Policy and the Deconstruction of the Youth Service in England by Bernard Davies (Palgrave, 2018). Having submitted the review, Annette, and colleague Sinead Gormally, were then invited to write a response, exploring Scottish perspectives and questions generated by the original review. Both are presented below

Youth work in schools

This chapter will consider the inherent possibilities and problems in conceptualising youth work in schools. It will examine potential synergies between a curriculum for educational youth work and contemporary curricula in school education, drawing on the emerging Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) (Scottish Government, 2013) as a potentially useful means of facilitating social change. The chapter will explore some of the ‘hidden knowns’ that youth workers routinely apply in practice encounters including school settings. This exploration suggests that while these ‘knowns’ contribute to practice, they can also limit perspectives on whether youth work can be authentically conceptualised in a school setting. Current changes in policy direction of policy for formal schooling across the UK brings into focus different ideas such as free or home schooling and identifies new roles and possibilities for youth workers in schools