May 2008 Archives
Mike Amos-Simpson over the the Late Breakfast Society blog has been asking what Youth Work 2.0 - youth work for a digital age, might look like:
What I was wondering is whether or not there will become a service dedicated to supporting young people to actually using the web effectively, and to deliver informal education through the web? I know to a degree this may already happen in face to face sessions but what I was thinking more about was a service of people skilled in working with young people but also highly skilled in using web technology. An online team that young people can turn to when wanting advice about using services or wanting to set up their own blogs, upload and edit films, deal with cyberbullying etc. etc. - a little bit like detached youth work going out on the streets to work with young people where they’re at, only this would be going online into the spaces where young people are.
Then again maybe there will be online virtual youth centres?! If so what would these be and how would skilled workers take advantage of young peoples interest in the web to deliver informal education?
Mike's reflections suggest a number of really interesting models for youth work in a digital age.
1) The internet, social media and social networking as 'positive activity' foundations for youth work approach - in the same way that youth work has often embraced arts and sports as tools to engage young people in positive activity, informal learning and critical reflection, youth work can make use of digital opportunities to engage young people - both online and offline.
Research by Ofcom (PDF) in 2007 found that internet related activities have "a role re-engaging some of the educationally disengaged, as they enjoy the control and fun of working with a PC" - and the opportunities for communication, social interaction, identity exploration and creative expression presented could provide a strong foundation for positive youth work.
2) Work to support young people's online interaction - helping young people to deal with cyberbullying, risks or lack of skills to exploit opportunities online. In our research we found that many of the skills to provide this sort of work exist within the youth work workforce - but distributed between staff - so that not everyone has all the skills and knowledge they need to know how to respond to concerns raised by young people online.
In a fortnights time I'll be trying out a possible model for staff training around online social networks - designed to equip youth workers to respond effectively to young people's online interaction.
3) Detached youth work online - where (1) and (2) are about youth workers using and responding to technology in the settings where they already work - detached youth work online is really something new. Rather than setting up information websites for young people to come to - it could involve youth workers browsing and following links across social networking spaces, adding posts to message boards, contacting young people directly, noticing community needs and developing online projects to meet them (for example, identifying negative peer norms in a particular social networking community and so suggesting online and offline projects to deal with this), and other means of online interaction with young people.
This sort of 'pure' online detached youth work is both contentious and complex. It needs to work out how to deal with geographical boundaries, and with personal-private divides. It needs considerable technical skills from a youth worker, and experience of operating in online communities to understand their different rules and structures.
However, a form of online detached work - where youth workers are actively observing, and informally participating in local online social networks and communities may be less contentious and may still have a lot to offer. For example, young people may already be expressing online their views about a local area - and if youth workers can have a finger on the pulse of geographically local online discussions - and can factor in what they are hearing as part of their community mapping (and indeed, if they can join in conversations in online spaces with young people to explore possible responses) - then a lot of positive projects may result.
Over the coming months we'll be exploring how youth participation projects can engage with this rich online dialogue - and what the policy and practice implications of such engagement could be.
4) The 100% virtual youth centre
Some workers we've spoken to as part of the Youth Work and Social Networking project have explained that whilst they use online social networks as part of their initial contact with young people - they like to move to offline contact and conversation fairly quickly. Few workers suggested a model of youth work delivered 100% online, and one of the opportunities of social network sites is that they do create far more localised online communities which can easily connect with real-world spaces.
However, Mike's discussion about suggests the idea of virtual youth center - which could be 100% online youth work provision. There are some 100% online youth projects, such as the Princes Trust for Carers YoungCarers.net which makes very active use of forums, blogging and web-chats - and there are many youth focussed online community sites such as TakingItGlobal.org - but these are far from 'universal youth work provision' (YoungCarers.net is very focussed on support for young carers and TakingItGlobal.org on global social action). The nature of online community is that it needs something to group around - which may be a local area, or it may be a shared interest or issue.
Issue based online youth work provision may have a role (and I'll be asking Ewan from YoungCarers.net a bit more about how that project works to share on this blog soon...) - but universal and general 100% online provision may yet need some working out....
What do you think YouthWork 2.0 will look like?
How does youth work engage in a digital age? Can you provide a few line sketch of what you think might be the future? You can use the comments below to share you ideas - or get in touch with me: tim@practicalparticipation.co.uk
If you've been waiting for the interim report of the Youth Work and Social Networking project then straight to the point you can download it here:
- Full Interim Report (PDF)
We'll try and make an online blog or wiki version available soon.
And if you'd like a bit more context, please read on...
Sketching out the youth work perspective
Over the first five months of this year online social networking has rarely been out of the news.
Since 2005 the rapid growth of online social networks has opened up a raft of new opportunities for young people and professionals working with young people, alongside a range of new challenges, or familiar challenges in new guises.
There are many perspectives on online social networking and young people (at least 35 are suggested by Marlene Larsen) - ranging from those that see online social networks as presenting young people with dramatically increased risk of harm, through to those perspective (not necessarily mutual exclusive) that see online social networks as providing new spaces and tools for informal learning, for young people's creativity and for youth political engagement.
Youth Workers have long been established as key actors in supporting young people's informal learning; their personal and social development; and their empowerment. The Youth Work skill set is frequently employed in supporting young people to avoid or to navigate risky behaviors and situations. It's because of this that we've sought to set out some of the ground work for developing a clear 'youth work perspective' on online social networking.
The Interim Report published this week offers:
- Four vantage points on online social networking - providing managers and practitioners with complementary conceptual frameworks for looking at social network sites and online social networking;
- A clear assessment of the evidence base on different opportunities and risks that young people may encounter through online social networking;
- An snapshot of the access to technology and current skills and experience of the current youth work workforce when it comes to online social networking;
- A summary of the priorities, concerns and opportunities identified by youth workers and youth work managers with respect to online social networking;
- An assessment of possible youth work responses to online social networking both on the local and strategic level;
This report will inform a series of action research projects and case study gathering which will be featured on this blog throughout June and July.
Our hope is that this further research, and the many conversations already taking place which this research can contribute to - will lead us closer towards a clear youth work perspective, and practical youth work responses to support young people in navigating the risks and making the most of the opportunities that the rapidly developing work of online social networking brings.
Please do use the comments feature below to offer your feedback on the report, or to pose any questions for us, or other readers to explore / answer...
The section of the executive summary on media creation is particularly interesting when looking at the role of social network sites and is worth quoting in full:
Social networking sites increase creative activity
Social networking sites are a key driver of children’s desire and ability to create content online, and we have seen a significant increase in this type of creative behaviour since 2005 as a result of the rise in popularity of social networking sites. The increased prevalence of recordable devices such as camera phones, digital cameras, MP3 players and webcams are also a factor in this trend. Over half of 12 – 15s who have the internet at home state that they have a social networking profile.
Girls are more likely than boys to engage in a range of creative online activities, particularly those related to communicating or sharing content with other people. Participating in social networking has quickly become a popular activity and social currency among children. Although social networking sites are mainly used as a communications tool to manage existing relationships a significant minority are using them to communicate with people that they do not know (11%).
Among many social networking site users there is a lack of awareness of, or concern about, potential safety and security risks. Many feel that they are immune to any potential risks, and that even if they were to have problems, they would be able to deal with them.
At the same time, a significant proportion of children continue to express a lack of interest in creative activities; a third say they have no interest in setting up a social networking site profile and half are not interested in creating content such as making short films, producing photo albums or writing blogs.
The way in which social network sites have lowered the barriers to creating, publishing and sharing content online is a significant factor in both their success, and in understanding their impact. It is not an unqualified good thing - some writers argue that social network sites put up too many boundaries to creativity - particularly encouraging people to create their online identity through form filling, rather than by starting with a blank canvas and creatively building their own independent websites.
One of the challenges for youth work is to recognise the positive offering of online social networking - whilst being critically conscious of the impact social network sites have on young people, and keeping in mind the requirement to 'start where young people are at - and through challenge and support to encourage young people move beyond that point'.
Now that we're moving into our action research phase, and we are free from the stack of literature to be read and data to be digested that made up Phase 1 - we'll hopefully be able to blog more actively, sharing some of our learning so far, and some of our journey was we work with three your services to explore how they can support young people's interaction with online social networking.
Between now and the end of July, working with our action research partners, we will be:
- Developing training and development ideas and sessions to equip youth workers with an understanding of online social networks;
- Piloting youth work sessions and session ideas for young people related to online social networking;
- Exploring ways in which social network sites can be used to promote youth services;
- Developing policies and guidance for youth services engaging with young people through online social network spaces;
Use the comments below to get in touch, or get in touch with tim@practicalparticipation.co.uk
