Double Issue on Youth Work Training Nos. 97 and 98 Autumn 2007
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youth & policy nos. 97 and 98 Youth & Policy is devoted to the critical study of youth affairs Autumn 2007/Winter 2008 and youth policy and youth work. IN THIS ISSUE: Youth and Community Work Qualifying Courses – Living with the Tensions? Introduction Youth & Policy Youth John Holmes Practices, policies and professionals: emerging discourses of expertise in English youth work, 1939–1951 Simon Bradford Challenges in the Education and Training of Youth and Community Workers: Experiences from the Republic of Ireland Michael O hAodain and Catherine Forde Number6 97 and 98 Cross community Youth work training in a divided and contested society Mark Hammond Youth ‘Teaching’ Values in Pre-qualifying Youth and Community Work Education Susan Cooper Bradford Supervision in the context of youth and community work training Yvonne McNamara, Mike Lawley and JohnTowler Changing Patterns in Recruiting Youth Workers Sue Robertson Autumn 2007/Winter 2008 The Role of Youth and Community Work Training in Relation to Volunteers Policy Carol Packham Getting the Balance Right: training and education within NVQ and HE routes to youth & work Jo Trelfa and Dan Richmond Double issue on Youth Work Training Farewell to all that? The uncertain future of youth and community work education Tony Jeffs and Jean Spence Nos. 97 and 98 Autumn 2007/Winter 2008 Published by The National Youth Agency Guest editor: John Holmes Eastgate House, 19–23 Humberstone Road, Leicester LE5 3GJ. Tel: 0116 242 7350. Fax: 0116 242 7444. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.nya.org.uk The National Youth Agency Cover 97-98.indd 1 27/11/07 14:14:04 Y&P 97.indb 1 3/12/07 16:05:03 Editorial Group: Aylssa Cowell, Ruth Gilchrist, Tony Jeffs, Jean Spence and Naomi Stanton Associate Editors: Janet Adams, University of Bedfordshire Priscilla Alderson, Institute of Education, London Judith Bessant, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia Bob Coles, University of York Bren Cook, Lancashire County Council Keith Cranwell, University of Greenwich Michelle Doyle, Youth Worker, London Roger Green, University of Hertfordshire John Holmes, Newman College, Birmingham Gill Millar, South West Regional Youth Work Adviser Jenny Pearce, University of Bedfordshire John Pitts, University of Bedfordshire John Player, Adult Learning Project, Edinburgh John Rose, Welsh Assembly Joyce Walker, University of Minnesota, USA Anna Whalen, Freelance Consultant Elizabeth (Elee) Wood, IUPUI-School of Education, Indianapolis, USA Tom Wylie, Consultant Published by: The National Youth Agency, Eastgate House, 19–23 Humberstone Road, Leicester LE5 3GJ. Tel: 0116 242 7350. Fax: 0116 242 7444 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.nya.org.uk Proofread by: CN Proofreaders Tel: 0191 581 2427 Copyright: The NYA, December 2007 The National Youth Agency supports those involved in young people’s personal and social development and works to enable all young people to fulfil their potential as individuals and citizens within a socially just society. We achieve this by: • informing, advising and helping those who work with young people in a variety of settings; • influencing and shaping youth policy and improving youth services nationally and locally; and • promoting young people’s participation, influence and place in society. ISSN 0262 9798 Material from the journal may be extracted for study and quotation with acknowledgement of the journal and author(s). The views expressed in the journal remain those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Editorial Group or The National Youth Agency. Whilst every effort is made to check factual information, the Editorial Group is not responsible for errors in the material published in the journal. Subscriptions: 0116 242 7427 Advertising: 0116 242 7480 Information for contributors: Inside Back Cover. Y&P 97.indb 2 3/12/07 16:05:03 Contents Youth & Policy nos. 97 and 98 Autumn 2007/Winter 2008 Introduction Youth and Community Work Qualifying Courses – Living with the Tensions? 5 John Holmes Practices, policies and professionals: emerging discourses of expertise in English youth work, 1939–1951 13 Simon Bradford Challenges in the Education and Training of Youth and Community Workers: Experiences from the Republic of Ireland 29 Michael O hAodain and Catherine Forde Cross community youth work training in a divided and contested society 47 Mark Hammond ‘Teaching’ Values in Pre-qualifying Youth and Community Work Education 57 Susan Cooper Bradford Supervision in the context of youth and community work training 73 Yvonne McNamara, Mike Lawley and John Towler Changing Patterns in Recruiting Youth Workers 91 Sue Robertson The Role of Youth and Community Work Training in Relation to Volunteers 105 Carol Packham Getting the Balance Right: training and education within NVQ and HE routes to youth work 119 Jo Trelfa and Dan Richmond Farewell to all that? The uncertain future of youth and community work education 135 Tony Jeffs and Jean Spence Reviews 167 1 Youth & Policy | Nos. 97 and 98 | Autumn 2007/Winter 2008 Y&P 97.indb 1 3/12/07 16:05:03 Y&P 97.indb 2 3/12/07 16:05:04 Contributors John Holmes lectures in Youth and Community Studies at Newman University College, Birmingham. Simon Bradford is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Education at Brunel University, London. Michael O hAodain lectures in Youth and Community Work at University College Cork. Catherine Forde lectures in Youth and Community Work at University College Cork. Mark Hammond lectures in Community Youth Work at University of Ulster, Belfast. Susan Cooper Bradford is a senior lecturer in Community and Youth Studies at the University College Plymouth St. Mark & St. John. Yvonne McNamara lectures in Youth and Community Work at Liverpool John Moores University. Mike Lawley, Psychotherapist and supervisor, lectures in counselling at Birkbeck College. John Towler is a private consultant and lectures in Counselling at the Guildford College of Higher and Further Education Sue Robertson lectures in Youth and Community Work at the University of Chichester. Carol Packham lectures in Youth and Community Work at Manchester Metropolitan University. Jo Trelfa lectures in Youth and Community Work at the University College Plymouth St. Mark and St. John. Dan Richmond is the Training Co-ordinator for the Youth Service in Plymouth City Council. Tony Jeffs lectures in Community and Youth Work at Durham University. Jean Spence lectures in Community and Youth Work at Durham University. 3 Youth & Policy | Nos. 97 and 98 | Autumn 2007/Winter 2008 Y&P 97.indb 3 3/12/07 16:05:04 Y&P 97.indb 4 3/12/07 16:05:04 Youth and Community Work Qualifying Courses – Living with the Tensions? Introduction Youth and Community Work Qualifying Courses – Living with the Tensions? John Holmes In recent years the role of tutors in explaining the tradition of Youth and Community Work to new students has been made easier by the growth of more accessible historical sources. Youth and Policy history conferences have led to a number of books (three so far) comprising articles on wide ranging topics within Youth and Community Work (Gilchrist, Jeffs and Spence, 2001; 2003; 2006). As an introduction to the history of the Youth Service, Bernard Davies’ two volumes (1999) are key texts, and although no longer in print, are available as free downloads on the National Youth Agency website (www.nya.org. uk). The current state of students’ finances makes such access particularly valuable. Whilst students are unlikely to read these two volumes in their entirety they provide sources for the main historical developments since 1939, in particular government policy on youth work. As a conceptual framework the ‘irresolvable tensions’ that Davies introduces can help students to come to a more sophisticated view of what youth work is, and move away from glib definitions. These tensions (between universalism – selectivity, education – rescue, professionals – volunteers, voluntary sector – State) it is argued have provided the context for the history since 1939, and before. I have found it valuable to refer back to these tensions when thinking about Youth and Community Work Qualifying Courses and how they have developed in relation to the Youth Service and youth work more generally. Initially it would seem plausible to argue that the development of professional training leading to JNC qualification, following the Albemarle Report (Ministry of Education, 1960) and much increased by the move to two year courses in 1970, following the Fairbairn-Milson Report (DES, 1969), was simply evidence of growing State influence in an area of work that only existed in the voluntary sector prior to 1939. As Bradford records in ‘Practices, policies and professionals’ in this issue, the period 1939-45 saw the first moves of the State promoting training for youth workers, but substantial, sustainable initiatives had to wait until the post Albemarle period. Voluntary sector training courses such as the one at Westhill college in Birmingham, that preceded these developments (Holmes, 2007) came into line with a national qualification, and over time the curriculum of all courses became more proscribed, leading to the current position whereby professional validation is dependent on showing links to the Youth Work National Occupational Standards, which lay down what youth workers should be able to do. It has clearly been the role of these courses to provide the professionals, often taking people away from volunteer and part time roles and enabling them to gain the qualifications to move