Youth workers need …

to be driven by the will to support young people in their personal and social development.

Youth work is very relations intense and dependent on these relations being constructive and forward looking. Youth worker’s personality and personal motivation will always form their attitudes towards young people and hence the outcome of their work. Youth workers must therefore think about and discuss what kind of values, attitudes and approaches that are best suited to stimulate and support young people’s engagement, participation and learning.

Discuss & assess
Here you find the questions you need to ask yourself to know if you need to develop and the assessment function
Set objectives
Here you describe what you want to achieve.
Needs
Here you describe what you need to acquire, develop or change.
Actions to take
Here you describe the actions you plan to take.

Remember! Development is far from always a linear process! It needs to start with discussions, but the first ‘Action to take’ might be to gather more knowledge before setting aims for development and deciding on further actions to take. Dare to be both flexible and to take one step back before taking two steps forward!

References & tips

Why am I a Youth Worker – Fred Milson, 1972
More about what values and attitudes that should guide youth workers can be found in the Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio
KEKS competencies framework lists the values, attitudes, skills and knowledge needed to do quality youth work.