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.

Do you agree on what this means in practice?
Do you agree on to what degree youth work meets this bullet point?
Here you find the questions you need to discuss to find out!

If you think that this is something you need to work on, click the “Add to development agenda” button below. You will then find your agenda on your personal page and be able to start a development process.

Please note!
If you start a development process related to this bullet point you will find the below questions also under the page “Discuss and assess”. There you will also be able to take notes.

Questions to discuss

Are local youth workers having values, attitudes and approaches that stimulates and supports young people’s engagement, participation and learning?
Is local youth work continuously raising awareness on how various personal driving forces among youth workers affect young people’s participation and learning?
What are the risks of not making visible and discussing the personal driving forces and motivations of youth workers?

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.