download - Deutsches Jugendinstitut e.V.

In youth work and adult education one starts from where the learner is ‘at’ and places
him/her in the foreground at all times, rather than the subject or skill, and this is how
Youthreach practitioners proceed. Learners are always involved in decisions regarding their
participation. As in vocational training, there is a strong emphasis on experiential learning
and on positive mentoring relationships. Best practice balances safety and challenge.
Thanks to the recently developed National Framework of Qualifications it is now
becoming possible to tailor qualifications options for individual learners.
Particular skills are required of staff. They must combine the roles of teacher, trainer,
youth social worker and mentor. They must link with a range of fellow professionals from
a range of agencies and disciplines. They must be structured, clear and fair in their dealings
with learners. They must be reflective and self-aware – they are often the first person with
whom the learners have enjoyed an egalitarian adult-to-adult relationship, so awareness of
boundaries is important. They must have a sense of humour. They must also be nonjudgemental
– they will encounter things that will test their value-sets. But they also require
support and supervision because there is a major risk of burn-out and this is an area that
we are only beginning to address now.
When Youthreach was established it was seen as a short term solution to a short term
problem. Now that we recognise early school leaving as a structural problem, the
programme is increasingly being seen as integral to the education and training system. In
this it is helpful that the programme has evolved over time and has itself developed a body
of practice that can be seen and verified as being effective. But mainstreaming projects and
protected measures like Youthreach presents a fundamental challenge. This is to change the
mainstream, not change what works with disadvantaged young people. It is not a matter of
shoehorning effective programmes into the funding and administrative tramlines of the
inflexible system that ‘lost’ the young people in the first place. It should work in exactly the
opposite direction.
This requires a long-term strategy, built in stages, travelling ‘as fast as the traffic will
bear’. Initiatives like Youthreach must be demonstrably as good as equivalents. Young people
are entitled to quality and professionalism and service of the highest standards. Second
chance should not be seen as second class. For this reason, the Youthreach Quality
Framework Initiative 3 is particularly significant. Its starting point is a set of quality
standards agreed with all stakeholders, including learners. Each Centre develops a Centre
Plan and then conducts an annual Internal Centre Evaluation. Finally, external evaluations
are conducted by the Department of Education and Science’s Inspectorate.
City of Dublin
While Youthreach is a national programme it is understood that it must be driven by local
priorities, local knowledge and its delivery is delegated to VECs (county vocational
educational committees). The City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee (CDVEC)
is the largest VEC in Ireland. It delivers a broad range of educational courses and services
3
See www.youthreach.ie
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