SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUTH WORKERS AND

One of the aims of this graduation thesis is to provide an insight into the differences between youth workers and teachers from the perspective of the youth workers. I am doing this intending to provide support in mutual understanding of both, historically seen, very different yet very similar professions.

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Youth workers have an informal clothing style when compared to teachers. Therefore, young people are keener to approach a youth worker than a teacher because they feel more connected.

"I think that a youth worker has a more non-formal style – you feel that you can approach a youth worker easier than a teacher. You can almost say that teachers have their own dress code, and when somebody is dressed like a teacher you tell them "you are dressed like a teacher". This quite polished look." (A, 217-220)

Furthermore, youth work has a person-oriented approach, while teachers have a subject-oriented approach:

"I think it is more individualised learning because in youth work you learn what you want to learn. You think about your learning wishes, you plan your learning. And in the schools, they have to learn what is prescribed in the learning plan. I think this is the biggest advantage." (A, 264-268)

and

"The teachers also have to work the subject trough, to give homework and give grades."

(B, 387-388)

Both, teachers and youth workers, do group work with young people. However, youth workers believe that they offer more individual support. Moreover, they believe that youth work is more flexible and can easier adapt to changes in young people's needs. The constant evaluation of the activities helps in this process.

"The method of evaluation between youth workers and teachers is also different. Youth workers want to get feedback in every activity and their work on the feedback they get.

Therefore, youth workers are used to adjusting while the school is not so much flexible."

(A, 521-524)

The education system and teachers are focused on transmitting knowledge. Youth work and youth workers are focused on establishing safe spaces and supporting environments that support young people's personal development. Based on this we may conclude that the purpose of youth work and education are slightly different.

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"Teachers are the ones who like to teach the children something, but the youth worker would like to establish a surrounding that would be stimulative for the children to be aware of their own learning process, to recognize them as an actor, that they have the influence on the learning process." (F, 212-217)

Youth workers try to establish activities and programmes for young people with young people.

They co-create the activities and programmes with them.

"I see a youth worker as a person who is simply hanging out there and the kids can approach them and share their ideas and what they want to do, like organize events and this kind of stuff." (D, 272-276)

In Slovenia, youth work is unknown by most people, while education is traditionally seen as one of the carrying pillars of young people's socialization. Nevertheless, teachers receive a higher level of respect in society. However, it is noted that this respect is dropping and that the positive influence of teachers on the young people is decreasing. Consequently, youth workers are often mistaken for teachers since the profession of youth work is widely unknown:

"I think in Slovenia youth work is not well known. In my bubble, people know what youth work is, but outside of its people do not know much about youth work. Some of them are asking me "Are you something like a teacher?". They are constantly trying to connect us with the teachers – like we are teachers working outside of schools." (A, 237-241)

Teachers establish relationships with young people based on authority. On the other hand, youth workers see young people as the experts of their own life and equals to adults.

"In the case of youth workers, the young persons have a role of a participant. I think we are openly challenging this. The relationship between participants and youth workers is equal. In this relationship, they both have the power – the youth worker and the participant. While in school the teacher has more power than the pupil." (A, 257-261)

Youth workers receive special training on how to establish trustful relationships and maintain equal positions in them. The focus is on creating a safe space for young people. Nevertheless, they have the tools to achieve successful group dynamics.

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"I often like to say that it is friendly, but it's not a friendship. So, a youth worker in relation to youth is somebody who gives them support, who is there for them, listens to them and who helps them." (F, 178-180)

On the one hand, participation in youth work activities is completely voluntary for young people. On the other hand, youngsters are obligated to attend school classes, or they risk being excluded from education. Moreover, youth work activities respond to young people's interests and needs while the school follows a year-long curriculum.

"... we have this participatory space, and I also wish to somehow collaborate with their knowledge and build their wishes and their needs, which we actually explore at the beginning of the process." (C, 79-81)

To conclude, youth workers and teachers have many differences and similarities. These are seen as challenges as well as opportunities towards successful cooperation between youth work and education.

4.4 YOUTH WORK IN SCHOOLS

My graduation thesis should be used by youth workers, teachers, and other practitioners in the youth sector as a supporting tool in establishing effective collaborations between education and youth work more easily. Therefore, I devoted special attention to describing youth workers' expectations about the model of youth work in schools. In this chapter, I will summarize the research findings of possible activities and possible design of the model of youth work in school.

I recognized through my research many possible ways for building successful cooperation between youth work and education. I combined these and developed a possible concept for the cooperation of youth work and education in Ljubljana.

The cooperation should be built on the already existing programmes and activities of detached-youth work and centre-based detached-youth work. Many successful partnerships between detached-youth work and education exist already. It is important to deepen these partnerships with new methods and broader cross-sectoral activities i.e., networking events and trainings for personnel, informative meetings of the stakeholders in the youth sector, police, social and health services, and joint projects and activities focused on young people's wellbeing.

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"An indicator of success would be the fact that teachers would know about youth workers. The second one would be a system solution where all schools cooperate with their local youth centres. At a system level, it would be nice if the teachers would have an opportunity to meet youth workers on an event and talk." (A, 451-455)

Regular class visits from the above-mentioned stakeholders and a youth worker employed at the school are recognized as possible improvements.

"Maybe even a school having a youth worker, that would be there for half of the time and behalf of the time somewhere else." (D, 248-249)

Youth workers have a vast network of non-governmental organizations, institutions, experts, and other individuals in the youth sector. Their network can be used as a resource by schools to put the well-being of youth at the centre of political discussions. Moreover, multisectoral cooperation would enable more effective crisis-response and secure immediate help for endangered young people.

"When the school would recognize some problem or issue, they could call us to check what we could do together to solve it. Simply, that the school would call us, the social worker, and inform us about youngsters who need support. And then we would work out a plan." (D, 252-255)

Joint trainings for youth workers and teachers would boost mutual understanding, offer opportunities to meet and exchange experiences and enrich the practices with new approaches, methods, and concepts. One platform for sharing experiences is the annual conference of school principles.

Presently youth workers mostly collaborate with the schools’ counsellors or principals when working on joint projects or establishing partnerships. Except from class visits, joint reflections meetings are held where activities are evaluated and reflected.

"Those reflections are also preparations for the next steps in the class, you know, and when we first meet before I somehow go to visit the class, we somehow define some goals, you know, of my work or our work in the school." (C, 214-216)

Many schools in Slovenia employ a multiplicator, a person whose job is to plan and implement projects. This person could be used as a resource and contact point for youth workers in the

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future. In this way, it is ensured that the communication between youth work and education is responsive and concentrated. Multisectoral cooperation also bears a lot of opportunities for strengthening the recognition of youth work.

"I remember once we were presenting ourselves at the conference of the Association of the Primary School Principles in Slovenia. This is something that I think has a lot of potential, but we were like on the schedule for that meeting because somebody put us in. So, like we already knew one of the principles, and I think. This could be more structured or like the connections, there should be available to all." (A, 51-56)

Additionally, police agencies are recognized by youth workers as potential partners. Enhancing cooperation with police would enable easier and faster response in crises i.e., home runaways, bullying, hate speech, etc.

"We have runaways in Slovenia from home or institutions and I believe that if the kids would talk to some good police officers some of their problems could be easily solved.

For example, some kids are running away because they have problems in the family, where a social worker should intervene and work with the family. The police officers could organise such help." (A, 358-363)

Unfortunately, issues young people deal with are very complex. Having youth work in schools could help to address them in an easier way. Except from of education, young people have many needs which are often neglected by their parents and communities. This produces a higher risk for violence and delinquent behaviours. Providing young people with guidance, counselling, and activities for spending quality free time would have a direct impact on the wellbeing of the communities. Moreover, youth work could boost the integration of second-generation immigrants living in Ljubljana by informing young people about the different offers for Slovene language courses and empowering them to engage in cultural exchanges.

"The expectation of the families, of the parents and the society, is to be quiet, you know, to go to school to get the matura and later go to faculty." (C, 245-247)

Many parents miss the tools that are needed to deal with different issues that young people experience.

"I also think that the parents don't have time or the energy or the capacity to give them the attention, to talk with them to play some activities with them." (B, 119-121)

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An opportunity for youth workers to implement activities and establish contacts with young people in the school environment are the breaks between classes. Moreover, school breaks are as well a possibility to interact and connect with school staff.

"I see breaks between classes as a good opportunity to interact with young people and ask them about their needs, potentials for improvement, their strengths. Moreover, this would be a good opportunity to interact with other staff at school like cooks, cleaning staff, school counsellor and teachers and see what their needs are, are there conflicts, is the relationship among people good." (A, 463-468)

Schools in Ljubljana do not have facilities which youngsters could use during the breaks or after the classes. The pupils mostly stay in the halls or school yards during the breaks. Youth workers believe that young people need their own space in the school, namely a youth room or small youth centre. This idea is not new. Namely, in the UK school-based youth centres are default in bigger public schools.

"For me, the perfect collaboration would be to have regular, not only workshops, but a space in the school, a safe space, that is like, let's say a youth centre in one room. So, it is open for everyone to come in and talk about whatever they want, with a youth worker or other young ones." (B, 472-475)

The youth room or youth centre could be supported by a part-time youth worker who would offer guidance and support for young people expressing interest in it. This facility would offer a safe space for youngsters to retreat and relax from the stressful school day, play, talk and organize events together with their peers.

"In my dreams, it is super cosy. The doors are all the time open, and a youth worker is always present. No matter if the classes are still on, the young ones have the option to come there, chill or do homework. Why? To open them the safe space. Things happen, sometimes you have a bad day, your boyfriend left you, you feel sad, and you cannot follow these classes. This would be a safe space to have a talk and later return to the class. That would be the purpose of this room. If they are interested and the classes are over, we can search for activities they would like to do. For example, whatever they want to discover, debate, talk about a book, movie, life, anything. This could be anything. This is my perception of this safe space in the school. You could also simply

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share problems and troubles you have. Or simply to release the anger you have and then later return to the class and focus on it." (B, 493-504)

Youth work in schools would follow different aims like supporting the democratization and development of critical thinking amongst youth, informing young people, organization of preventive workshops, the establishment of the first contact, and maintaining relationships with peer groups.

"... primary for me it was always the talk. The talk with young ones, the space, and the time – this is the main aims for me personally." (B, 145-148)

Nevertheless, supporting young people's personal development is seen as one of the most important aims.

"The main aim is that they find their own strength and power and trust in themselves."

(B, 154-155)

In closing, it is evident from the research findings that youth work and education should cooperate more. This should be based on joint projects and programmes and cooperation with other stakeholders in the youth sector. To establish effective concepts of youth work in schools, the professionals from both sides need to meet and exchange experiences.