This resource brings together some of the learning from In Defence of Youth Work’s (IDYW) approach to youth work story-telling as this has evolved over the past three-years. From both the participant’s and the facilitator’s points of view, it considers how examples of practice have been narrated and analysed in workshops specifically designed for workers (including young volunteers), managers, students and their tutors. It also focuses on the use of story-telling in a range of work settings: in face-to-face work with young people; as an aid to organisational change through staff training, supervision and monitoring; in the teaching and assessment of youth and community work students; and for project evaluation. Also included are some of the support materials developed by IDYW.
Far from this being offered as a finished ‘product’, the intention is to add to it as new learning emerges from IDYW’s and others’ story-telling activities. It is assumed anyway that practitioners will want to adapt the material to their own work situations. In doing so we hope it will help them clarify for themselves and their immediate colleagues what is distinctive about their practice as youth workers and how this has value for young people. We hope too that, at a moment when the very survival of youth work seems to be at risk, it will help them communicate these messages more effectively to policy-makers, funders and other key decision-makers.
Comments and suggestions for the inclusion of additional material should be sent to Bernard Davies (davies@vip.solis.co.uk) or Colin Brent (colinlbrent@gmail.com).
December 2014
Story-telling in Youth Work 