Transcript Issue 1 Youth work for young disabled people - Enjoying and learning

Critical issues in the provision of youth
work for young disabled people
Discussion materials
Issue 1:
Enjoyment and learning –
curriculum structure and design
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About this resource
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This resource is based on a thematic survey of the
provision of youth work for young disabled people
carried out in 2012.* It contains summary findings of
each of the four critical issues identified in the survey.
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Each of the four packs suggests specific questions for
discussion. These are of course not exhaustive, but it
is hoped that youth work commissioners and their
partners will use the questions as prompts to evaluate
the services they currently provide for young disabled
people. This may lead to identifying and sharing good
practice, as well as priorities for improvement.
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You can take the issues in any order and spend as
long as you like on each one. However, we suggest
that at some stage you find time to look at all four.
•
Link to the key findings of the survey:
www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/130018.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Overview of the discussion materials
These materials look at the scope, reach and nature of
the provision and the four issues considered in the
survey:
Issue 1:
Enjoyment and learning – curriculum structure and design
Issue 2:
The benefits of youth work
Issue 3:
Managing disabled young people’s engagement and
achievement
Issue 4:
Youth workers and other practitioners – professional
matters
Link for the materials on the other three issues:
www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/130018.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Scope of the survey
HMI carried out visits to 18 providers of youth work that were
specifically selected because they worked with young disabled people.
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Providers included: local authorities; charities; voluntary and
community sector organisations.
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These comprised:
– projects with a specialist focus working primarily with
young people with a particular disability
– clubs that targeted a broader non-specific range of
disabled young people
– integrated provision where disabled and non-disabled
young people met together.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Survey findings
Survey findings (1)
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Inspectors identified some very effective youth work for disabled young
people. However, the quality of this work varied too much across the
sample of local authorities visited.
Inspectors found that the youth work offer for disabled young people
was inconsistent across the sample of local authorities visited.
The pattern of provision seen was largely historical, often including a
portfolio of inherited clubs, centres and programmes originally founded
by parents, support groups or youth workers.
Overall participation rates were low and those young people not known
to services, and who would benefit from the opportunities and support
that youth work affords, were clearly less well served.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Survey findings (2)
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There are no national data to show the extent to which disabled
young people participate in youth work. A lack of regional or
national comparative data inhibits planning.
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Disabled minority ethnic young people and their families accessed
youth work provision less frequently than White British groups.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Issue 1
Raising the challenge: issues for
consideration by practitioners and
managers
Enjoyment and learning –
curriculum structure and design
Enjoyment and learning – curriculum
structure and design: Survey findings (1)
Inspectors identified that where youth work for young people with
disabilities was particularly successful, organisations converted their
‘empowering’ philosophy into practical projects that:
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developed young people’s resilience and drive
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moved them beyond the highly supportive and unchallenging
environment to which they were often accustomed.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Enjoyment and learning – curriculum
structure and design: Survey findings (2)
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Programmes that allowed young people to have a say in what they
did, so that they enjoyed taking part in activities which were new,
different and which stretched them.
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Informal/unplanned curricula were not unplanned but premised on
young people exercising choice in what they did, for example
deciding to spend time alone or with others.
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Formal/structured curricula successfully fostered young people’s
specific vocational and work-related skills and effectively
developed their independence and greater confidence in decisionmaking.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Enjoyment and learning – curriculum
structure and design: Survey findings (3)
Weaker aspects of the provision visited included:
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programmes that were repetitive and not challenging enough
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programmes that changed little over time and took insufficient
account of young people’s experiences beyond the club or
project.
activities that were largely social in nature and failed to promote
and develop young people’s autonomy and independence
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Enjoyment and learning – curriculum
structure and design: Overview
In whichever setting, young disabled people’s learning was best served
where sufficient and comprehensive consideration had been given to the
interlinked issues of what they needed; what they were already capable of;
extending learning; learning styles; and useful and useable accreditation.
They took on positions of responsibility, produced and promoted events or
films on relevant youth issues and worked with others away from the
familiarity of home.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Enjoyment and learning – curriculum
structure and design: Discussion points (1)
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What evidence do you have that programmes
for young disabled people are not repetitive,
adult led and largely social in nature ?
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Is there an underpinning curriculum, shared
with partners, which takes a broad view of
young people’s social, work-related,
developmental and political understanding?
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Enjoyment and learning – curriculum
structure and design: Discussion points (2)
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Do programme planning and youth work practice accommodate
different learning styles?
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The report highlights the impact of informal and opportunistic
practice and the value to young people’s learning of exercising
‘choice’. How is the impact of this methodology measured in your
organisation?
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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Conclusion
Conclusion
We hope you have found this resource helpful in
promoting improvement in youth work for young
disabled people.
Good practice case studies
We welcome comments on this training resource.
Please write to [email protected] and ensure
that you put ‘Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth
work’ in the subject box of your email.
Ofsted’s discussion materials: Youth work
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