Erasmus+ 24 May 2017
Erasmus Discussion - Exploring the CLD Model
Question 1
What are the connections between Youth
Work and related profession/disciplines in your country?
Peter mentioned that they as giving the certification to the organizations who are woring withing youths sector. So they have to fulfill some sort of expectations: programme, financial an. d organizational resources
Galina mentioned that thety don't have in Bulgaria so prepared framework of youth work so it's like different system. So they have social workers and the others and there is no specific youth worker.
Madalina from Romania - only national agency can give the cerfiication procsses and they are organizing the courses and then the person can get it. However in a practice many people work as youth workers and they don't have the occupation. When they want to make a project within a school they need just to get permission. So there is such a profession but just on the list but it doean'st mean any recognizing the profession it's rather a key word for it.
Dorota added that we actually have a system which is sort of similar.
Peter (Slovenia) described the national training system for the future to be youthworkers.
Madalina mentioned that the job position is on the list probably because of EU expectation.
Dorota the profession is on the list of professions but ... almost anybody uses is as a profession.
Peter said they have sort of 'check-list' and if the organization/individuals are fullfilint the criteria then they can go through the commision. Simply said they can get the cerficicate. The process of education of the youthworkers is going on not within the university/formal educational institutions. So it's like additional level of education.
Madalina mentioned that there are many new professions and the whole system is sort of different and it doesn't work together pretty well.
Peter: regulated and non-regulated professions. The main decision is to make is deciding if it's regulated or non-regulated professions.
In the youth centres they have the profession. So that we won't be regulated profession.
Madalina spoke about sort of "mess" with defining some sort of professions and it's definitons.
So we were simply discussion the tension between the profession.
Peter mendtion that it would be great to make MA to get back and to run the education about the youths. In Slovenia the unis are independent. The number of students is lacking the students so they are intested in developing the programmes for the youthworkers.
Madalina mentioned that the role of ministry of education could be significant and they could make a framework for the youthworker.
Dorota described the situation in Poland that the youthworkers aren't recognized 'in the filed" many people actually don't know who the youthworker is.
Peter - it could be actualy from both sides "bottom up" and "top down" at the same time.
UK: Youth workers have typical qualifications and they can work without them unless it is not high level positions. as oppose to what is practiced in central Europe, where people from different disciplines lawyers etc. work as youth workers, it may be better to have a common background (certified by same values or standards) could be much more beneficial. Then, the individual differences would be directed to youth work and benefitted more.
Hungary: BA and MA degrees on youth work helps people (volunteers/future youth workers) to have the initial information and the common grounds before they start their job. On the other hand courses and trainings on community development should be available for other discipline at the universities or to anyone who would be working with communities.
England: youth work justified itself on the basing of the failure of formal education for some youth people; later, it became a support for schools, social workers and other professions working with young people, by offering an informal approach
Malta: there is a complementarity beetween different professionals in specific projects, especially in non-profit organisations.
Bulgaria: formal education is the priority, the link between formal and non formal is missing; the role of the educational advisors in school could be a starting point
Italy: youth work is made only by other professions (educators, social workers, psychologists, community animators ecc,); they tend to not cooperate and to have different point of view
The connection between youth work and related disciplines is ideally represented through informal learning and formal education.
Croatia: related disciplines = community and social work; social pedagogy is inefficient since it is regulated by the public service.
Turkey: sociology & psychology & communication studies;
Poland: areas connected to youth work: teachers (formal education), social workers/pedagogues/psychologists, cultural/social/free-time animators (the closest to youth work: informal methods, no hierarchical relationship). No connection between the first two and the latter, no interdisciplinary connections; no community workers.
Scotland: community learning development work:
1. full membership for qualified workers (pragmatic/experiential learning model)
2. associate members as unqualified/volunteers
Training providers - coaching/mentoring skills - not didactic, but through reflective/critical thinking;