Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast

Group work is one of the most rewarding and exciting parts of our job as youth workers. It comes in many forms and it looks different in every context it is used in. Until the 1950's however, it was a relatively unheard of area of study. Today there are thousands of articles, books and training courses with different ideas on the who, how, what and why of working with groups. With so many different theories and styles it can also make group work one of the scariest parts of our job.

Whether you are running a group in a school, church, drug rehab, practically anywhere the rules are the same. But if you don't know the rules groups can be extremely daunting. Knowing the rules of group work will help us as youth workers provide the best facilitation possible. It also lets us help our young people to settle in to the roles that suit them and challenge them to step into new ones.

Group work is our bread and butter as youth workers. We don't necessarily do one on one counselling. We don't all run programs. But it is likely that we have all run a group.

What is youth work? It is a question that has haunted our profession for decades. In Australia we have attempted to frame our profession over the past few years however we keep coming up short. In todays podcast the team at Ultimate Youth Work frame this question using the current world wide definitions and our own framework of service. Controversial, probably! But it is a question we need to address if we are to cement ourselves as a profession.

We often frame our profession by what we are not rather than who we are. We do this as there is massive diversity. The range of qualifications from none at all to doctorates. The different practice situations. The issues our young people come to us with. Our different philosophical, sociological and ethical bents. We have a lot that can pull us apart. At Ultimate Youth Worker we are less concerned about our differences and more interested in what brings us together. We all care for young people. We want the best for them. Most of all we believe in their innate humanity.

Our profession is at a cross roads. Much of our previous held truths are gone. Government funding, gone. Universities protecting our courses, gone. Our very existence is threatened. Much of this because we can not answer the simple question, what is youth work? Until we can answer this question the future of our profession hangs in the balance.

In this weeks Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast we explore the need for youth workers to have a self care plan. Youth work can be highly stressful. Because we care, we take on a lot. Vicarious trauma is a regular event on our calendar. Around 24% of youth workers leave the sector every year.

In today's episode Aaron takes us on a journey towards developing our very own self care plan.

Faith and identity by Youth Work podcast from Aaron Garth

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast 'Youth Work Ethics' Aaron speaks with Professor Howard Sercombe about his over two decade looking at and developing Youth Work Ethics documents.

Howard Sercombe is a leading youth work academic and practitioner.  He has been a pioneer internationally in thinking about professional ethics for youth workers, and was involved in drafting codes of ethics for youth workers across Australia and in Scotland, England, South Africa, Zambia and New Zealand.  His book, Youth Work Ethics has been widely influential.  He has also published widely on the sociology of youth, including the construction of youth in the media and the emerging influence of neuroscience.  He and his partner, broadcaster Helen Wolfenden, have just relocated to Sydney after ten years in Glasgow. He currently holds an honorary Professorship in Education with the University of Glasgow, and is doing primary parenting for Oscar, 4 and Timothy, nearly 2.

In todays episode Aaron and Howard speak about the development of the Fairbridge code of ethics used by many youth work associations worldwide. How did the code come in to being? Why do youth workers need to think about ethics? How can youth workers think ethically in their day to day practice?

Professional youth workers must think about the concept of ethical practice every day. Codes of Ethics are a significant way for the young people we serve to know what we can and cannot do. They also give youth workers a great framework for professional supervision and reflective practice.

In todays episode Aaron and Ben speak about youth work and power. How do youth workers recognise power issues? What can youth workers do when power is imposed by neoliberal structures? How can youth workers show genuine concern in the face of power imbalances? Youth workers must wrestle with the concept of power as it is a significant issue for the young people we serve and in doing youth work with integrity.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast Aaron speaks with Dr. Kat Daley from RMIT University about her research into youth drug and alcohol abuse. Particularly, Aaron and Kat speak about why young people tend towards use that is problematic and long term.

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In todays episode, Aaron asks us to consider what we mean when we say the word profession. Aaron speaks to the model most often used in the literature available on youth work professionalisation. Finally, Aaron discusses whether this model reflects the identity of youth work.