Dr David Gregory is responsible for the strategic direction of the Scottish Attainment Challenge, but it might have been a different story if David hadn’t have benefited from the support of local youth workers during his school days.
Each time I get a new job I find myself reflecting on what I have learned from the old one and what new skills and knowledge I need going forward. It reminds me of what I have learned outside formal education. I was a school pupil who did not really enjoy school. I worked hard and tried my best but was never totally engaged in formal school education. However, I enjoyed learning in other environments and engaged in clubs and societies. These helped me to better engage in school and laid foundations for lifelong learning. I enjoyed the nature club and the choir that ran after school and weekends, and I still enjoy these hobbies today. They mean I have somewhere to go to process a busy day or simply relax.
What I didn’t know at the time was that these clubs were run by what today we would call youth workers. They had obviously worked with teachers to organise activities that provided safe spaces for young people after school. I was in a school where almost everything was taught in sets so, after school, not only did I learn what a Willow Warbler looked like but also how to get along with people I never really met in school. I was given more freedom than in school and was able to plan what I wanted to find out about. As a group of young people, we worked with the local council to ensure our local nature reserve was protected from new builds and even managed to get a grant to improve the bird hide. The skills we developed gave us more confidence in school and, for some, increased their motivation to attend.
These activities were referenced in school. Teachers had obviously met with those running the clubs and discussed what was happening. There was a shared understanding about what the clubs were for and how they added to formal school education. This appeared to be unusual at the time. I was lucky enough to be good at sport and got the opportunity to go to other schools to represent mine. Talking to people in other schools it was obvious that they did not have the opportunities we had. Looking back, it is clear that I would have been a different person without my experiences out of school and how much I needed the activities to be successful in more formal education. I needed those clubs!
Forty years later and I have been asked to write a blog just before the ‘Education Needs Youth Work’ campaign and little has changed! Youth workers continue to undertake important work which has a pivotal role in the school and post-school landscape. It is more important than ever that we have a shared language between teachers and youth workers to enable planning for learners; a language that allows each to add value to what the other is doing. What has changed is the complexity of a young person’s life and learner journey. As the journey increasingly flows in and out of the school environment, having a shared understanding of the possibilities that youth work and other partners can offer is an important part of curriculum planning.
Schools are actively seeking new opportunities but a shared language and recognition of the value of learning outside schools may speed the discussions and help to improve the lives of young people: which is surely what education is about!