This week we’ll be celebrating the skills that young people develop through their experiences in youth work, and how youth workers support young people to reflect on skills they are developing. Get involved using #YouthWorkSkills!
The new Programme for Government 2026-2031, published last week, reasserts a commitment to widening pathways for learning that will enable all young people to develop their skills and fulfil their potential. With this in mind, it also backs ‘the biggest update to the curriculum in a decade’.
The draft guidance for the refreshed 3-18 curriculum, published by Education Scotland in June this year, advocates for a rights-based and inclusive approach to learning with a ‘strong emphasis on opportunities for individuals to achieve and develop an understanding of their skills, strengths and interests and the possibilities that lie before them’.
In youth work, practitioners are adept at creating opportunities for skills development that build from young people’s personal interests and motivations. Our National Youth Work Outcomes and Skills Framework, co-created with youth workers and young people, underpins this approach, and provides a consistent structure and language for conversations with young people about their skills development. We are delighted to see that the new curriculum guidance sets a clear aspiration for schools and community ‘settings’ to work collaboratively to offer complementary approaches to developing skills, in order to meet the needs of all young people, particularly those who currently face barriers to learning.
Today is the start of our first ever Youth Work Skills Week (7th-11th September). Over the course of the week, we will be celebrating the skills that young people develop through their experiences in youth work. We also want to acknowledge the valuable contribution that youth work practitioners make in supporting young people to think and talk about the skills they are developing. This matters, because young people’s ability to articulate their skills and strengths, and identify their next steps, is crucial to becoming successful lifelong learners, whatever path they choose to take.
We’re hoping that young people and youth work teams and school partners across Scotland will get involved in the week. Please share your own content, highlighting how young people are developing skills through the youth work experiences you offer. Tag us @YouthLinkScotland use the hashtag #YouthWorkSkills to help us share your stories