Youth Work Practice: Hot Chocolate Trust module (CO12001)

Youth Work is a rich and rewarding professional practice based on trusting mutual relationships. It is based on voluntary engagement and on starting where young people are at. It is based on the core belief that youth workers and young people learn and grow together.

Youth Work builds on human rights-based approaches. It also strives for social justice and challenges wider oppressive systems and structures.

Youth Workers are highly skilled Informal Educators.

They work across a huge range of contexts. They also work across a diverse demographic. The work they do is often with high degree of unpredictability.

They collaborate with young people to create learning and development opportunities. These can be for either for individuals or for communities.

They draw on a vast array of skills, experiences, and guiding theoretical understandings.

This module will help sharpen your theoretical thinking regarding Youth Work. It will also equip you with lots of practical ideas.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• engage with a range of Youth Work theories
• clarify your understanding of what Youth Work is (and isn’t)
• develop your understanding of the CLD Standards Council competencies, values and code of ethics. You will also develop your understanding of why they matter.
• work directly with young people to evaluate Youth Work practice
• grapple with real practice scenarios, case studies and ethical dilemmas
• explore social injustices that young people face. You will also explore how these can be addressed by Youth Work

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• clearly articulate what Youth Work is, and the theories and concepts that guide it
• reflect on and critique examples of Youth Work practice
• connect Youth Work practice to the CLD Standards Council competencies, values and code of ethics
• make connections between Youth Work practice and a wider social justice agenda

Assessments / assignment

portfolio (2,000 words) - 100%

• set in Week 3
• due in Week 13

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

This module is taught off-campus by young people and Youth Workers from Hot Chocolate Trust. It will include:

• input from young people and Youth Workers
• practical classes experimenting in different Youth Work spaces
• Q&As with young people and Youth Workers
• discussions
• group work
• creative activities
• examining practice scenarios and ethical dilemmas
• video stories of young people's real experiences
• reflective practice

You will also undertake readings and (non-assessed) tasks throughout the module. This will deepen your understanding.