#youthwork #reflectivepractice #reflectionvsprojection #youngpoeple #agendapolitics #selfawareness #YWCR #professionaldevelopment #challengingself #voiceandagency #valuescompass #weareeducators
An important and valuable aspect for the youth work practitioner to improve informal education, is the process of reflective practice. As as process, reflective practice stands as a powerful tool for professional youth workers seeking to engage authentically with their work and with young people.
Reflection offers a pathway towards building a depth of understanding, enables continuous improvement, and most importantly, a safeguard against the trap of projection.
Projection is the inadvertent imposition of personal ideas or agendas onto the young people and in youth work provision. This delicate balance between reflection and projection is not only pivotal in maintaining integrity and effectiveness within the field, but also a cornerstone in fostering genuine connections, relationships and impactful outcomes. This article aims to promote the value of working with reflective practice to enhance youth work and reduce the projection of ideas so that young people's agenda remains the focus of our work as oppose to that of the youth worker.
Understanding Reflection vs. Projection
Reflection, characterised by introspection and thoughtful consideration of past experiences, allows youth workers to scrutinise and learn from their actions, interactions, and decisions. The process of effective developmental supervision promotes the review of our interactions and involves a constructive analysis of what has taken place, and encourages exploration of why.
By enabling professionals to refine their practice, enhance their skills, and cultivate a heightened self-awareness, reflective practice remains valuable in considering the complexities of youth work.
On the contrary, projection sneaks in when unchecked biases, assumptions, or personal beliefs become part of the interactions and interventions with young people. projection has the ability to cloud objectivity, distort perceptions, refute realities and blurs the lines between the professional's role and their personal agenda.
Recognising and mitigating projection is crucial in maintaining ethical standards, respecting the autonomy of young people, and cultivating an inclusive, safe environments for growth and learning in real world.
To establish balance, it is important to acknowledge that we own a set of values, beliefs and ideas that we are not values free - the inherent value of reflection is understanding self and the work so that we are not projecting set ideas into informal education and acting as activist to 'change' young people's realities in a single sentence that limits voice and agency in the safe places we advocate for - the entitlement to get it right or wrong and learn is a determinate part of youth work offered to young people.
The Role of Reflective Practice
Effective reflective practice serves as a compass, (often described as a values compass), guiding professionals through the nuanced landscape of youth work. By engaging in systematic reflection, practitioners can dismantle preconceived notions, challenge biases, and enhance their cultural competence – these are essential components in our intial focus of developing meaningful relationships and promoting positive developments with young people.
Strategies for Working Effectively with Reflective Practice
Journaling: I would advocate that professional youth workers keep reflective journals, where you can document your thoughts, feelings, and experiences during interactions with young individuals. These journals can serve as a valuable resource for self-assessment and professional growth.
Peer Reflection: Establishing opportunities for collaborative reflection among colleagues. Peer feedback and discussions can offer diverse perspectives, highlight blind spots, and enable a culture of accountability and support within the team.
Supervision and Mentoring: engaging in structured supervision sessions and mentoring opportunities for professionals to engage in reflective dialogue with experienced supervisors. This guidance can offer valuable insights, identify areas for improvement, and promote continuous learning and development.
If you are on the look out for professional developmental supervision, click on the 'contact me' button at the bottom of the article as this is something that I could offer you.
Nurturing Holistic Youth-Centered Approaches
In our work, where the voices and experiences of young people are paramount, it is essential for youth work professionals to apply holistic, youth-centered approaches that prioritise their well-being, autonomy, and agency. Through reflective practice, youth workers can craft empathy, active listening, and genuine curiosity about the diverse backgrounds and narratives of the young people they engage with. We are not defict based and therefore do not conclude with certainty as in other areas of work with young people, we exist in wonder of the contribution (however distant from our own principles) seeking the assets focused exploration of views and ideas to find the way to unlock learning; informal education at work!
My own practice has been littered with the need for reflection, the times when young people hold views that do not align to my own. The current trends, topics and issues that young people are learning about from their wider experience of the world and how my actions and interactions require consideration as a youth work practitioner .
Ultimately to 'locate myself' within young people's context, understanding, perspectives and views to enable clarity of understanding, analysis and critical appraisal that can lead to an enhanced critical pedagogy.
We find ourselves in discussion on current or contemporary agendas, and i am mindful that a key aspect of youth work is about clearly understanding the process of learning - a one line answer that either confirms or negates in a discussion with young people holds little value when considering how informal education functions.
Process is about a duality of learning, and this takes time. Some allowance that on ocassion we have to become involved in discussions where young people's views conflict with developing contemporary norms and are challenging.
Do we rapidly 'defend' those who we deem targeted?
Does this create victimhood?
Do we close down learning opportunities?
The craft of informal education is sometimes working in the difficult spaces and encouraging dialogue whilst introducing respect and compassion. Understanding the feelings associated to views and behaviours have enabled my practice and responses.
For example, hearing from young men that as the rights of young women are levelled (to an extent) that this makes them feels a particular way - acknowledging that these young men are experiencing challenges in this change, gives me a privilege to be part of learning that equality and equity are process learning specific (this cannot be closed down quickly). There are a variety of contemporary examples of how young people feel about themselves in relation to topics, that I hope that we are really listening to in order to offer the best support we can to all young people.
Investment in understanding 'why' young people hold a particular view and acting as critical friend to distill wider information, embrace new ideas should in turn lead to young people making informed choices and incorporating learning into their views and actions. In practice, it can take some time for views to be developed and behaviours or actions to shift. Indeed, to filter the relationship of self as young person to a contemporary agenda requires support, time and listening. The same can be said for the youth work practitioner, we are also in process and reflection rather than projection opens opportunities for in depth ongoing discussions, that support a more appropriate response both in the moment and in continuation that creates a holistic responses and reasoned discussion.
Overcoming Challenges and Moving Forward
Whilst the journey of reflective practice may present challenges and complexities, its enduring benefits far outweigh the initial hurdles. By embracing reflection over projection, remembering that learning, and in particular informal education are process driven. Professionals in youth work are ethically suited to the unique and authentic connections through relationships that work to empower young people.
The importance of not closing down young people's voices and views, but rather working with what is presented is vital to secure the learning process. As informal educators and unique professionals, the space is sometimes filled with challenges that we should consider in relation to role, and not succumb to contemporary agendas (this many years in and i have still not managed to establish a right and wrong position, but a learning trajectory in our work that ensures that all young people's present realities are respected and open to ongoing learning).
If we consider for instance, how young people may for instance raise a potentially challening view around race, gender, war, community as examples, we are (just as in wider society) prepared to listen to a wide variety of views; it is at this point that we intersect personally and professionally and the value of reflective practice comes to life - the work in reflection enables effective approaches that are founded in dialogue, create space that includes empathy and compassion and continues the discussion.
Absolutely, we have a right to challenge, using ethical enquiry to open discussion to establish why young people think about a topic the way they do and listening to many voices enables equity and broader understanding.
There is an interplay between reflection and projection in youth work that highlights the need for continuous self-examination, humility, and a commitment to growth and learning. By including reflective practice into the foundation of our work, professionals can navigate the intricacies of engaging with young people effectively, ethically, and compassionately.
By adopting a proactive approach to reflective practice, youth work professionals can unlock new ways to create impact and connection in their interactions with young people. We have a privileged position and unique skills set through informal education that endeavours to utilise learning from experience as oppose to dismissing views as incorrect (it is likely that the representation of views are imported from outside the youth work environment and it is important to learn and understand this) as this has the potential to lead to injustice in its own right.
Do you have examples of how balancing views in youth work and informal education can be supported by reflection? Have you experienced projection taking place in youth work I would value hearing from you about your expeirences; you can comment on this article thread to keep the discussion going or post in The Youth Work Common Room forum space via the link below (registration is free and simple and keep us safe).
Steve Walker : The Youth Work Common Room (2024)
#youthwork #reflectivepractice #reflectionvsprojection #youngpoeple #agendapolitics #selfawareness #YWCR #professionaldevelopment #challengingself #voiceandagency #valuescompass #weareeducators
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