Education systems worldwide are predominantly structured around formal education, the emphasis on academic achievements, grades, and standardised testing. However, the significance of informal education and the pivotal role it plays in shaping individuals, groups and communities often goes unnoticed in the broader educational discourse. Particularly within the school environment, the work done by youth workers in facilitating informal education is a hidden gem that deserves more recognition and appreciation.
Champions of Youth Work: Unsung Heroes in Schools
Youth workers stand as the valid conduit within the educational landscape, bridging the gap between formal curriculum-based learning and the holistic development of young people. In the creation and forming of safe spaces with and for young people, offer mentoring and coaching approaches, provision of emotional support, and working to empower young people to navigate and enjoy the complexities of adolescence. While teachers focus on academic content, youth workers focus on the emotional, social, and personal growth of young people, addressing the whole individual beyond the confines of textbooks and educational resources. The aim here is not to pit youth workers against teacher in formal education, but to align an understanding around the broader sense of education to facilitate discussion around how informal education is an equitable feature for young people to support their formal education.
Why Does Formal Education Overlook Informal Education?
The disparity in valuing formal versus informal education stems from the historical emphasis on traditional academic metrics as the primary measure of success. The meritocratic myth that good education mean good job is arguably not achievable and does not include the valuable skills set that youth work and informal education can promote as part of teh offer. Standardised tests creating division and merely focusing on specific individuals rather than a focus on the real talents and strengths within a group, grades that inform young people of their worth, and structured curricula without the freedoms of learning without limits have long been the benchmarks for evaluating educational effectiveness, often overshadowing the less tangible but equally essential aspects of personal growth, character development, and emotional intelligence.
The Transformative Power of Informal Education
Informal education, facilitated by youth workers, is instrumental in nurturing skills that transcend textbooks. From interpersonal communication to conflict resolution, critical thinking, and resilience, the lessons learned through informal education are often the ones that leave the most lasting impact on an individual's life trajectory. These skills are invaluable in preparing young individuals for the realities of the world beyond the classroom.
Nurturing a Generation of Well-Rounded Individuals
By recognising and celebrating the value of informal education in schools, we can foster a generation of individuals who are not only academically proficient but also emotionally intelligent, socially adept, and equipped to tackle the challenges of the modern and developing world. Youth workers serve as catalysts in this process, providing space and opportunities for personal growth that extend far beyond the confines of traditional classroom learning. This can be undertaken both in the school environment and indeed outside of the classroom. It is unfortunate that formal educators and head teachers do not hold value in wider areas of learning that the youth work professional is respected and valued. There is an assumption of educational expertise within formal education that should be afforded to professional youth workers as informal educators.
Redefining the Educational Paradigm
It is important to acknowledge the symbiotic relationship between formal and informal education within the school environment. Whilst formal education provides the necessary academic foundations for young people, it is the often-overlooked arena of informal education that truly enriches the lives of young people and equips them with the essential skills needed to thrive in an ever-changing world. By embracing the value of informal education and the tireless efforts of youth works in offering young people an important unique relationship that no other professional can provide - the key here is agenda, youth work by process compliments the experience of young people and develops a curriculum focus. In this process, the youth worker as educator is in a privileged position to act as witness to the experiences and ongoing life stories that emerge for young people. We are there when it goes right and we are there when it goes wrong, no agenda as such and open to facilitate informal education based on the value that young people bring.
Would your organisation or team benefit from training in and around youth work, informal education, curriculum design/co-production, topic based project, leadership support or perhaps you could benefit from professional supervision - get in touch via the website so we can chat through options.
There are forum spaces in The Youth Work Common Room for you to contribute, chat, create; login and registration are free and the space is yours to use. A space for you to post jobs and opportunities, a space for centre based youth work, a space for detached youth work, a space for LGBTQ+ youth work, a space ultimately for YOU to learn and gain from the wider field and share your good practice too. Dialoge and Debate are fine, moderation will remove any unkind comments.
The main website page has a subscribe 'button' so that you can recieve updates when new articles (there are over 30 to read and have a look at and growing all the time) are posted and is the way in which you can contact regarding your organisational development and training needs.
Steve Walker (2024) The Youth Work Common Room
Comments