Today is the second part of Mince’s guest post about youth work in schools in the UK. Check out the first part here and come back next week for the third and final installment.
Youth Work in Schools in the UK – Part 2
There are two reasons that teacher training is so intensive: one is that, as you already know, the good and proper education of children and young people is what any civilisation needs in order to survive and grow; the other is that it’s really, really easy to screw it up.
Here are some problems or non-problems you get in schools:
You’ve got a captive audience
Youth work is a lot like teaching, but the difference is that one of the founding principles of youth work is voluntary participation. As in, if they’re not interested in your session, they don’t come to it. They have the power to choose if they want to engage or not! This means you’ve got a very powerful audience, so you better do something good.
But also, if you can’t, then the worst case is that your group just wanders off. Not so in a school… If you die on your feet, you gotta stand there looking the fool till the bell rings. Better make some backup plans quick time!
Your group already has a dynamic
For all the training you might have received on making and controlling group dynamics in youth clubs, at a school the class already did that years ago; they have quite literally grown up together. It’s a toxic environment, a real mixed bag. But yes, you have this group of people who see each other every single day, and know more about each other than you probably know about yourself. As a result, your group discussions might feel a little strained.
The teacher is there
As a non-teacher, this can only be a good thing… right? Wrong! Teachers are all powerful. They can make your youth work session a success or a massive failure. If they look interested, if they join in, if they remind those kids at the back to pay attention, and generally point out how great you are, then success is so much more likely than if they come in, sit at the back, get out their iPhone to play Angry Birds, and chuck paper planes at you. It’s horrible to have to say this, but some teachers do not give a hoot about your session or about their class’s behaviour or learning. (In that case, who knows why they are there because there are much easier ways to make £25k, but that’s another story…)
Every school is different
Great! Don’t we just love being kept on our toes? After all, it would get pretty boring if they were all the same? But be warned, you WILL break a rule, even if it’s just a banned word or calling a teacher by the wrong name, or whatever. Chill. Take it easy. How were you to know? School life involves a million more rules (and the breaking of a million more rules) than youth work, so it’s pretty routine. Phew.
Mince is a youth worker in the UK with a healthy fear of schools.
Question: What painful experiences do you have from working in a school? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments below.
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