The Definition of Youth
The definition of youth varies in different settings but is generally used to refer to young people (Ruspini 8). In most countries, regions, and communities, youths are considered and defined as young people aged between thirteen and eighteen. Since young people develop under different circumstances with varied perspectives and priorities, youth do not occur as a single group (Wyn 1). Some of the main youth issues today include sex, poverty, drugs, sexuality, alcohol, culture, and crime (Kelly and Kamp 39). Therefore, there is need to understand the happenings in the lives of the young people. The youth phase involves major changes as people negotiate for new statuses and abandon old ones (Furlong 3).
Youth and Music Studies
Youth and music studies share a common history. Early studies of popular music drew on youth education in the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) tradition, but they are headed in different directions (Furlong 155). There is a shift in youth studies towards language of scenes, (neo) tribes and lifestyle changes that have emphasized the obscuring of age confines , which were previously linked with different subcultural pursuits (Heath et al. 11). In Europe, development of studies on the youth has been strongly influenced by social upheavals within the region in the 20th Century (Bradford 138). Youth studies can be defined as an interdisciplinary field in academics that is focused on the culture, history, psychology, politics, and development of youth. (Furlong 28).The studies go beyond understanding young people's specific cultures to their roles, responsibilities, and relationships within the society (Brown 5). Youth education takes into consideration the numerous and interrelated social contexts inhabited and navigated by the young people and how educational institutions are able to manage the growing cultural, ideological, and ethnic diversities (Timmerman 2).
Youth Work
Youth work concerns dialogue and making relationships that enable young people come to voice their issues (De 4). The role of youth workers is to create spaces for fun, conversation, challenge, relationships, and collective learning. In the UK, the origin of youth work is traceable to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when voluntary groups started Sunday and ragged schools that war less formal than mainstream schools for the poor. In this period, learning involved outings and social activities. Informal education having been developed over a long period of time and through youth and community work setting, is able to provide a significant knowledge body, theory, as well as critique that influence work in youth centres (Hordern et al. 115).
Transitions to Adulthood
Studying of transitions to adulthood from youth has for a long time formed an essential part of youth studies although considered detrimental by some people (Furlong 3). The expected changes such as education to work, independent and solo living or co-residence have become protracted, occurring later in life. Transitions have turned out to be complex and in most cases, non-linear. For example, while initially young people finished education and moved to work, these days they start working and go back to school again. In summary, the youth phase can be fragmented and protracted, imagined and perceived in varied ways, with fairly slight effect on the consequent duplication of inequalities (Ruspini xvi). Considering these complexities, the necessity for practitioners to undergo education and training in youth work cannot be overstated. The workers are the initial educators and engage with the youth in different environments to design and seize opportunities for learning informally (Hodern et al 112). Studying youth work prepares one for a shifting and diverse field professionally, where work is not only in community clubs but also in schools, hospitals, colleges, drug projects and career guidance offices. Methods and approaches employed in youth work centres vary greatly as per the application of an important learning point for the youth practitioner (Timmerman 96).
Education and Youth Work Studies
Education and youth work studies help in exploring and understanding this phase of life and how inequities are replicated across generations. In addition, the studies assist to understand how generations are transformed, taking into account that various substantial and fast transformations do occur (Furlong 3). In general, youth work studies provide a vantage point for observing the new trends as they emerge and social transformations among youth groups. According to Blackman et al (2017), studying youth allows for a close-up investigation of the broader causes of societal change and continuity, as well as provide answers of greater significance for social science. They add a second reason as the interrogation of the manner in which influential social actors construct youth into a social grouping through discourses that aid ideological purposes. By understanding the social changes, the youth worker is in a position to reason, influence, and guide the youth in making decisions that are meaningful and helpful. The education and studies are also crucial in learning and exploring of professional and ethical principles. The principles stipulate the importance of respecting and valuing individuals and promotion of young people's rights of decision making. Moreover, youth workers' responsibility is also to ensure safety and welfare of young people while allowing them to learn through educational activities that are challenging. In this case, the practitioner studies to promote social justice and be aware of professional and personal life boundaries (Hurdern 114).
Challenges and Critiques
However, Ruspini (2016) feels that the youth studies have been stratified, which is not only damaging, but also averting focus away from fundamental sociological question. She adds that the shift has caused circumstances where change processes are exaggerated, particularly by those who have no interest in life's economic spheres. The studying of youth calls for awareness of the vital economic continuities and ability to frame interpretations accordingly (Ruspini 4). Another argument points at the need to stop focusing attention on the immediate present and providing solutions to social problems. Instead, stakeholders should shift their efforts towards longer term processes and develop 'reality-congruent' knowledge (Kelly and Kamp 39). Even with the importance of youth work, most studies are undertaken by women; the work is associated with femininity and is mostly under-recognised and underpaid (De, 69). Graduates of youth work certificate at Community College of Philadelphia gave reports that the studies helped them to improve their counselling skills, self-confidence and providing them with a fuller view of the field of youth (Pozzobini et al. 37). The absence of a fixed curriculum as is the case with other educational systems has had critics argue that its approach is generalist. The positive angle on this observation is that youth workers are taught to begin where the young people are instead of the place they are expected to be (Hodern et al. 113).
Challenges and Future Directions
Education and youth work studies are currently challenged by the changing face and shape of Europe, in terms of diverse cultural and political traditions and the place of young people within them. A significant task is to produce meaningful understandings of the youth that can contribute to policies conceptualization and formulation (Bradford 128). Additional challenges to youth work studies include the necessity to question assumptions and conventional perspectives in bringing out quotidian realities and question the present fetishism (Kelly and Kamp 39). Research has shown that staff training affects program quality with those having qualified and educated staff being better at youth engagement and developing better projects (Pozzobini et al. 36).
Importance of Education and Youth Work Studies
Education and youth work studies play an important role for both the young and the youth workers by ensuring a balance between professional and personal interactions (Teater 48). The studies prepare the practitioner in handling youth from diverse backgrounds and cultures and working with them to grow their ambitions, self-worth, and knowledge. As the focal point of youth work is in creation of dialogues and relationships, the studies sharpen inter-personal skills to enable the practitioners execute their duties with competence (Cieslik 28). Through the studies, the young people and the workers are able to acknowledge and appreciate diversity such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, class, and disability, as well as use their differences to better distribute status, power, and opportunity (Hordern 117). The challenges facing increased uptake of youth work studies such as association with femininity can be mitigated by creating awareness on the crucial role and achievements so far and recognising the workers who do exemplary well. Notably, by understanding the need for youth workers in most of the social institutions, it is vital that all social workers are encouraged to undertake these studies for effective delivery of services, as well as building the young people for the future. Having a qualification that is well recognised internally and publicly is important in legitimising the field of youth work (Pozzoboni 37).
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