Going Global: Good Practice Guidelines for Development Education in Youth Work

“Going Global: Good Practice Guidelines for Development Education in Youth Work” is a twenty eight page booklet produced by the National Youth Development Education Programme of the National Youth Council of Ireland as part of their strategic plan to define and promote good practice in development education in youth work.

            As a good practice guide it provides clear definitions, accesses the value of development education in youth work settings and provides practical information on planning, processes and activities. It grounds all of this in relevant case studies which give the perspective of both young people and the adults working alongside them.

            The guidelines are aimed at youth leaders, workers and peer educators working in the non-formal youth sector. It provides a good starting point for someone who is new to development education and wants to discover what it involves and how they can begin to integrate this into their youth work practice.  For those workers already familiar with development education it provides additional inspiration and ideas and can offer a structure for reviewing existing programmes and activities.

            The presentation is clear with headings and quotes helping you to access relevant information quickly. The text is well written and concise with a list of websites and contacts for those wanting further detail.  The contacts, however, are Ireland specific.  The graphic design using different tones of blue and the addition of photographs liven up the document.

            It is supportive and realistic in tone, showing what can be achieved through different approaches. It explains all terminology from the start on the first page and demonstrates that even though development education is a huge area covering some very complex issues, youth workers do not need to be experts in order to encourage good practice in their youth settings.

            The booklet illustrates the value of development education to the personal development of young people through real examples, showing how it shares many of the principles of good youth work practice. By exploring the range of concepts encompassed by development education in the guide, youth workers can see how they may already be addressing important issues and where they can expand upon their provision. 

            Importantly it is about how to create quality development education. It provides ten steps to follow, although these are not prescriptive.  It begins with encouraging youth workers to consider their own attitudes and biases before they promote their own values and perceptions to others. It also strongly focuses on successful projects being young people led. It gives advice on choosing methodologies and how to help young people to expand their important local issues to see the global issues. It also provides ideas for channelling the growing interest, enthusiasm and empathy of the young people into positive action on a local or global level.

            The steps take into account the importance of evaluation in the overall process and consider what might be the expected outcomes and successes of programmes. The final step shows how development education can be mainstreamed into a youth organisation’s work, involving staff from all levels of the organisation in the process, developing policies and taking a long term approach to programmes and actions.

            The resource is useful on a practical level because it provides a clear process for youth practitioners to follow. It illustrates how development education has been successfully achieved by various means in real youth work settings.  It provides ideas for activities which can be duplicated and encourages youth workers to see the processes behind their development.

            The guidelines match good youth work practice and provide sufficient flexibility to be used in a practical way by most youth practitioners.  This resource provides clear guidelines for those new to development education and a good review process for those already well on their way. 

            Copies of the good practice guidelines are available to download free of charge from http://www.youth.ie

References

National Youth Development Education Programme, Going Global - Good Practice Guidelines for Development Education in Youth Work, Dublin: NYCI.

Angela Richmond is currently a Youth Officer with Global Connections, a Development Education Centre in Pembrokeshire, Wales.