Academics urge institute to refine purpose and broaden horizons

When the Institute for Youth Work (IYW) was launched in September last year, it was done so with the aim of supporting quality youth work.

But a year on, the sector appears to be divided on whether the Institute – an online hub containing practice information, training tools and a forum – has proved to be a valuable resource at a time when youth services are being blighted by local authority budget cuts.

For an annual fee of between £10 and £40 depending on the type of membership required, the IYW enables members to network, access continued professional development (CPD) resources and keep abreast of policy developments.

Organisations can sign up as "organisational supporters" and pay £1,000 a year in return for a 50 per cent individual membership discount for their members, employees and volunteers.

The IYW has attracted about 700 members - 300 of who signed up within the first three months - and 29 organisational supporters, including The Scout Association, the National Youth Agency (NYA) and Manchester Metropolitan University, during the past year.

While the number appears low - a 2012 NYA report estimated 70,000 professionals were engaged in supporting young people in informal education settings in England - David Wright, chair of the IYW steering group and chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Services, is pleased with the take-up.

"We always want to be faster than we are, but if we take stock of where we are it's really good," he says.

Despite the seemingly low take-up numbers, Wright says the NYA, which is funding the IYW until it becomes self-sustaining through membership income, has been proactive in promoting the forum across the country.

Promoting membership

"We have had people going to conferences, universities and work places actively promoting and signing people up to the IYW," Wright says.

"There has been a variety of activity and that's been a key factor because we do need that level of personal support and engagement.

"People hearing it, seeing it, understanding it and having the opportunity to talk about it has led to greater take-up."

Wright says that the IYW's membership, which is fairly evenly split between youth work professionals and students, is one of its strengths because it proves that the sector is keen to work together to improve standards.

"At a time when things are really hard (financially), people have actually felt that it is worthwhile contributing," he explains.

"It's an opportunity to have a focus on youth work training and development, and it's ability to embrace students, volunteers and workers has been a real strength of what it's done."

Some in the sector have complained that the membership fees are too high at a time when youth service funding is being cut. But Wright maintains the IYW provides great value for money, with the opportunity for CPD being one of its most attractive features.

"IYW has been able to provide people with a facility to capture and record their CPD, and they are able to do it in a world that's changing," Wright explains.

"It means youth workers are less isolated and more connected with the sector."

Oasis College of Higher Education, based in Lambeth, London, cites the opportunity to network with the wider youth sector as a particular benefit of joining the IYW.

It signed up as an organisational supporter in September last year and has encouraged all of its youth work staff and the majority of students to become members.

Lots of benefits

Ali Xavier, head of student support and professional development at the college, says membership with the IYW provides a number of benefits, particularly for youth work students who are able to keep up to date on policy and sector news through it.

"A number of students have had articles published by the IYW and it's a very good platform for them to connect with others in the sector," she says.

"One of our students, through having work published by the IYW, has secured a number of short-term writing contracts, so it's contributing to her success within the sector."

Xavier says a particular perk of becoming an organisational supporter, in addition to the 50 per cent membership discount for staff and students, is the bridges it builds with other groups signed up to the IYW.

"I know other organisational supporters have contributed to offering discounts to various short-term courses and our students have certainly made use of that," she explains.

"A number of students went through the St John Ambulance (another organisational supporter) first aid training course as well."

Maxine Green, chief executive and principal of YMCA George Williams College, which runs youth work training courses, has not joined the IYW either as an individual member or as an organisational supporter.

She says she would be keen to support the IYW in some way but is yet to be convinced of the benefits of signing up.

"We would want to be supportive because when the field is under the attack that it is, there is a real wish to gather together," she explains.

"I believe that one of the reasons we haven't joined is that for students, staff and institutions, when the field is in such a difficult time, the benefits have to be very real and very obvious, and I'm not quite sure what they are.

"Although we know about it (the IYW), we're not quite sure what it is."

Green says the nature of youth work is now so diverse that it would be hard for the sector to agree on an appropriate model of support, but she believes something similar to the college's Centre for Reflective Leadership might be more effective and mutually beneficial.

"The centre came out of the field directly asking us for opportunities where our alumni could meet with colleagues, inspire each other and work together collectively in a sense that probably could have been a function of the IYW, but I can't see that there," she explains.

"Reflection in practice is at the core of the centre's work - it's in the name, so there's no ambiguity."

Drawing on the collective knowledge of its members is something that is on the agenda for the IYW in the future, says Wright, as it moves from the initial development stage to becoming a recognised professional body.

Wright says this transition will demonstrate the value of the IYW to the wider youth work sector.

Bigger issues

However, before it can move forward he says the IYW has to do more to have a voice on youth work.

"One of the concerns in terms of its development has always been where it stands on the bigger issues," Wright explains.

"Now there's a membership in place that can look at those bigger issues, it can start to form those views and decide where it stands on current issues."

Jason Pandya-Wood, head of sociology at Nottingham Trent University and a former youth worker, shares a similar view.

He agrees with and welcomes the IYW but believes more can be done to strengthen its position within the sector.

Pandya-Wood says it is particularly important for the IYW to make itself known as a collective voice on youth work, especially at a time when finances and resources are limited.

"The IYW must be more than a professional standards body and it can be so much more than a forum for best practice and CPD, very welcome though this is," he explains.

"It needs to be a vocal professional body, provide a public voice for youth work and another way to challenge decision makers and those in power to invest in this important work."

At-a-glance guide to the Institute For Youth Work

• The idea of forming the Institute for Youth Work (IYW) first came about in 2011 when the National Youth Agency (NYA), National Council of Voluntary Youth Services and Young Foundation met to consider the need for a professional body for youth work
• In response to a public consultation on the idea in 2012, 92 per cent of respondents considered the IYW to be a "positive development"
• It was launched by the board of NYA in September 2013 with the aim of improving and supporting quality youth work
• There are four levels of membership: volunteer, student, a "member" level for those working with young people without a formal qualification, and a "certified" level for professionally qualified youth workers
• Membership fees range from £10 to £40
• Groups can sign up as "organisational supporters" of the IYW and pay £1,000 in return for a 50 per cent membership discount for their employees, volunteers and students
• Organisational supporters of the IYW include Kinetic Youth, Manchester Metropolitan University, British Red Cross and the Network of Regional Youth Work Units England
• The IYW attracted just 300 members during its first three months

The IYW in numbers

• 700 - Number of IYW members
• 300 - Number of member sign-ups during first three months
• 29 - Number of organisational supporters
• £10-£40 - Cost of individual membership
• £1,000 - Annual cost of becoming an organisational supporter

Source: Institute for Youth Work