The theory
There comes a time in youth work when you’ll need to plot a new course of action. A programme of events has come to an end and it’s time to start something new, but how do we decide what to do next? It’s time to make a plan, but how you start that plan will give you different results. We will look at two different strategies to this: needs-based and asset-based. Their different approaches and philosophies will give you a new perspective when planning out your next piece of work.
Needs-based
When planning a new piece of work with young people, an easy place to start is by making an assessment of needs, taking the time to understand the group of young people you work with and their history. Many groups may have a vision they wish to aim for with young people, so an assessment of their situation at that moment contrasted with a vision of what you want to achieve will show you the gaps that you may want to bridge. Your plan of action can then come from how you want to walk with them on that journey. This is a perfectly valid way of working and often the one that comes as most familiar to us. It is used throughout education, business and many other sectors of society.
When choosing a needs-based approach to planning, the basic philosophy is that there is a lack or deficiency which needs addressing. For example, with a group of young people seen to be nervous about praying, the plan may be to address that with a programme that introduces them to many different prayer styles to explore. As a way of working, the needs-based approach sees the gaps and then an ‘expert’ outside the group delivers a programme to educate. This makes young people consumers of a programme or event, which in turn can build young people’s dependence on these services to continue. It may also disempower the voice of young people in how to address these concerns.
Part of our role is as an educator, and in this a needs-based approach is really helpful. But, the role of youth worker is different to that of a teacher and a curriculum doesn’t always naturally fit in with the fluctuating world of young people. How many times have we ignored our well planned out session guide to go with the young people exploring something tangential? The needs-based approach we have looked at is the traditional way of planning the development of young people, but there is another way.
Asset-based
The asset-based approach doesn’t start with an examination of what young people are lacking but rather what young people already have: their assets. This approach of starting with people’s assets has been gaining momentum since the 1990s and is now being used quite extensively by community development organisations including the Church Urban Fund. Asset-based development starts with uncovering the talents and skills that already exist in the community. Once discovered, these existing assets and capabilities are then encouraged to grow and develop; they are brought together in interesting ways and projects flow out of them. Underlying this approach is the idea that change really takes place when people own it for themselves and commit their own resources to making that change. So an asset-based approach takes more of a personal and holistic strategy than the educational approach of a needs-based assessment.
The guiding principles of asset-based development are: everyone, no matter what their background, has something to offer; it is internally focused, thus change happens from the inside-out; it is relational, people work together on something greater than the sum of its parts.
Putting this into practice is a two-stage process. Firstly, you’ll need to find out the skills and interests that already exist within the group. This may seem a simple exercise but do not overlook it. As a youth worker you may have a perspective into the lives of the young people you work with, but with the influx of postmodernism young people more easily compartmentalise their lives. So don’t try to do this without the young people and when conducting an audit of skills, be prepared to be surprised. Even the act of taking time out to listen and discover with young people is a powerful exercise in and of itself.
Step two is to connect and mobilise the group. This will be dependent on the skills you uncover, but will also require some dreaming and envisioning with the young people as to how these skills could fit together. The important thing is that it flows out of the group’s existing assets. The role of the youth worker is that of a facilitator and encourager as the project grows. The joining together of individual’s gifts and talents is something Paul discusses in his first letter to the church in Corinth. Paul likens the Church to a body, each part with its own specialism and function. The richly gifted body of Christ works at its best when the diversity is interconnected.
With an asset-based approach, the agenda and vision comes entirely from the group. The question is whether the young people are the best at setting that agenda. An alternative comes from a group called the Search Institute in the US, who have been working on asset-based development for young people. Through a process of research, the Search Institute came up with a framework of 40 development assets which identify a range of skills, experiences, relationships, and behaviours that enable young people to develop. After surveying more than four million children and young people from all backgrounds and situations, they have consistently demonstrated that the more of these developmental assets young people acquire, the better their chances of succeeding in school and becoming happy, healthy, and contributing members of their communities and society. This framework acknowledges an assetbased approach to working with young people and provides an underlying structure to what those assets can be.
The experiment
One of the major aspects of the 40 developmental assets is that it can be adapted to any form of youth work, schools work and work with families and the community. During my time with the AIM Community, I have built mentoring session plans around achieving, or building towards achieving, at least one developmental asset. The great thing about these assets is that it is a helpful framework to track progress and development in a person.
Which developmental assets I use totally depends on the needs of the young person that I am mentoring. There are times where I have focused on one developmental asset with a young person. For example, asset three (support from other adult relationships) comes into effect with young people who need a positive adult role model. Throughout the starfish mentoring sessions, I make sure that the volunteers are people who can set a good example for the young people. For this asset, young people learn from the mentors through conversation, activities, and spending time with each other in a positive environment. This support can take many forms: helping a young person with their homework or working with them on functional skills, such as English, maths or ICT. It could also be effective when speaking to young people about life decisions, struggles and opportunities.
There are times when one activity with a young person can achieve many developmental assets. I once took a young person to a milkshake shop. This young person had never ordered anything from a shop. They had never spoken to a shopkeeper before. However, by doing this one activity this young person was able to achieve up to ten developmental assets! These assets included: responsibility, planning and decision making, cultural competence, personal power, self-esteem, sense of purpose, and feeling safe in the neighbourhood.
In terms of youth work, the developmental assets have been helpful as a tool to work with a young person’s family, school, and other significant organisations that the young person engages with. One example was when a young person invited me to their musical performance that they were part of. They were singing during the showcase and invited me because they wanted me to see how far they have come in terms of self-esteem and confidence. After the show, I spoke to their music teacher, and they talked about how helpful the mentoring sessions had been for the young person’s commitment to their musical ability, and how it affected their view on life, and achieving personal goals. Thanks to the model of the 40 developmental assets, young people that I work with are able to identify which assets they would like to build on, and the process as to how they will achieve them.
Try it yourself:
Agendas
Take some time out to listen to and understand the different agendas that may impact your work with young people. This doesn’t need to be a combative exercise pitting one view against another. Instead, see it as an exercise in listening to reflecting back on different people’s feelings and even anxieties when envisioning a direction for the group of young people you work with.
Asset audit
Even if you don’t take an asset-based approach to your work, an in-depth audit of skills and interests within your group and church may prove valuable. Finding the hidden connections between young people and especially between young people and the wider church can make them feel more connected to the body. Also, who knows when the vicar or flower lady’s undiscovered skill of juggling / crochet / making Indian fighting kites may come in handy.
Resources
For a guide to writing a needs-based youth work curriculum download Youth work: a model for effective Practice from educationsupport. org.uk/youth/publications There are plenty of resources on the Search Institute’s website both to download and buy: search-institute.org The Church Urban Fund provides more of an explanation of asset-based development from a community work perspective in their downloads: cuf.org.uk/get-involved/act/resources
