Leaders can wear baggy trousers

Sorry, I haven’t blogged for a while, primarily because my new job (details) that kind of took over the last couple of weeks (plus my birthday).

During that time, two interesting new pieces of news broke. Firstly the report of the Youth Citizenship Commission, and secondly the launch of The Youth of Today, the butterfly that resulted from the caterpillar that was the National Body for Youth Leadership.

I’ve been wanting to blog about the Youth Citizenship Commission since it reported the Friday before last, but having seen the reaction from others it doesn’t exactly set the world alight. Perhaps I should at least read the whole report prior to writing about it, but if the press release is anything to go by I can’t exactly imagine it being a riveting read.

Yes, there are some interesting nuggets of ideas, including keeping schools open when polling is going on and proper funding of UKYP, but essentially it boiled down to revealing that young people felt disengaged with politics and that there needed to be better citizenship education in schools. Hardly earth shattering.

What was even more disappointing was its stance on Votes at 16.  Personally I’m in favour of a reduction of the voting age, although I don’t actually think it’s the number one priority and I understand there are quite reasonable arguments against reducing it. So what annoyed me the most about the commission’s finding was that they didn’t come to a conclusion. If the Government of the day produces a Green Paper, asks a commission to investigate various elements of it, it doesn’t really want it to come back going “erm, we don’t really know – make your own mind up.” That’s a bit like a forensic scientist saying “well, what do you think happened?”.

And, once again, I see mandatory volunteering being bandied about: this time for Key Stage 4 pupils. I’m all for using lesson time to allow young people to help in their community (I used to help out at a local school instead of do PE), but I really worry when I see words like compulsory being thrown into the mix. Before it becomes compulsory, someone has to at least answer the concern that it could alienate a generation of future volunteers.

Perhaps what is most depressing though is that I can’t help feeling somewhat cynical that the much more radical Power Inquiry came up with far more exciting solutions to these problems, yet it faded into nothing. What is the point of these inquiries if change doesn’t come about from them?

The Youth of Today looks a more promising proposition. I’ve already blogged about it when the original proposal was announced, and I still really hope it is a catalyst for recognising the importance of developing young leaders. But, as other commentators have pointed out, my reaction was that it seems a bit too heavy on the institutionalised mandate: leadership appears to be about MPs, councillors and similar elected bodies. I realise there are other schemes that promote innovation and individual excellence, but I’d hope the Youth of Today takes a broader, more grassroots approach to what leadership is. With the exception of our friend in the States, I struggle to think of many politicians who really fit my idea of what good leadership is. And not all young leaders get excited by the prospect of a trip to the Houses of Parliament.

As an example of what I mean, I’ve been party to conversations about the Young Achievers Awards, an independent charity that seeks to recognise inspirational youth volunteers (colleagues of mine are trustees for the charity). Young Achievers Awards are presented to people like Ryan Hartson, a 23-year-old from Rotherham, who was described by his MV co-ordinator as “an all round mentor and role model to literally hundreds of young people.” Ryan initially helped and then ran dance lessons, before organising a Battle of the Bounce competition that attracted over 200 young people. He’s gone into schools to talk about his work, not bad for someone who had to deal with bullies when he was younger due to a speech impediment.

As part of his prize for winning a Young Achievers Award, Ryan met with Jonzi D, artistic director of Breakin’ Convention (an international festival of hip hop dance). As a result of that meeting, Ryan was invited to audition for this year’s convention in Nottingham. His company was successful, and got the opportunity to perform with some of the biggest names in hip hop theatre.  They’ve also performed in Bradford as part of the Breakin’ Convention there, as you can see:

Apart from being a great opportunity for Ryan, what was brilliant was the feedback from the Breakin’ Convention, which included him being described as “very organised and a complete joy to have on our stage.” To me, Ryan absolutely symbolises what a young leader should be about, and exactly the sort of person that The Youth of Today should be championing.

Incidentally, you might like to know that this year’s Young Achievers Awards are now open. You’ve got until the 27^th September to nominate a suitable young person.

Image courtesy of colodio. Used under licence.

Making leaders

Wednesday saw the official announcement of the new National Body of Youth Leadership. And I’m really rather excited about it.

For more years than I care to remember (from 1995), I’ve been involved in running, and then writing and developing, youth leadership courses through my volunteering with St John Ambulance. The Youth Hostel in Matlock became my second home for a while, the number of courses I was delivering there. The organisation’s Cadet Leader 2 course was the single reason that I didn’t leave St John when I was 17 and, as a trainer, has since provided some of my most memorable and enjoyable weekends.

I’ve been aware that similar organisations are doing equally as wonderful things, and when I came to help rewrite the Cadet Leader 1 course in 1997, I remember thinking there must be other excellent resources out there. This was in the very early days of the internet, and although the fabulous Scoutbase existed, it was run by a bunch of keen enthusiasts rather than as an official programme resource. And before the internet, it was decidedly more difficult to do casual research on what other people were up to.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award demonstrates the power of putting a universal name to what effectively could be fitted into every informal education / youth development programme going. The DofE not only helps employers and universities/colleges identify the commitment and development that a young person has been through, but also ensures that the young people see their effort for what it’s worth. It’s only as I moved from young person to youth worker that I recognised the enormous value of those random weekends I’d be sent off to go and learn about John Adair‘s model of leadership, or do blindfold exercises around a car-park.

What I really hope if that the NBYL becomes a centre of excellence, using the vast knowledge already in the sector to develop a way of making youth leadership training as recognisable as the DofE. That doesn’t mean having a single programme that all operators have to work to, but valuing particular elements of learning and from that being able to issue young people with a universal certificate that is recognised by employers, educators and peers alike.

Photo credit: Corypina. Used under licence.