Should you enrol on EZL131 instead of E131?
Introduction
EZL131 provides an APEL route through the course material of E131 Introduction to
Working with Young People, enabling students to complete the course and its
assessment in four months instead of eight. If you chose this route, it could enable
you to begin work on the next course in the Foundation Degree (E118 Introduction to
Working with Young People in Practice) in October 2007, a year earlier than you
would otherwise be able to.
APEL stands for ‘accreditation of prior experiential learning’, and you should choose
this route only if you are sufficiently well prepared for it. That is to say, you will
already have substantial experience of working with young people, and you may also
already have obtained a qualification in the area – for example, you might have
recently completed an NVQ or RVQ at Level 3 in Youth Work, which will have given
you a recognised Youth Support Worker qualification. Alternatively, you might have
undertaken a part time youth work qualification in the past, for example a certificated
course provided by your local authority and validated through RAMP or a
qualification of a similar level provided within the voluntary sector. This leaflet is
designed to help you to judge whether what you have learnt from that experience is
sufficient to enable you to complete the course and prepare for the assessment in half
the normal time.
The leaflet outlines the main components of the course, indicating the main ideas it
covers, and the readings it uses from the literature on working with young people.
Obviously if this material, or most of it, is unfamiliar to you, you should not choose
the APEL route, but enrol on the parent course E131 instead. But if most of the
material seems familiar, then you might consider choosing the APEL route.
In making your decision, remember that you will have to study any parts of the course
that are new to you – as well as revising material that you have met before – in just
four months. Bear in mind too that a thorough knowledge of the material covered in
E131 is important not only for success in the E131/EZL131 assessment. E118 (the
next course in the Foundation Degree) assumes familiarity with the theoretical
material in E131.
The course materials
E131 has four main categories of course material.

Study Topics

Course Reader

Audiovisual case studies

Assessment
We can look briefly at each of these in turn.
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The Study Topics
There are ten Study Topics in all. The first is a general introduction to the course, and
the other nine cover a range of specific topics. We give outlines of them below,
indicating the main theories and ideas that they cover. We also mention briefly any
readings that are used: full details of these can be found later in the leaflet, when we
describe the Course Reader.
1 Introducing the Course
This outlines the scope, aims and methods of this course. It explains what we mean by
‘work with young people’, that is work where the aims are broadly educational and
the young people’s participation is voluntary. It shows how the different components
of the course (such as the DVDs and the Course Reader) are used, and introduces you
to some of the terms that will recur throughout the course, such as reflective learning
and professional capability. And it discusses the kind of writing that students will be
expected to produce. All EZL131 students will need to read this Study Topic
carefully. (Reading: Ingram and Harris ‘Defining good youth work’)
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Values and Purposes
This topic sets out the historical context within which current practices of work with
young people have developed. The topic considers where the core values and
purposes of youth work come from, and the ways in which they continue to influence
current policy developments in the wider field of work with young people. It
identifies a range of purposes for working with young people: educative,
participative, empowering and promoting equality of opportunity. It discusses the
relationships between personal values and professional ethics. And it analyses some
recent policy developments in terms of centralisation, targeting, accreditation,
delivery, individualisation and bureaucratisation. (Reading: NYA ‘Ethical conduct in
youth work’; Bradford ‘Modernising youth work…’)
3 Understanding Young People
This topic moves away from a focus on practitioners towards the users of the services
provided – young people themselves. It explores different ways of understanding the
experience of being a young person in the UK at this time and examines some of the
key social and economic factors that shape this experience. In looks critically at the
popular idea of young people as being in transition from childhood to adulthood.
Looking first at young people as individuals, it analyses the nature and construction of
identities, and compares three psychological approaches to understanding them:
behaviourism, cognitivism and humanism. Looking next at young people in their
immediate environment, it considers the influences on them from their families, peers,
school, work and any agencies (from sports clubs to the criminal courts) with which
they may come into contact. Looking finally at young people in the wider society, it
pays particular attention to changing relationships between young people and adults.
(Readings: Spence ‘Concepts of youth’; Brent ‘Trouble and tribes…’)
4 Roles and Responsibilities
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In this topic, we examine the range and diversity of practices in work with young
people, looking at what practitioners do and how they characterise their roles and
responsibilities. These roles include: ally, emotional worker, catalyst, mentor,
advocate, facilitator and supervisor. Alongside these we discuss a range of
philosophies, in which the worker can be seen as: protector, personal reformer,
liberator, community developer or institutional reformer. In more practical terms,
roles are also examined within the context of agencies, projects or organisations,
comparing building-based, detached, outreach and mobile forms of work. Finally, we
look at workers’ roles in partnership between agencies, and inter-agency work.
(Readings : DfES ‘Common core of skills and knowledge for the children’s
workforce’; Williamson ‘Challenging practice…’)
5 Forming Relationships
Here we look at relationships between practitioners and young people. Building
supportive relationships is recognised as a crucial part of effective work with young
people. We discuss how such professional relationships are defined by codes of
professional ethics, and both resemble and differ from relationships between friends
or family members. We consider the importance of boundaries in professional
relationships, and acknowledge some of the tensions that can arise from conflicts of
principle – eg between maintaining confidentiality and acting in a young person’s best
interests. We examine the knowledge, skills and personal qualities that workers bring
to relationships (including the ability to listen, to observe, to converse, to negotiate,
and to challenge). We look closely at person-centred approaches to relationships
(associated particularly with the work of Carl Rogers). Finally, we look at how
relationships may differ, for better or worse, in different settings, and identify a
number of different stages through which relationships may develop (from initial
contact to disengagement), trying to identify the skills most relevant for workers at
each stage. (Readings: Westergaard ‘Counselling and the youth support worker
role…’; Thompson ‘Handling feelings’)
6 Working with Groups
This study topic explores the place of group work in work with young people.
Working with groups is a familiar context for many practitioners and is recognised as
an important setting for developing self-awareness, social skills and practical
knowledge. Here we identify a number of different purposes that groups might fulfil –
social, activity, support, therapeutic, governance, community development and
consultative – and analyse what these involve in practice. We discuss the benefits of
group work for young people, including the opportunities groups provide for learning
to live in a range of different group settings, personal development, combating
isolation and building support, negotiating and renegotiating identity and achieving
social and political change. We identify important features of groups (interaction,
goals, norms, roles and relationships) the roles played by group members (formal,
instrumental and expressive), and the stages in the life of a group (following Bruce
Tuckman: forming, storming, norming, performing and mourning). We consider the
implications of all these for workers – the styles they may adopt (authoritarian,
consultative and enabling), and the ways they might intervene (eg to develop
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agreement, to bring about development, to foster decision-making, or to manage
endings). (Reading: Payne ‘Working with groups’)
7 Acting Professionally
This study topic explores what it means in practice to act professionally, working
within codes of ethics and rules of conduct, and taking responsibility for your own
professional development. One particular professional code is examined closely: the
National Youth Agency (NYA)’s framework of ethical principles and professional
principles. We then discuss the ideas of individual, organisational and societal
values, and apply them to a range of case studies. Underlying several of these
principles are the ideas of social justice and equality of opportunity. These are
examined, and their application illustrated through the notion of anti-discriminatory
practice. Next, we explore various types of power that workers may have in relation
to young people, and discuss how workers should be responsible and accountable in
the exercise of that power. Finally, we look at professional identities, and consider
how far these are given, received or contested. (Readings: Thompson ‘Antidiscriminatory practice’; Tucker ‘“The sum of the parts” – exploring youth work
identities’)
8 Understanding Learning
Here we examine the role of informal learning in the personal and social development
of young people. First we look at various conditions of learning, such as what prompts
it, where it takes place, how it is done and what is actually learnt. Then we examine
what ‘learning’ means, for example, whether it is individual or social. A number of
different styles of individual learning are identified and discussed (following Peter
Honey and Alan Mumford): activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist. And two
different forms of social learning are identified and discussed: learning through
participation and learning as apprenticeship. Finally, formal and informal learning are
compared and contrasted, and the qualities of an informal educator are explored.
(Reading: Wenger ‘A social theory of learning’; Crosby ‘Working with people as an
informal educator’)
9 Planning for Learning
This topic examines ways in which informal learning can be set within a framework
of learning outcomes, often referred to as a curriculum. It looks at the nature and
content of curricula across regional and national boundaries in the UK, working
through the successive stages of the curriculum planning model NAOMIE (needs,
aim, objectives, methods, implementation and evaluation). A range of issues under
each of these headings is explored, including different ways of assessing young
people’s needs (and a comparison of ‘needs’ with ‘wants’); the origin and nature of
different learning outcomes; the distinction between planned and reactive activities,
and between short-, medium- and long-term activities. Finally, various meanings of
‘curriculum’ are discussed: body of knowledge, product, process and praxis.
(Reading: Smith ‘Thinking about direction’; Ingram and Harris ‘Identifying and
meeting young people’s needs’)
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10 Working and Learning
Working professionally involves a continuous process of reflecting on and monitoring
your own performance. This topic guides students through reflection on the learning
they have accomplished on this course, its impact on their practice, and what they
now feel are their priorities for future professional development. It explores the ideas
of reflective practice and learning in practice, and discusses the role of supervision in
professional development. (Reading: Thompson ‘Reflective practice’; Turnbull
‘Using line management’)
Reader
The Course Reader, Working with Young People, edited by Roger Harrison and
Christine Wise, is a collection of readings, some of which have been specially written
for this book, and some of which are edited versions of texts that have been
previously published in books or journals. They have been chosen to give students a
sense of the different viewpoints that are available in the current literature on work
with young people and allow you to pursue key themes and issues in more depth than
is possible in the study topics.
A list of the contents of the Reader is attached. Each of them is a set reading for one
of the Study Topics of the course, as indicated above in the Study Topic outlines. If
you are unfamiliar with any of these pieces, you should be prepared to devote some
time to reading them.
DVD
The DVD contains three case studies illustrating and discussing different types of
work with young people. You will find both audio and video resources on a single
DVD – the video bands showing the work taking place, and the audio bands providing
discussion of it.
This is a part of the course that you will not be familiar with, and you will have to
study it as it plays an important part in the course assessment.
Assessment
The course has three assessment items: two formative ‘Tutor-marked assignments’
(TMAs), and a summative ‘end-of-course assessment’ (ECA).
You will be asked to submit the TMAs to your tutor during your work on the course,
one near the beginning and the other roughly in the middle of your studies. Your
tutor will comment on each TMA and give it a grade. However, these TMAs are
purely formative. This means they are for teaching purposes, and your grade for them
will not count towards your final assessment. So, in practice they are not compulsory,
and it is possible to complete the course successfully without doing them. However,
we very strongly recommend that you do prepare and submit them. That will
enable you to judge how you are doing on the course, and whether the way you are
studying and writing is appropriate for the course. If there are any problems, then
your tutor will be able to advise you on how to tackle these, and help to ensure that
you are well prepared for the ECA.
The ECA is summative – that is to say, your grade for it will determine whether you
pass or fail the course. It takes the place of a final examination. Like an examination,
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it covers the course as a whole; but unlike an examination, it is something you prepare
in your own time, rather than in three hours in an examination room.
In the TMAs, you will be asked to apply the theories, models and ideas of the course
to the analysis of your own practice, past and present, of working with young people.
But in the ECA, you will be asked to apply these theories etc to the case studies
presented on the DVDs.
Conclusion
We hope that this leaflet has given you a reasonable idea of what the course E131
involves, and helped you to make a judgment as to whether you are well enough
prepared to take the APEL route.
It may be that after reading it, you feel you need more information before making
your decision. If you live reasonably close to one of the OU’s Regional Centres, you
may be able to visit it and look at a copy of the actual course materials there. A list of
these Centres, with their addresses and telephone numbers, is attached. Or if you have
any specific questions, you could get in touch with the Course Manager, Carole Watts
(telephone no.: 01908 653275 or 01908 654162; email: Carole.Watts@open.ac.uk).
Whatever decision you make, may we wish you all the best for your studies, and your
work with young people.
Donald Mackinnon
E131/EZL131 Course Team Chair
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E131/EZL131 READER CONTENTS
Introduction
Roger Harrison and Christine Wise
Part 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Defining good youth work
Gina Ingram and Jean Harris
Ethical conduct in youth work
Statement of values and principles from The National Youth Agency
Common core of skills and knowledge for the children's workforce
Extract from DfES Common Core prospectus
Concepts of youth
Jean Spence
Modernising youth work: from the universal to the particular and back again
Simon Bradford
Challenging practice: a personal view on 'youth work' in times of changed
expectations
Howard Williamson
Part 2
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
17.
18.
Issues in practice
Identifying and meeting young people's needs
Gina Ingram and Jean Harris
Working with people as an informal educator
Mary Crosby
Counselling and the youth support worker role - are these connected?
Jane Westergaard
Handling feelings
Neil Thompson
Working with groups
Malcolm Payne
A social theory of learning
Etienne Wenger
Trouble and tribes: young people and community
Jeremy Brent
Anti-discriminatory practice
Neil Thompson
Thinking about direction
Mark Smith
Part 3
16.
Defining the field
Professional development
Reflective practice
Neil Thompson
'The sum of the parts' - exploring youth working identities
Stan Tucker
Using line management
Annmarie Turnbull
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Regional Centre Contacts
The Open University in London
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London
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Fax: +44 (0)20 7556 6196
Email: london@open.ac.uk
website: The Open University in London (01)
areas covered: Greater London.
The Open University in the South
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Fax: +44 (0)1865 736288
Textphone: +44 (0)1865 486202
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website: The Open University in the South (02)
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of Wight, Oxfordshire, part of Wiltshire (including Salisbury).
The Open University in the South West
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Bristol
BS1 6ND
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Fax: +44 (0)117 9888067
Email: south-west@open.ac.uk
website: The Open University in the South West (03)
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most of Wiltshire (excluding Salisbury).
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The Open University in the West Midlands
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Birmingham
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Tel: +44 (0)121 426 1661
Fax: +44 (0)121 427 9484
Textphone: +44 (0)121 428 3513
Email: west-midlands@open.ac.uk
website: The Open University in the West Midlands (04)
areas covered: Herefordshire, Shropshire, most of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West
Midlands, Worcestershire, BFPO (except Cyprus).
The Open University in the East Midlands
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Fax: +44 (0)115 9715575
Textphone: +44 (0)115 9715507
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Nottinghamshire, Rutland, part of Staffordshire (Burton-on-Trent area).
The Open University in the East of England
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Tel: +44 (0)1223 364721
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Email: east-of-england@open.ac.uk
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The Open University in Yorkshire
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Tel: +44 (0)113 2444431
Fax: +44 (0)113 2341862
Email: yorkshire@open.ac.uk
website: The Open University in Yorkshire (07)
areas covered: North, South and East Riding of Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, BFPO
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The Open University in the North West
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Textphone: +44 (0)161 956 6816
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website: The Open University in the North West (08)
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The Open University in the North
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The Open University in Wales
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Fax: +44 (0) 29 2038 8132
Email: wales@open.ac.uk
website: The Open University in Wales (10)
areas covered: Wales.
Contact with this office can be in either English or Welsh.
Gallwch gysylltu â'r swyddfa hon yn Gymraeg neu Saesneg.
The Open University in Scotland
10 Drumsheugh Gardens
Edinburgh
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Tel: +44 (0)131 226 3851
Fax: +44 (0)131 220 6730
Email: scotland@open.ac.uk
website: The Open University in Scotland (11)
areas covered: Scotland.
The Open University in Ireland
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website: The Open University in Ireland (12)
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The Open University in the South East
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Email: south-east@open.ac.uk
website: The Open University in the South East (13)
areas covered: Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex.
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