I was away last week, didnt do any writing, and then went to the Frontier Youth Trust Community gathering over the weekend, so I didnt get chance to reply to a particularly welcome and humbling recommendation for my blog on youthwork, youth ministry and detached youthwork by Aaron Garth at the Ultimate Youthworker Site, and team in Australia.
No one writes copious amounts of drivel on youthwork for recognition, or money or awards, no not even me, it is mostly as a reflective tool for me personally, to share a few ideas, develop thoughts from what im writing or doing or had conversations about during the day with other youthworkers. Sp, for other people to like what I write, find it useful and recommend it to others is a very humbling. Yes i know we youthworkers need to stick together at times but it i do thank Aaron and his team for the recommendation and kind words. Please do check out their site ‘Ultimate youthworker’ too its on the links below.
Heres their recommendation, and id also recommend the others listed here too.
So, from ‘Ultimate youthworker’ site: http://ultimateyouthworker.com.au/2017/06/blogs-for-youth-workers-you-must-read/
Our must read blogs for youth workers
Youth work is a strange beast. We aren’t great at tooting our own horn. Even worse at sharing what we do. So when people step into the gap and share their thoughts, dreams, aspirations, research and their passion it is a fantastic sight to see. There have been many youth work blogs that have come and gone over the years (a testament to our sectors difficulties). With this in mind here are a few of the blogs for youth workers we read regularly that keep us up to date and get our creative juices flowing.
IN DEFENCE OF YOUTH WORK
We have been keen followers of the crew at In Defence for the last six years. The mix of news and thoughts on where the sector is at in the UK always keep us interested and informed. Tony Taylor does a great job bringing it all together with the occasional guest post from others throughout the sector. In Defence have a great open letter to the sector which states their view on youth work and how it should run. This is a must read for anyone who wants to stay in the youth sector for the long haul.
DETACHED YOUTH WORK – LEARNING FROM THE STREET
Over the past year we have got to know the writing of James Ballantyne really well. James writes at the intersection of Youth Work and Youth Ministry and brings a detached youth work perspective to his writings. James has a depth of knowledge and wisdom that shows through in pretty much every post he does. Another UK Native James brings a strong dose of detached youth work to his readers, a concept we should all get our head around. This blog is a fantastic resource for youth ministers who are looking to develop their skills and knowledge, and is a fantastic read for the rest of the sector to see what youth ministry could be like with a bit of youth work injected into it.
Exploring Youth Issues
Alan Mackie is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh who’s areas of interest include education and youth work. His blog brings articles o politics, young people, youth work and education together to give us a smorgasbord of thoughts. Alan’s blog is one of those We go to if we want to challenge our thinking and the way the world sees young people.
Radical Youth Practice
A New blog on the block is Radical Youth Practice from Rys Farthing. Rys was a lecturer of Aaron’s at RMIT over a decade ago and is now based in the UK. We expect a lot from this blog and it delivers in spades. Challenging the way youth services see political action as they worry about biting the hand that feeds them is an early taste of whats to come from this powerhouse author. Its early days but we expect to see Rys around for a long time yet.
We can’t recommend these blogs for youth workers enough.
Go and check them out.
Part of being an ultimate youth worker is ongoing learning. One of the best ways is to follow a few blogs. It keeps you current and helps you see some of the debates from different perspectives.
What are some of your favourite blogs?
From all of us, ahem, me, at Learning from the Street, thank you.
Learning from the Streets 