Barriers and enablers to UK-German youth exchanges within the youth sector
Encouraging UK-German Youth Exchanges
5 Barriers and enablers to UK-German youth exchanges within the youth sector
Youth worker barriers and enablers
Youth worker competences and training Ensuring youth workers have relevant professional competences for international exchanges is a key part of enabling their effective delivery. In the survey, youth workers were asked to comparatively rate their personal competences for organising and supporting youth exchanges, using a Likert scale equivalent to a 1-5 rating (Graph 5.1).
The differences between lowest rated competences within each country may reflect the differences between working cultures and youth work practice. On the UK side there is a more substantial focus on working with marginalised groups and more emphasis placed on risk management (see Target groups and recruitment of young people, Chapter 3). Within the interviews, German youth workers described the complexities of working with the UK approaches to risk assessment and work with marginalised groups. Including marginalised groups in exchanges was said to sometimes require a radical rethinking of how the exchanges are run – in order to manage this, the necessary know-how was required. UK youth workers also recognised this challenge but felt more confident about risk assessment and inclusion as a part of their practice. This suggests building competences in these areas for German youth workers may be particularly important for collaboration with the UK. “In our last exchange, we didn’t manage to take a young person with refugee experience because of the bureaucratic challenges. ... I would like to see more support, not only theoretical but also practical, so that these groups can be better supported and more involved in our exchanges. For me, that’s what integration is all about.” German youth worker
The four highest rated personal competences were the same between both countries:
1. Cooperate with international partners, 2. Work in intercultural environments, 3. Support young people to engage in intercultural environments, 4. Create learning outcomes through a youth exchange.
The three lowest rated competences on the UK side were:
1. Communicate in multicultural settings (lowest), 2. Find information to support youth exchanges, 3. Plan or organise a youth exchange.
By contrast, the three lowest rated competences on the German side were:
Factors currently preventing UK and German youth organisations becoming more involved in youth exchanges and how they might be overcome. The chapter draws on the youth workers survey, the interviews with youth workers and the discussion of the resonance group.
1. Support marginalised or vulnerable young people within international projects (lowest), 2. Evaluate and measure impact within a youth exchange, 3. Manage risk within a youth exchange.
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