Curriculum

Comparative European Perspectives on Youth Policy

M

15 ECT

Luton, UK, Viljandi, Estonia, and Helsinki, Finland

This unit addresses contemporary youth policy utilizing trans-national comparison between the UK, Eastern Europe, and Nordic countries. The unit is predicated on the assumption that greater insight may be gained into the functioning of domestic systems if they are viewed through the prism of other national systems with different histories and political, legal, and professional cultures and different conceptions of the problems to be addressed and effectiveness of these policies in tackling social disadvantage or exclusion.

The unit allows students to interrogate some of the most significant developments in the policy areas of education, training, and employment, youth work and non-formal education, health, child protection, family policy, leisure and culture, and youth justice. It will enable students to make broad and specific links between political and policy implications and current debates and undertake and develop comparative analysis.

How these developments have impacted upon and historically influenced the shaping of Youth Work as a profession in the different countries being examined will be a significant consideration.

The unit aims to

• develop students’ understanding and capacity to critically evaluate contemporary youth policy and practice in the fields identified above in the UK, Eastern Europe, and in Nordic countries,

• critically consider how such policies and practices have been developed utilizing trans-national comparisons,
• examine the ideological and political determinants that have shaped youth policy in these different areas of Europe,
• develop the students’ understanding of utilizing comparative methods via analysis,
• critically review and articulate their understanding in relation to the development of key determinants of youth work practice and services for young people in these countries, drawing upon specific social policy initiatives, government agendas, and directives,
• develop students’ understanding of how different histories and cultures have informed the development of such systems both here and abroad, and
• consider the applicability of effective systems identified here and elsewhere back into services in their home country.

Comparative European Models of Work with Young People

M

30 /15 ECT

Luton, UK, Viljandi, Estonia, and Helsinki, Finland

The practice response to combating the social exclusion of young people will be critically examined in this unit.

Civic engagement with young people in Finland provides the starting point for an in-depth exploration of how youth work professionals engage young people in meaningful informal educational opportunities and how effective these preventative methods are in diverting young people away from marginalization within their communities.

The unit will consider universalistic youth work in Nordic countries. Youth work in Finland has a multidisciplinary background and it aims to support the growth and independence of young people and to promote active citizenship and social empowerment. The unit will examine the theoretical background and different models of preventative youth work. Due to the historical background of Finnish youth work, the work in NGOs and civic activities are an essential part of the Finnish youth work model.

UK ‘NEET’ (Not in Education, Employment or Training) Young People will be the focus of practice interventions from a UK perspective,
The unit will consider why difficulties at school are a consistent and persistent factor in discussions of social deviance and social exclusion. Schooling problems are used both to identify and predict other forms of deviance, as well as to explain later individual and societal problems. The unit will examine ‘education’ in the broadest sense, considering the contexts of the home, early-years provision, the school, youth work, and other educational and training provision. In recognizing the multi-faceted nature of educational experience and difficulty, the content will emphasize the importance of an integrated and multi-agency response.

Finally, the Estonian model of school-based youth work will be considered, including its relationship to the formal side of the educational curriculum and how professionals from teaching and youth work backgrounds come together to engage young people at risk from exclusion.
It deals with school as an educational organization and the position of a leisure manager-teacher in creating and maintaining developmental environments at school. The competencies necessary for working at youth unions and institutions as well as organizations organizing leisure education and activities will be explored, as will the educational goals and youth work goals, contributing student’s multi-faceted development through both formal and informal education.

The historical and multicultural context that has determined certain important and specific aspects of these youth work models will be apparent. It will also offer an understanding of the way in which deviance and social exclusion and disadvantage are defined, and the potential for alternative explanations arising from each other’s different contexts.

The unit aims to

• critically evaluate the relationship between existing research knowledge, professional experience, and the different theoretical perspectives examined during the unit, utilizing trans-national comparison,
• critically examine the relationship between social exclusion and education, training, or employment,
• critically examine the relationship between models of formal and informal education for understanding the potential of diverting young people away from exclusion,
• enable students to understand the theoretical multidisciplinary background of universalistic youth work aimed at promoting the well-being, functional capacity, and participation of young people,
• provide students with analytical awareness of the importance of social capital in preventative work, and
• promote students’ ability in comparative analysis of different models of youth work across the Consortium.

Young People and Illicit Drug Use in the UK

M

7

Luton, UK

This unit is designed for post-graduate students and professionals working in a variety of practice settings with young people. It would be particularly appropriate for youth workers, social workers, health service workers, practitioners in a range of voluntary sector agencies, and practitioners within the youth justice system. The unit will enable students to understand and critically appraise the complex interactions between social exclusion, gender, ethnicity, and historical and cultural factors in illicit drug use. By drawing on historical and cross-cultural comparisons, students will be able to compare and contrast contemporary policy and practice in the drug field in the UK with that which prevailed in previous periods in the UK and with that which currently prevails in other countries

The unit is intended to enable students to critically appraise the extent and patterns of young people’s drug use in the UK and analyse these patterns in relation to factors such as class, ethnicity, and gender. By drawing on comparative material, the unit also aims to enable students to contrast UK drug policy and enforcement measures with those that have existed previously in the UK and which currently exist in other areas of the world. In short, the unit aims to equip students to engage critically with some key debates about the drug problem in the UK as it relates to young people.

Young People, Group Offending, and Violent Crime

M

7

Park Square, UK

This unit will equip students with an understanding of the nature and extent of violent group offending by young people in the UK, mainland Europe, and North America, and will develop their capacity to critically evaluate the relevant sociological and criminological perspectives that aim to explain these phenomena. In particular, it aims to explicate the impact of social, economic, and political change on changes in the forms of youth crime. It offers an opportunity to critically analyse policy and practice in relation to group offending amongst ‘socially excluded’ young people in a range of European and North American settings.

The unit aims to equip students with the conceptual tools and knowledge base to critically analyse policy and practice in relation to group offending amongst ‘socially excluded’ young people in a range of European and North American settings.

The Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People

M

7

Park Square, UK

Taking a child protection focus, this unit explores the conflict between welfare and criminal justice approaches both supporting children and young people and disrupting and prosecuting those who intend to abuse them. It looks at the range of risk factors that can push a young person into vulnerable situations (such as problem drug and alcohol use, homelessness, and school exclusion) and the pull factors (such as relief from poverty and conflict) that can encourage them into exploitative relationships. The unit offers the opportunity to critically examine theories of risk, resilience, agency, and victimhood within the child protection, health, and education professional responses to the sexual exploitation and trafficking of young people.

The unit aims to equip students with an understanding of the nature and extent of the sexual exploitation of children and young people. It offers an analysis of the development of discourses of ‘trafficked’ young people, exploring the relationship between ‘trafficking’ and ‘sexual exploitation’ of children from abroad and of UK Nationals.

Drama Work

M

7

Viljandi, Estonia

This course offers to participants an insight into drama methods that can be used for several purposes simultaneously—for example, socializing, teaching, and therapeutic, artistic, and research purposes. Students learn interactive theatre mostly by performing and experiencing drama processes in workshops which are created or designed according to the group’s needs and wishes. The interactive theatre techniques such as dramatic improvisation, forum-theatre, and play-back theatre are introduced and rehearsed.

To prepare students to work with groups (of youth) using drama methods, to train their communication and drama skills, to learn to create drama processes for young people and with groups of young people.

Simulation and Gaming

M

15/7

Viljandi, Estonia

Within the first part of the unit the students are introduced to theories of experiential learning and explore the main implementation areas of games and simulations.

Then the focus shifts to the basic aspects of modelling and exploring criteria for selecting the most appropriate elements and rationale for a given simulation.
The third element of the curriculum is devoted to the constructional aspects of simulation games. What do simulation games consist of and which functional elements can be differentiated?

The fourth component considers various aspects of implementation: what and how people learn from simulations, how to select and run a simulation game, and how to carry out debriefing. The unit will be delivered as an intensive one-week course.

The unit aims to allow students to

• use and design gaming-based learning environments,
• experiment with ready-to-use socially oriented simulation games,
• experience the hands-on opportunity of model-building and game design,
• design and create new models, and
• understand social domains that require an understanding of complex systems.

Experiential Learning and Adventure Education

M

7

Tornio, Finland and Viljandi, Estonia

This module aims to equip students with an understanding of experiential learning and adventure education theory. Students learn what to create and lead educational processes based on experiential learning principles.

The unit aims to

• develop the students’ understanding of the principles of experiential learning and adventure education,
• develop the students’ ability to create educational processes which are safe and goal-oriented,
• demonstrate an ability to create a program based on the adventure educational method and relevant for their expertise and needs at work,
• develop the students’ understanding of how adventure educational programs develop inter- and intra-personal skills,
• demonstrate an ability to evaluate different situations in order to use and apply the experiential learning method and create a goal-oriented methodological process.

Multidisciplinary Cooperation in Youth Work

M

7

Helsinki, Finland

The unit examines Finnish multidisciplinary cooperation in the field of youth work in a broad sense, considering its different factors both in client work, planning, and on developmental and legislative levels.

The unit considers why multidisciplinary cooperation is demanded and needed in Finland, how it has changed and developed, and how it could be developed in the future, especially from the perspective of youth work.

The considers also the meaning and objectives of multidisciplinary cooperation as a working method taking into account the various aspects of its partners and how the role of youth work is connected to them.

This unit aims to

• provide students with a wider knowledge of multidisciplinary cooperation and its factors in youth work on different organizational levels and the ways in which these cooperate and could cooperate more,
• provide students with a deeper understanding of how multidisciplinary cooperation in youth work has changed and could be developed and what could be the possible threats and challenges for it from different perspectives,
• provide students with an opportunity to develop critically their ability to construct and develop better cooperation between the different partners of multidisciplinary cooperation for the shared benefit of social equality among young people.

Research Methods

M

9

Helsinki, Finland

This unit provides students with a solid grounding in the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the research methods currently in use in the field of youth studies. The unit gives skills to define and focus on the research-based developing task and skills for gathering and analyzing research data.

The unit aims to provide students with the tools, skills, and understanding necessary for successful problem-solving in their professional field and for the completion of their Master’s thesis.

Thesis

M

30

Helsinki, Finland

The thesis is the most demanding unit in the master’s degree programme. It provides an opportunity for students to undertake an independent study related to the professional structure. Students are expected to demonstrate an ability to develop and sustain a logical and consistent argument in relation to the analysis of relevant issues in their occupational field. In this unit, students must prove their own skills to identify and solve problems by using relevant methods independently.

The thesis can be a research-based development project or an applied investigation. Relevant parts of the thesis work are closely linked to the professional field in youth work. The thesis is related to previous studies and also to previous experience in the student’s own professional field. The thesis process will be done in close cooperation between the student, the professional field, and the university.

The overall objective is that students demonstrate their ability to carry out research-based development work in the field of youth work and youth policy in multicultural or international environments.