A New Curriculum
The new curriculum – Youth Work: A Model for Effective Practice – replaces the annex to the 1987 policy statement which established a curricular framework for Youth Service activities for young people.
This new curriculum identifies the Central Theme of youth work and three Core Principles which underpin the Central Theme. It then outlines thirteen Curriculum Programme Areas which are vehicles by which the Central Theme and the Core Principles are achieved.
Central Theme
The Central Theme is identified as the Personal and Social Development of young people and is central to all youth work. Youth work offers opportunities for young people to acquire and develop the knowledge and understanding, and the personal and social skills, which are necessary for them to relate effectively with others, and to participate fully in the life of their own community and beyond.
Core Principles
Any curriculum has underlying principles. Those which underpin and permeate youth work include:
| i. | commitment to preparing young people for participation; |
| ii. | the promotion of acceptance and understanding of others; and |
| iii. | the development of appropriate values and beliefs. |
Curriculum Programme Areas
The new curriculum is not intended to be prescriptive in regard to the programme content of youth organisations, but the document does offer suggestions under the following headings:
| 1. | Health Education |
| 2. | Information, Guidance and Counselling |
| 3. | Testing Values and Beliefs |
| 4. | Creative Arts |
| 5. | Outdoor Education |
| 6. | Sport and Recreation |
| 7. | Widening Horizons |
| 8. | Community Involvement |
| 9. | Community Relations |
| 10. | Political Awareness and Active Citizenship |
| 11. | Development Education |
| 12. | Environmental Awareness |
| 13. | Information Technology |
Copies of "Youth Work – A Model for Effective Practice" can be obtained
from the Youth Service Branch, Department of Education for NI, Rathgael House, Balloo
Road, Bangor, BT19 7PR.
Enquiries on the Youth Work Curriculum can be made to:
John McCormick
Professional Adviser (Training)
Youth Council for Northern Ireland
Forestview, Purdys Lane,
BELFAST, BT8 7AR.
Tel: 028.90643.882, Fax: 028.9064.3874
E-mail: jmccormick@youthcouncil-ni.org.uk