Noam Chomsky and the Public Intellectual in Turbulent Times

May 13, 2014

Tony Taylor Politics and Current affairs , Leave a comment

 

Chomsky

An informative and issue-raising overview of the contribution of Noam Chomsky to the struggle for social justice.

According to Henry Giroux, the author of the piece,

Chomsky is fiercely critical of fashionable conservative and liberal attempts to divorce intellectual activities from politics and is quite frank in his notion that education both in and out of institutional schooling should be involved in the practice of freedom and not just the pursuit of truth. He has strongly argued that educators, artists, journalists and other intellectuals have a responsibility to provide students and the wider public with the knowledge and skills they need to be able to learn how to think rigorously, be self-reflective, and to develop the capacity to govern rather than be governed. But for Chomsky it is not enough to learn how to think critically. Engaged intellectuals must also develop an ethical imagination and sense of social responsibility necessary to make power accountable and to deepen the possibilities for everyone to live a life infused with freedom, liberty, decency, dignity and justice.

I do not think it is pretentious, indeed it is necessary in these conformist times, to ask ourselves if we deserve to be seen as critically-minded educators, as engaged public intellectuals committed to the struggle for freedom, democracy and justice?

Noam Chomsky and the Public Intellectual in Turbulent Times.

Thanks to Neal Terry for pointing out that Chomsky is giving a lecture in Durham  next week. These lectures are videoed and made available on the Durham Castle Lectures site

22 May 2014

Professor Noam Chomsky

“Surviving the 21stCentury”

Can human beings survive the 21st Century without a major setback? Professor Noam Chomsky will address this question of global significance in this special Durham Castle Lecture.

2014 Conference and Statement of Purpose

May 5, 2014

Tony Taylor Events and Conferences, In Defence Business and Gossip , , 3 Comments

 

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Thanks to the good offices of the Youth and Community folk at the Leeds Metropolitan University, particularly Alan Smith, our 2014 conference took place in the corporate splendour of the top floor Lewis Jones Suite in the Leeds Carnegie Stadium. At first we were a bit taken aback by the luxury, but to be honest as the day wore on we became ever more comfortable. The room was light and airy and the staff most accommodating. And as Helen Gatenby commented ruefully in her presentation, ” if you get bored with my spiel, you can always enjoy the view across the towering trees and terracotta roofs of Headingley or indeed watch the Leeds Rhinos training!” Or summat like that!

In the morning session over 60 supporters were challenged and entertained by two contrasting presentations focused on the ‘Future of Youth Work’ from our keynote speakers, Howard Sercombe and Janet Batsleer. Whilst in the afternoon we were stimulated by six very different contributions exploring the hopes and fears of life on the ground – the young people from Paul Hogan’s Liverpool project on what youth work has meant for them: Tania de St Croix on the autonomy provided by being a voluntary project; Helen Gatenby on still making spaces on the streets; Aston Wood on the dilemas of management in the midst of austerity; Kev Jones on the undermining of the true meaning of Social Action; and Malcolm Ball/Pauline Grace on the opportunities afforded by being involved in Europe. As ever lively debate ensued.

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In the closing session we discussed the draft Statement of Purpose and a number of minor amendments were suggested. A couple of these, underlining the importance of critical practice and the necessity of forming local IDYW campaigning groups have been incorporated. However the concensus is that the Statement should be seen as a working document, a guide, but still open to debate. Thus it can now be found on its own page, IDYW Statement 2014 - see the header of our site. It can also be downloaded and circulated, which we would encourage.

Hopefully we will be posting written versions of some of the contributions in the coming weeks.

Once again thanks to all who attended and kept alive our critical and dissenting spirit.

 

May Day greetings and a fresh look at Capital

May 1, 2014

Tony Taylor In Defence Business and Gossip, Politics and Current affairs , , , Leave a comment

Solidarity and Best Wishes to All on the First of May

And for a little light reading on the question of Capitalism and the Future here is Paul Mason’s intro to Thomas Piketty’s ‘Capital in the Twenty-first Century’.

Thomas Piketty’s Capital: everything you need to know about the surprise bestseller

Paul concludes,

Piketty’s Capital, unlike Marx’s Capital, contains solutions possible on the terrain of capitalism itself: the 15% tax on capital, the 80% tax on high incomes, enforced transparency for all bank transactions, overt use of inflation to redistribute wealth downwards. He calls some of them “utopian” and he is right. It is easier to imagine capitalism collapsing than the elite consenting to them.
celebrate springsolidarity 2

Keep Volunteering Voluntary : Boycott ‘Community Work’ Placements

April 28, 2014

Tony Taylor Campaigns, In Defence Business and Gossip, Politics and Current affairs , , 1 Comment

Following discussion at the steering group we have agreed to sign up to the ‘Keep Volunteering Voluntary’ Campaign. See the following information being circulated by our good friends at the National Coalition for Independent Action. Please spread the word.
KVV WindowSticker
Keep Volunteering Voluntary
 
Many of you will know that the government’s latest mandatory work-for-benefits scheme – ‘Community Work Placements’ – comes into force today, 28th April. This will force long term unemployed people to work without pay for 30 hours a week for up to 26 weeks in “placements that are of benefit to the community”. The DWP and their contractors will be relying heavily on charities, voluntary organisations and community groups to provide the settings for these placements. Claimants who fail to start or participate in this programme will have their benefits stopped.
Whatever your views about getting people into work, let’s be clear: this scheme is forced labour which leads to destitution if people do not participate. It makes a mockery of the principles and practice of volunteering and the charitable purposes of alleviating poverty. It is shameful. You and your group can stop it.
NCIA is working with Boycott Workfare (www.boycottworkfare.org)  to campaign against participation in this scheme. We have today launched a campaign to ask voluntary groups to sign up to the following statement:
“Keep Volunteering Voluntary
 
As charities and voluntary organisations we know the value of volunteering.
 
Volunteering means people independently choosing to give their time freely to help others and make the world a better place. 
 
Workfare schemes force unemployed people to carry out unpaid work or face benefit sanctions that can cause hardship and destitution. 
 
We believe in keeping volunteering voluntary and will not participate in government workfare schemes.”
If you agree with the statement, sign up at www.kvv.org.uk and get other groups to do the same. Over 30 groups have already signed, from the largest to the smallest: Oxfam, Children England, NAVCA, Derman, Christianity Uncut, Ekklesia, 42nd Street, Hackney Refugee Forum and Adur Voluntary Action.  And if you’re not convinced, check out the site for reasons why you should be!
For further comment see

“Listen to me – this isn’t just a phase” : LGBT research into adult attitudes

April 27, 2014

Tony Taylor Campaigns, Politics and Current affairs, Youth Work Practice : Talking to Young People , , , , , Leave a comment

lgbt nw

Thanks to Milly for bringing our attention to this significant piece of research.

 

Quarter of LGBT young people have no adults to confide in

“Listen to me, and don’t assume it’s a phase”, is just one of the pieces of advice for adults from young LGBT people in the North West, identified in a new report.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US – how adults can help lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans youth - full pdf report

The research, led by LGBT Youth North West and supported by BBC Children in Need, found that the majority of young lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in the North West felt that adults were failing to support them with regard to issues around identity and mental health.

The report also identified 19 practical actions which adults could take to better support young LGBT people. These range from treating young people as individuals and asking what they can to do help, to staying calm, and being honest about their own lack of knowledge if necessary.

128 LGBT people aged 15 – 19 in the North West region were surveyed for the study. The teenagers were asked to discuss their relationships with significant adults in their lives, such as teachers, parents, other family members and care workers. For each relationship, the young people were asked to discuss how comfortable they would feel discussing issues around their gender, sexuality, identity, sexual health and mental health.

33 of the 128 young people surveyed – 25% – said that they would not feel comfortable talking to any adult about issues which were causing problems for them.

Many of the young people who have had negative experiences with parents with regard to LGBT issues said that it also stopped them going to their parents for support with other issues, such as education, finance or relationships. Young people who said they couldn’t go to their parents for support said that they were most likely to seek support from the internet.

Teachers were identified as one of the most influential groups of adults for LGBT young people, but the majority of the young people surveyed said that they didn’t think that teachers were prepared enough to deal with LGBT students on a one-to-one basis. Teachers were also criticised for not challenging homophobia in the classroom enough, and for not ensuring that LGBT issues were visible on the curriculum.

“Coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans is really tough for a lot of young people,” says LGBT Youth NorthWest Director, Amelia Lee. “Having adults around that young people can trust and go to for support can make a world of difference.

“But from talking to young people we know that a lot of them don’t feel that they’re getting the support they need from the adults around them, and for some adults that’s because they just don’t know what to do. So for that reason LGBT Youth North West have worked with youth groups and young LGBT people in the region to put together a practical guide to help adults help the young LBGT people in their lives.”

“Support shouldn’t end after an LGBT young person comes out. Emotional wellbeing is complex and intricately involved in all sorts of internal and external factors. So as an adult who wants to help support a young person who is LGB or T, it’s important to realise that their needs may change depending on other factors, such as what’s happening in their family life or at school, or if there are any other factors which are contributing to stress or unhappiness.”

 

Professional Standards in Youth Work : Graeme Tiffany reflects

April 25, 2014

Tony Taylor Politics and Current affairs, Youth Work Policy, Youth Work Practice : Talking to Young People , , , 1 Comment

 

Ta to euroblog.be

Ta to euroblog.be

Further to yesterday’s post, The Pitfalls of Professionalisation, we are pleased to add Graeme Tiffany’s intriguing philosophical and practice-based reflections on the ‘professional. He concludes,

 

Consider then a paradigm shift; one in which the youth worker leads a heightened appreciation of the ‘semi-professional’: someone who acknowledges they don’t know it all; someone who celebrates knowledge on the ground; someone moved by the thoughts and experiences of those that they work with, someone who can value young people’s values (even if they are not necessarily their own) and someone who, in so-doing, ‘tips power’ toward the young in order to create the spaces essential for their autonomy and self-determination to flourish. Consider the youth worker then as the architect of a new vision of professionalism. Perhaps it is this that should be campaigned for: the true professional prize of freedom in judgement-making – and the opportunity then to pass this on to young people. With this we can argue, daily if necessary, that the values, principles and ethics of youth work can endure even in a world of constant change, where the only certainty is of uncertainty. It is this debate, of what youth work values are (and what should be done to live them out) that is implicit in all good social practices. It is this that must be attended to and invested in. Made public this will advocate for youth work in a participatory rather than representative way. Thence it is for the many, rather than the few.

Professional Standards in Youth Work – Philosophical Reflections

 

 

The Pitfalls of Professionalisation : Thoughts from Abroad

April 24, 2014

Tony Taylor Politics and Current affairs, Youth Work Policy, Youth Work Practice : Talking to Young People , , , , , 5 Comments

By twist of circumstance a number of revealing and challenging posts on the issue of professionalisation have appeared on our Facebook page. All of them are worthy of close attention, even if many within British youth work might find them troubling. Emanating from Australia, Canada and the USA the authors raise questions about the appropriateness of the concept of professionalisation when considering the intent and content of youth work. Of course the historical and even the contemporary contexts are not exactly the same. It can be argued that the journey towards being recognised as a profession is most advanced in the United Kingdom. Although Doug Nicholls, a committed advocate of  ‘youth workers as professionals’ – see his chapter of the same name in ‘For Youth Workers and Youth Work’ - points out that youth workers are still categorised as a sub-profession or para-professional occupation. The present situation is riddled with contradiction. Indeed most strikingly the ‘para-profession’ itself is under severe assault as its natural home, the Youth Service, is decimated. With this in mind some might argue it is the wrong time to discuss what we mean by ‘professional’, ‘professionalism’ and professionalisation’. However the creation of an Institute of Youth Work, membership of which requires signing up to a Code of Ethics has already placed these issues squarely on a round  table. Whatever our opinions we should not be afraid of a critical dialogue. After all it is what we claim youth work is all about.

Solution

Three pieces from Aaron Garth from Australia:

One of the reasons we have found professionalism so hard to  implement is the difficulty of centrality. We don’t have a central definition and code of ethics in Australia and we have a number of different approaches and frameworks which guide our field. It is this vitality which we should be looking to develop in our quest for professionalism not just aiming to become another cookie cutter “profession.”

 

Is youth work languishing? In the shadow of inferior frameworks of professionalism

Is youth work suffering the death of a thousand cuts?

The stupidity of calling youth work science will limit our effectiveness

 

Hans Skott-Myhre writing passionately from Canada,

Finally, I would argue that our field of practice has a long history of resisting and opposing the ways s in which our society has dealt with young people. We have posited our selves as offering young people  a different set of relations where they might be met as fellow travelers rather than social pariahs. I might refer to this aspect of our field as the tradition of revolutionary love. Love, I would define as an encounter that maximizes the capacities of all parties involved. Such love is revolutionary, because the social norm of the current regime of capitalist domination does anything but maximize our capacities. To jointly work together to see how we might creatively maximize what each of our bodies and minds has the capacity to do is to resist and revolt against the constraints of global capitalism. This is not the work of a professional trained to think and practice within the confines of standards, common beliefs and restricted practice. It is an open field of experimentation unconstrained by common adherence to an abstract common definition of who we are. Instead, who we are is defined by our day-to-day encounters and our rewards are sought in the work itself.

Tilting at Windmills : The Professionalization of Youth and Child Care

 

Dana Fusco writing from the States draws our attention to a specific edition of the journal Child and Youth Services, Professionalization Deconstructed: Implications for the Field of Youth Work, which she has edited together with Michael Baizerman.

Here, we hope to deconstruct the underlying beliefs and narratives on professiona­lization in youth work and in related human service fields by examining the arguments for and against professionalization, by looking at the historically situated evidence within and outside of the field of youth work, and by exploring alternate conceptions of professionalization. It is always our goal to have young people and youth workers in the forefront of our mind; thus, our framing of the issues always rests on the questions: Is this good for young people and youth workers? Who decides and why?

Dana’s own eloquent final chapter,Is Youth Work Being Courted by the Appropriate Suitor, examines a range of understandings of the professional.

Specifically, the privileging of science and epistemic culture as the foundation for profession is questioned as the best suitor for a practice of working with young people that values meaning over truth, dialogue over evidence, and reflexivity over certainty

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