Participation when working with YP
There is no right way of getting young people involved. It very much depends on your circumstances, experience and what you’re trying to achieve.
This section firstly looks at the theory behind participation and getting young people involved. It does this by looking at two examples of participation in what are called the ‘participation ladder’ and ‘Treseder’s representation’.
This section then goes on to explore some common concerns that adults and organisations have about working with young people.
The basics of youth work provide a good background to the final part of this section, which sets out some methods you could use to involve young people. It also details some things to consider when working with different groups of young people.
Participation – an introduction
Save the Children describes participation and getting involved as ‘being involved in the decisions that affect your life, the life of the community and the larger society in which you live’.
This brings out the fact that participation can encourage young people to develop as citizens as well as members of the group.
A lot of literature describes participation as a ‘bolt-on’ to activities rather than something that is at the centre of activities.
At times, participation is seen only in terms of ‘consulted’ or ‘involved in’. Viewed in these terms, participation becomes something that is an after thought, or passive, rather than something that is active. Active participation could be seen to suggest a type of empowerment for young people.
Empowerment comes up a lot in connection with participation. The term is often used to describe a transfer of power from one group to another. When young people are involved in decision-making, there may be a transfer of power to them. They are ‘empowered’.
It may be helpful to think of participation as the process and empowerment as the outcome we are aiming for (see Treseder, 1997).
Why participation matters – personal development
This is the main reason why youth work professionals promote participation. They know from experience that it can really contribute to the personal development of young people. If young people’s opinions are taken seriously and they see that they can change things for the better, then their confidence shoots up.
Cultures of participation
It’s recognised that there are different types of participation (see DfES, 2003). It has been suggested that to get participation that means something and lasts, organisations need to change. This prompts questions such as:
- How do we ensure that participation or active listening to children becomes part and parcel of the formal and informal ways in which organisations take decisions?
- How does participation become embedded, or rooted in within organisations? (DfES, 2003: 30)
Participation ladder
How do we measure the level of participation? The ‘participation ladder’ can be a useful starting point (Hart, R. (1992) Children’s participation from Tokenism to Citizenship, UNICEF).
The ladder moves from ‘manipulation’ on the bottom step, where young people do what adults say they should do, to ‘children and young people initiated shared decisions with adults’ on the top step.
The ladder model has been criticised on two grounds:
- It suggests that the highest level of participation is best, but in practice the level workers aim for depends on where they and the young people are to begin with. It is up to the individual worker to judge what level is appropriate for that time and place.
- The categories used in the ladder imply that it is more valuable for young people to do things by themselves, rather than in partnership with adults.
Measuring participation – Treseder’s Circles
To solve these problems, Phil Treseder came up with an alternative to the levels on the ladder. He devised five degrees of participation:
- Child-initiated, shared decisions with adults
- Child initiated and directed
- Adult-initiated, shared decisions with children
- Children assigned but informed
- Children consulted and informed
We should see the five degrees of participation as ‘different, but equal, forms of good practice’.
We can then adopt the best one for the situation we are working in (Treseder, P. (1997) Empowering Children and Young People, Save the Children).
Keep It Real – The Participation Pack for Youth Groups, Youth Scotland.