8 Steps to Inclusive Youth Work – new resource launched!

Today we launched our new updated 8 Steps to Inclusive Youth Work  

The 8 Steps to Inclusive Youth Work is a tool that supports youth organisations to build best quality inclusion practice in youth settings.  

Now more than ever, we recognise the need to fight injustice and inequality in society. Building responsive, diverse and inclusive youth settings is critical in ensuring that everyone in the community can play their part in creating a society that is socially just and equal.  

The 8 Steps to Inclusive Youth Work recognises that every youth worker and every organisation is on a different stage of the journey in their inclusion practice, and it has something to offer everyone on that journey. It can respond to your needs whether you want

• a set of indicators to measure yourselves against, or
• goals to work toward, or if you want
• to deepen your practice to be as inclusive as you can be.

It guides its readers through context sections that explain each of the 8 Steps through a social justice and responsive practice lens. It explains the concepts clearly and concisely, demystifying inclusion and situating it in everyday youth work practice. The context sections are followed by self-reflection exercises that resonate with the voices of the minority and marginalised young people who seek our support. These are followed with practice indicators that names how inclusion is fostered in your youth work; in your reviews, your policies, your networking, how you resource your work, build your staff and volunteer team, create your environments, evaluate your work and carry out your activities with young people.

Ashwin Chacko has interpreted and illustrated the 3 sections in each Step as a process of Looking Out, Looking In, and Fostering Change. His beautiful posters are available to order or download.

An important part of 8 Steps to Inclusive Youth Work Practice was including the voice of practitioners. The resource is grounded in the day-to-day work of youth work organisations so it includes quotes from many organisations that are journeying toward inclusive practice. We have also included 3 audio interviews with youth work organisations on our website who explain some of their approaches to inclusive practice, and we link this with the 8 Steps framework.

The resource also contains tools and templates to support your inclusive youth work from deepening your understanding of social justice to exploring how you respond to difference in your practice, alongside planning tools.

Download or order your copy of 8 Steps to Inclusive Youth Work Practice today to support you on your journey to fostering change

We’re thankful for funding support from the Scheme to Support National Organisations, funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.