Fostering young people’s creativity through youth work

Study Update

Thank you to all our members who took part in this national research study on the relationship between youth work and creativity, two distinct yet interrelated domains of policy, practice, and research.

The study employed a mixed-methods design, with a total of 242 participants from 27 counties providing valuable experiences and perspectives. The quantitative component included two national online surveys, with 175 valid participants (117 youth workers and 58 young people). The qualitative component involved 67 participants across eleven ‘story circles’ (45 youth workers and 22 young people).

We’re delighted to announce that the study is now complete. Please find more information below.

Interact with the Study

Online Exhibition

Explore the online exhibition for the Fostering Creativity through Youth Work research at : https://www.artsteps.com/view/698db15b728819e117f539d9

Key Insights

This research demonstrates youth work’s distinctive potential to foster creativity in young people. It reveals how youth work provides a safe, supportive and inclusive environment where young people are encouraged to explore, experiment, and take creative risks.

Creativity is a complex and multi-layered concept, represented through many models and frameworks. This study synthesised a wide range of perspectives to develop a cohesive new ‘Four Dimensions of Creativity’ framework, which recognises creativity’s dynamic, multi-scale nature, bridging both its individual and collective dimensions. This framework is structured around four key dimensions: Who (the person or people involved, their capacities, identities, and dispositions), How (the processes, actions, and ways of creating), What (the product, idea, activity, or outcome), and Where (the context, environment, audience, and cultural conditions that shape it). These dimensions are not fixed, but overlapping and relational, reflecting how creativity emerges through interactions, relationships, contexts and collective practices. Throughout the study, this framework provided a systematic way to explore how youth work’s distinctive features interact with different dimensions of creativity.

This study highlighted how the distinctive features of youth work– including non-formal education, voluntary participation, an emphasis on group work, and a focus on holistic personal and social development, along with core values such as equality, inclusion, and empowerment– play a vital role in fostering creativity.

Drawing on data from two national surveys and eleven story circles, the findings were overwhelmingly positive. Both youth workers and young people showed a strong alignment in how creativity is experienced within youth work, with high levels of agreement that it provides safe, supportive environments where creativity can flourish. The vast majority of participants highlighted that youth work not only values creativity, but also actively fosters it through its everyday practices. Importantly, young people themselves affirmed this impact, emphasising the vital role of youth workers in supporting their creative development. Overall, the research shows that the core features of youth work are not just theoretically supportive of creativity– they are actively enabling it in practice.

Information on the Study

Saoirse Reynolds Conlon recently completed her doctoral research in the Department of Applied Social Studies at Maynooth University, where she is now employed full-time as a Lecturer in Community and Youth Work within the Department of Applied Social Studies. Her research was supported by the Irish Research Council’s Employment-Based Scholarship and included a partnership between the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), where she worked until January 2025 and Department of Applied Social Studies at Maynooth University. Supervised by Dr. Sinéad McMahon and Emeritus Professor Maurice Devlin, this research was approved by the Maynooth University Social Research Ethics Committee. The study was designed to contribute to the development of both policy and practice in youth work and creativity, bringing together academic research and applied insights from the field.

Research Aims

This study sought to uncover the distinctive characteristics of youth work that foster and enhance creative processes and outcomes. By identifying these key features, the research aimed to ensure that they are better recognised, supported by policy, and strengthened in practice, ultimately enriching the creative potential of youth work as a field.

To achieve this aim, the study will:

1)  Examine the distinctive elements of youth work, as experienced and understood by both young people and youth workers, shedding light on what makes it a distinctive space for personal and creative growth.

2)  Explore the ways in which young people are encouraged and enabled to express themselves creatively within youth work settings, identifying the conditions and practices that nurture artistic and innovative expression.

3)  Identify patterns in the relationship between the distinctive aspects of youth work (a) and the creative expression of young people (b), uncovering how one influences the other.

4)  Capture and analyse the language, imagery, and metaphors used by young people, youth workers, and youth arts practitioners to articulate creative approaches in youth work, providing deeper insight into how creativity is understood and communicated.

5)  Inform and contribute to the development of youth work and youth arts policy at both the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) level and nationally, ensuring that creativity is at the heart of youth work strategies.

6)  Generate meaningful findings and practical resources to support and enhance creative youth work and youth arts practice, equipping practitioners with tools and insights to foster a more vibrant, expressive, and innovative environment for young people.

Research questions

This research was guided by the following key questions:

Main research question

1)  In what ways do the distinctive features of youth work (e.g. non-formality, voluntary participation, groupwork emphasis) relate to its potential to foster creativity in children and young people?

Two subsidiary questions

2)  What lessons can be applied by youth workers in general to ensure that their practice with and for young people is more consciously and effectively creative?

3)  What lessons can be applied by policy makers to develop better synergies between policy for creativity and for youth work?

By addressing these questions, this study aimed to provide valuable, research-backed insights that will strengthen creative youth work practices, influence policy decisions, and ultimately empower young people to explore, develop, and express their creativity in meaningful ways.

Methodology

Surveys

This national study was conducted in two phases, combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore creativity within youth work. The first phase involved two anonymous online surveys with young people aged 18–24 participating in youth work or youth arts settings, and with youth workers and youth arts practitioners across Ireland. The surveys explored how the distinctive features of youth work– such as non-formal education, voluntary participation, and group work– relate to its potential to foster creativity, as well as how practice and policy might better support this. All participants were provided with detailed information on the purpose of the study, ethical approval, data protection, and the use of findings prior to taking part. In total, 175 participants contributed to this phase, providing valuable national-level insights.

Story Circles

The second phase of the study involved eleven Story Circles held across Ireland, both in person and online, with young people and youth work/arts practitioners. Story Circles are small, facilitated group conversations where participants share personal experiences in response to a central theme. Story Circles, rooted in Indigenous storytelling traditions, bring people together in a relaxed, inclusive space to share personal experiences and explore common themes. They create a non-hierarchical “safe container” that values connection, lived experience, and relational knowledge. As both a research method and a critical pedagogical tool, Story Circles align with youth work practice in that they support reflection, collective understanding, and transformative thinking. In this study, participants reflected on creativity in youth work and how it is fostered in practice, with the option to bring images or objects to support their storytelling. As with the surveys, all participants received comprehensive information about the study, ethical considerations, and data use, and were supported with preparation materials and relevant guidelines for example:

• – A Story Circle Guide to help them prepare
• – NYCI Guidelines on the use of photographs and recordings involving young people

This phase provided rich, in-depth qualitative insights into how creativity is understood and experienced within youth work settings. We are grateful to all who participated across both phases and contributed so generously to this research.

Lessons

Lessons for Policy Makers

The research highlights several key messages for policymakers. It calls for a shift in how youth work is recognised, positioning it as a central contributor to creativity alongside formal education and the arts. At the same time, youth work must be protected from being reduced to narrow, outcome-driven approaches, ensuring its values-driven and holistic nature is preserved. Expanding access to youth work spaces, strengthening cross-sector collaboration, and properly resourcing youth-led initiatives are all essential to maximising impact. The findings also emphasise the importance of involving youth workers and young people in policy development, alongside the need for sustained, long-term investment in the sector through stable funding, professional recognition, fair pay, and clear standards.

Lessons for Youth Workers

The findings suggest several key lessons for youth workers. First and foremost, youth workers are encouraged to see themselves as inherently creative, recognising that creativity is already embedded in their everyday practice and should be made more visible and intentional. Youth work should continue to foster creativity by drawing on its distinctive features, including non-formal learning environments that encourage experimentation, voluntary participation that supports intrinsic motivation, and group-based work that enables collaboration and shared creative expression. A strong emphasis on equality, inclusion, and holistic personal and social development is also essential, alongside an empowering approach that responds flexibly to young people’s needs.

However, the research highlights that creativity should not be left to instinct alone, and that structured training and professional development are needed to support its intentional integration into practice. It also calls for advocacy to secure adequate resources and sustained recognition of youth work’s role in fostering creativity, as well as greater collaboration with artists and creative practitioners to enhance impact. Overall, the findings show that creativity is already central to effective youth work– the key task is to make it more explicit, intentional, and properly supported.

Thank You & Get in Touch

Once again, we would like to thank everyone who took part in and supported this research.

If you require further information, please contact: Saoirse.reynoldsconlon@mu.ie

If drawing on material from this research, please reference: Reynolds Conlon, Saoirse. (2026) Fostering young people’s creativity through youth work: A mixed-method study. Doctoral thesis. Maynooth University.