4 comments

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  Tim Davies

  1 year ago

  This is a really useful summary...
  
  And it can help in unpacking the 'participation in what...?' question.
  
  'Participation in activity' -> 'Participation in running an activity' -> 'Participation in directing activities' -> 'Participation in running an organisation'.
  
  It would be interesting to explore how this can map onto ideas of developmental pathways...
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  mas

  1 year ago

  yes and I forgot to mention in the main article that I think a further benefit to presenting a 'pathway' is that by subsequently allowing young people to progress along it there is a far greater chance that in time they will shape the pathway themselves - therefore supporting the personal development of young people and also developing the ways in which young people are able to participate.
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  Adam

  1 year ago

  Great start! Its excellent to see other folks working on expanding Hart's Ladder - while that's a useful tool, its not the "be all/end all" for planning. One of the ways that I prompt that expansion is by working with activity planners to expand their visions for who, where and why youth participate - not simply *how*. Using your example to demonstrate, here's how I would push thinking with someone who told me this is how they'd like youth to progress through their activity:
  
  * Taking part in sports activities
  - Which activities?
  - Who decides those?
  - Why are those choosen?
  - What outcomes are expected from the participation of youth in those activities?
  - Who decides what those outcomes are?
  
  * Helping run sports activities
  - What does "helping" mean?
  - What options are there to "helping"?
  - Who decides what "helping" means?
  - What is the goal of involving youth in "running" these activities?
  - Who decides that goal?
  
  * Organising sports activities for the community
  - What is the role of adults in this?
  - Who decides their role?
  - Why?
  
  * Representing young members/advisory role
  - What does "representation" mean?
  - What's an "advisory" role?
  - Why not full membership?
  - How is a youth choosen to be a representative?
  
  * Full member of the committee
  - What is the ratio of youth and adults on the committee?
  - What knowledge do the members of the committee need in order to engage young people as full members?
  - What skills do they need?
  
  I might suggest that there are several other potential "entry points" for youth participation in the schema you've presented, e.g.:
  
  - Surveying the community to identify which sporting activities young people want.
  * Taking part in sports activities
  - Assessing current activities to identify where and how youth want to be involved.
  * Helping run sports activities
  * Organising sports activities for the community
  - Planning, developing and facilitating alternative sporting activities
  * Representing young members/advisory role
  * Full member of the committee
  - Splitting the committee 50/50 between youth and adult members with behavorial expectations that ensure equal treament for youth.
  
  There's a researcher out of the University of Sussex named Michael Fielding who has conducted a great deal of study on student participation in schools. He has an excellent Framework you might find useful that I have posted at http://soundout.org/framework.html
  
  I look forward to reading more great posts from you!
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  mas

  1 year ago

  Thanks Adam - really useful thoughts there & definitely lots of opportunities to delve deeper into the different stages, entry point and exit points too (or places at which peoples involvement/participation plateaus). Will come back to this soon and see if I can expand a bit further on it.
  reply