Better connected...It's all about relationships

Sweet Lana. Shuttershock

There is probably a reason why 'The Networked Practitioner' is my final Open University module. For me the title in itself suggests something that those of us who work in the charity sector live out on a daily basis, as without each other would not grow and develop. When I think about my day to day practices I couldn't do without my network. Whether it's colleagues at work, twitter pro's doing similar work, or the individuals I meet face to face through events and forums like colleagues through National Council of Volunteer Youth Services (NCVYS)

At the NCVYS agm this Wednesday we were privileged to be joined by Michael Little from Dartington. I kind of knew about the Social Research Unit, but they do some really interesting work and development that seeks to improve the services for young people. For me, annual general meetings are mostly about the speakers - and this one certainly inspired me, and I left with my head buzzing with lots of ideas.Here's some of the key messages or questions that I took home to ponder.... 

Future trends - austerity, inequality, technology and relationships
Firstly, we are in a period of austerity, by choice, and that is unlikely to change in the next ten years. This means that there will be a smaller state but a bigger community. Or at least a bigger reliance on community. Therefore for us as citizens we need to consider what that means, as much as we do as charities. The refocus on civil society is a disruption, and we need to find our voice and our place in it - probably why there are growing tensions and factions. For public services this is about thinking about the opportunities they can create as well as the services they provide.

As well as austerity we need to think about generational inequality. I had not though about this before, but it is worth pondering. This isn't about traits of the generations but more about the environments that generations are growing up in. The contexts are different. I am a 37 year old who lives in London who is only just buying a house. I was lucky enough to be one of the last to get a full grant to go to University (leaving with only a £3,000 debt for living allowances). I wonder if young people growing up will ever get these opportunities? Or whether they even want these opportunities? The generational differences are created by the contexts that people grow up in. The opportunities and dreams are different. The end goals are different. We need to unpick that as we work across generations. Technology continues to be influencial, not just for impact, but also for service and we will see emerging trends in wearables for health and ratings for services. 

But the key thing we need to think about, in our networked age is relationships (and I am a sucker for a relationship). As a society, service users, charities, individuals....we need to think about who we connect with and how. We need to invest time in connecting with the right people in the right way. From the stance of those working with young people who are more vulnerable and disadvantaged, this is about being able to 'relate without pity' so that both sides can express their vulnerabilities, and so that we can see the person and not the context. I also loved the idea of the effect of relationships not being about the impact on their lives, but the cognitive change within. The right relationships can make you feel empowered, change the way you think. We have all been there right? Getting together with people who challenge you, but ultimately leave you with a feeling of positivity and that something has changed within. 

What young people say
The young people that Dartington have worked with talk about positive relationships as being about Heart, Head and Hands.
The heart is that they feel the person cares in the first instance. The head is needed so that they can think things through together. But the hands are what consolidates that relationship as it's about practically doing something. It's a pretty basic idea, but one that maybe we should think about in all of our relationships. Feeling together, thinking together, doing together.(for those who work in the youth sector, this will not be a new concept)

Can we train it?
As we move forward as services and as a young people's workforce we will need to ask ourselves therefore - can this be trained? or do we need to consider changing the paradigms of our workforce? Will service users be better at service designing and what does that means for the agility of being able to translate and respond? And if it's about creating relationships, do we need to think about our 'networked infrastructure'? As charities do we need to split our activities into the charity stuff we do for the common good and the services we provide to meet a need?

What can the voluntary sector do?
We were issued with a few thoughts from Michael...
1 - Stop being a victim. Funding is changing and times are tough, but that means we need to take responsibility, rather than apportioning blame. 
2 - Reflect openly and honestly on what we do and what we could do better
3 - Stop relying on government funding. yes. there is less of it. but it also ties you to services, which may not be where the heart lies.
4 - That means that we need to work together to manage risk. Can we help each other out with fund or services, and find creative ways to make stuff happen
5 - which leads to...more creativity around fundraising. In particular Michael acknowledged that we need to be more positive in the language that we use to talk about what we do. We need to find the language which shows that we are helping others not because of pity, which is the language of many fundraising campaigns. 

Language and relationships
Language brings us back to relationships.
For Michael, the evidence for change would be a change in the language we use about what we do. How do we talk about what we do, listen and participate? Do we see a change in terms like commissioning and contracts? Do we see promotion of the positive benefits for the individual?

And this is a good end and a beginning, as I believe that role-modelling isn't just about what we do, but about what we say and the way we approach it. A positive heart leads to a positive head which leads to positive actions - together. We all have vulnerabilities. But we must connect. This may lead to disruption, but it also leads to a more real experience and potentially more life-long outcomes.


(Were you there? Feel free to add your thoughts? Actually....add them if you weren't there too!)

What the 'yuf' think - freedom of expression online

Those who know me,understand that I get very passionate about listening to young people's voice. Now I don't mean what they tell you at school or the information that comes in from surveys. I mean sitting down, face to face and asking good honest questions. 

I don't get to work with young people all that much, so when I do get a chance, I seize it. Last week I was asked if I could gather some thoughts from young people about freedom of expression online. 
Here's what a group of Scouting teenagers, boys and girls, aged 14 - 17 in Lincoln said about freedom online:

·         "Freedom is being able to talk about or express your views or beliefs without being judged or criticised....."

·        " Freedom of expression comes with the risk of being judged by other people"

·         "The internet allows you freedom but you need to be careful"

·         

·         "Freedom means that you can express yourself, but is not just about saying and doing what you want, you have to act/behave within the social norms of the community"

·         "There’s no such thing as 100% freedom, as you have to be held accountable for your actions. That is a good thing. Anonymity serves as a screen, but you can’t be completely hidden"

·         "Freedom of expression is the ability to be myself, as long as it doesn’t upset someone else."

·        " I have freedom to express my thoughts and opinions, as long as I don’t offend or segregate others, and that is good."

·         "Freedom can have a negative effect, and I see many of the people at school being brainwashed, or conforming to what they think is right and acceptable. Sometime the internet exaggerates this, so for those of us who are ‘different’, it’s even harder, despite the fact that it should be easier."

·         "The law should help to tell you what is morally right, and thus freedom should be determined through those boundaries"

·         "Freedom unfortunately means that if you express yourself you can be mocked or bullied"

·        " For some people the internet gives them more freedom to be themselves, and explore their ‘real’ personalities. However the internet can also allow them to create a distorted version of themselves – the person they think they should be in order to conform, but it’s not really them, so they are becoming less free."

·         "Downside of freedom is that people can say stuff that they might not say otherwise, and it might stick with them for a long time"

·         "The media makes the internet seem like a more dangerous place than it is, and it’s hard to get parents to understand that it’s OK."

·         "Everyone has a right to a private and a family life, and so boundaries are very important."

·         "You could say that there is too much freedom. With freedom comes responsibility, and I don’t think that some people are behaving responsibility or respecting people online"

·         "We all self censor – we think about what we are doing and who is following us/friends with us. Therefore we don’t say things on facebook that might worry or upset some of the those people. We carefully think about the image we give and the things we write"

I love asking kids questions, whatever their age, and because I don't have children myself, or work directly with children, I often find that they tell me things they might not tell others, because I listen and ask questions of them. It would seem that young people have the same dilemmas as us, but the ones that I talked to, were clear about responsibility.
In a week when we are thinking about identity and openness, it's sobering to think that people of all ages are having the same thoughts and discussions.

So remember, with great freedom comes great responsibility.... and thanks to all the Young Leaders of Lincolnshire County Scouts for talking with me.