Sunday 30 November 2014

Project plan version XXO

As you know I am using this space to share my project for H818 and the work that I am doing around this. Part of this is to help me to share, and part of it is to make myself think out loud and be able to go back and look at how my thought processes have changed and developed.

So here is the next version of the project (I have forgotten what version).



Being Prepared. Adopting a values-driven approach to digital inclusion within a volunteer organisation.

Purpose. Scouting volunteers do amazing things with young people every day, but for some there still exists a fear of using online tools. Reminding volunteers of the values and methods of Scouting can help to overcome their fears and understand that the online world is another ‘undiscovered world’ of opportunity.

Linking to the conference theme: a focus on Inclusion. Looking through the lens of 'inclusion', the project will investigate the wider issues of digital inclusion as seen through the four barriers identified by the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy (Access, Skills, Motivation and Trust)

Project aim and scope. The project’s aim is to explore barriers in relation to making the online world accessible to volunteers, focusing on motivational and trust barriers. Firstly, the ‘access’ barriers relate to connectivity and availability, over which the organisation has less influence and work is being undertaken by the government to address this. Secondly there already exists a wealth of debate about the ‘skills’ barrier, and it is assumed adults will need to learn new skills.

The ‘motivation’ and ‘trust’ barriers are social and psychological, as well as practical barriers to digital inclusion. These barriers require volunteers to explore their fears about safety and identity, and be able to translate their ‘offline’ selves to the ‘online’ world. The project activities will look at existing research and practices to identify the issues surrounding these barriers, in order to educate volunteers and provide a sound basis for taking an approach that links back to the values and methods of Scouting.

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Over the next few weeks I will be exploring the motivation and trust barriers, which neatly follow on from the discussions that Amanda Palmer brought up in the last blog post. So please feel free to share your thoughts or experiences about the barriers of being online, from a social or psychological perspective. 

The art of asking or making ourselves more vulnerable

One of our tasks last week was to take a look at the following TED talk from Amanda Palmer and her blog post about how she created the TED talk. We are then asked to comment on what we found useful or reusable. Given the content of the message, I believe that Amanda s going to be one of those love her or hate her individuals, but however cleverly constructed, I think that her story has heart, and also puts across something of herself.


It's hard not to get sucked into what Amanda is saying, because the core of her talk is about the kindness of strangers, giving and receiving fearlessly and asking without shame. Many of these themes are ones that echo through philosophy and religion. She talks about the need to be open as a person, both to receive the good and the bad, and that you need to take risks if you want to have adventures. 

The thing that strikes me about what Amanda says, is the stuff around vulnerability. I have already mentioned that being online makes us vulnerable and one of the things that Amanda doesn't talk a lot about is the the negative side of being vulnerable. However, something tells me that Amanda is a lady who is used to being both in the limelight, and getting negative feedback/reviews etc. Does her message change because of who she is? 
I am guessing that most of us don't really want to be like Amanda, but in our hearts we hope that we could be a little more fearless, and a little more open. Here is a lady who understands that making herself vulnerable, means that she has to take the bad with the good, although she glosses over the bad in order to enrapture you with the good. And that's OK. Because this talk is a bit like a sermon. She says that it is about 'trust' rather than 'risk', but in order to trust you have to weigh up the risks, and most people in life don't rock up to strangers and ask for a couch to sleep on.

I totally agree that "when we really see each other, we want to help each other", but this doesn't need to be for financial reason. Humanity is a 'social' being, and so we need each other. And maybe, the more we show people of the inner us, the more they show us the inner them, and we feel a little less vulnerable and a little more trusting. When I was a child, many adults used to say "if you don't ask, then you won't get". In my teenage years asking for help (in fact this was financial) meant that I got to go to Israel as a 17 year old and have the support to apply to university. I followed that pattern throughout my life, asking for help when needed and seizing opportunities that come along. I also learned that opening up and sharing some of your life experiences, can help to create better connections with others. It's the stories. Life is all about stories. However, there were times that it went wrong, times when people were horrible, and times when I wanted to curl up in a ball and never see people again. But these are the times that give you resilience, so that next time it happens, you cope a little better. 

So for all those out there who are scared to open up, don't worry, you don't have to proverbially take off all your clothes and run around the internet naked. But going back to the negative side of vulnerability and openness, I think this is about understanding the risks, and what you are take. If you take no risks, then nothing will change for you. But if you take some, calculated maybe, within degrees of openness, you might find some power in the feedback you get that helps you to go forward. 

After all...our stories are still in the making..........right?
And there is power in vulnerability.....

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Digital Inclusion and a different lens for my project




As you can see, it's been two weeks since my last confession! Work means that sometimes I purge on study over a few days. A bit like watching a good tv show...honest!


In the meantime, I have tweaked my project and found some key resources to link in to it.







Government Digital Inclusion strategy


It's not often that I come across something from the government and think...ohhh....this will be useful. However the inclusion strategy, which I had already heard about, was.


The UK Government defines digital inclusion as ‘having the right access, skills, motivation and trust to confidently go online’ (Cabinet Office, 2014). 


The strategy sets out how the government and partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors will increase digital inclusion. This means helping people become capable of using and benefiting from the internet. Now there are many discussions one can have around this strategy but in the context of my project it does two things. Firstly, it shows that there is a political context for inclusion (and my next task is to do a Political, Economic, Social, Technological - aka PEST analysis). Secondly it breaks down the barriers into a nice four piece set:


There are 4 main kinds of challenge people face:

  • access - the ability to actually go online and connect to the internet
  • skills - to be able to use the internet
  • motivation - knowing the reasons why using the internet is a good thing
  • trust - the risk of crime, or not knowing where to start to go online
Looking at each in more detail, we can see that digital exclusion involves some significant and wide ranging challenges. When someone has the access, skills, motivation and trust to go online to do things that benefit them day to day, they are digitally capable.


Tinder, Digital inclusion
My project’s aim is to explore barriers in relation to making the online world accessible to volunteers, focusing on motivational and trust barriers. 

Firstly, the ‘access’ barriers relate to connectivity and availability, over which the organisation has less influence. Secondly there already exists a wealth of debate about the ‘skills’ barrier, and it is assumed adults will need to learn new skills. My theory is, that when I do my PEST analysis, many of these will come up, as access and skills are top of the 'things we can probably do something about'.
Motivation an trust
The ‘motivation’ and ‘trust’ barriers are social and psychological, as well as practical barriers to digital inclusion. These barriers require people to explore their fears about safety and identity, and be able to translate their ‘offline’ selves to the ‘online’ world. 

My project activities will look at existing research and practices to identify the issues surrounding these barriers, in order to educate volunteers and provide a sound basis for taking an approach that links back to the values and methods of Scouting. For me these barriers are all about social empowerment.




Does inclusion matter?
The simple answer is yes. If education is a life-long process of development as an individual and as a part of society then adults as well as young people should be participating and interacting online. However there are challenges to overcome in assisting online participation. 

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Exploring power and fear (and request for help)


Currently I am exploring the theme of inclusion, but not in the traditional approach of accessibility. I want to explore some of the psychological reasons why people (but particularly volunteers) don't use the online world. Here's what I am thinking.......(in no particular formulated order, and still in exploration mode)

Firstly, the reasoning behind encouraging people to be online, is that as a values based organisation, who work alongside young people, we need to be where they are. And part of their space is online. And as citizens we have a duty to exhibit our values in all spaces. Especially nowadays when the news is populate with stories of risk and dangers and horrible people. You could be forgiven for thinking that the online world was really some kind of post apocalyptic mad max/trainspotting mash up. If good people didn't rock up online, then we would be leaving it to all the bad people. And I am a bit of a positivist, so I don't think that's what we should be doing. Throughout my life I have strived to be a role model to others, young and old. To be respectful, open and trusting. To believe the best in people and encourage and support them. I believe that the 'open landscape' that is the online world, the web, whatever you want to call it is a place we need to be. 


So what stops people? Well, it probably doesn't help that media stories are full of risks and dangers and bad people. If you believed the news then you would think that the online world was the worst place in the world to visit, so why bother. There is of course the fear of the unknown, and the fear that you don't have the knowledge or the skills. But these can be learned. I want to explore some of the more psychological reasons behind the barriers to engage. 


My hypothesis that the same fears that drive us in the 'offline' world drive us in the online world. That the way we empower people in the offline world, is the same as the online world. That overcoming fear and taking away someone's sense of powerlessness is the first step in engagement. 
Now I don't know f this is right or not - so if you know of any research that explores issues of fear or power in the online world, or you have your own opinions and thoughts, please let me know. 
(If you think I am barking up the wrong tree, then be nice to me when you tell me.)


In order to narrow down my project scope, because this could be rather large investigation, I have chosen to focus on three areas - confidence, safety and identity (see the start of my project planning) within the lens of fear and power.

Identity. Being online makes us vulnerable. People don't like being vulnerable.Also in our everyday lives we general don't think a lot about our identity. In the online landscape we have to, because it can be more permanent. So we go from the extremes of complete anonymity to disinhibition (basically a complete lack of constraint). So there is fear and fearlessness.  So if we want to empower people then we need to help them understand their identity, especially in the context of a values based organisation, and explore with them what identity means, but also how to manage this in a different environment. And this is no different to the offline world. I always use the example of what we wear. the way we act and what we wear are often very different at work, to at home. Therefore we do manage our identity, but we are maybe less conscious of doing it. I think values help a great deal here.

Safety. For ourselves and for others. How do we traverse the risks and dangers of the online world. Should we be risk averse, or should we be risk-embracing? Naturally Scouting is an organisation that is risk-embracing, and so we spend a huge amount of time understanding those risks and responding. If the online world is a 'new place', then we need to help people understand some of those risks and how to mitigate them. 

Confidence. I think for me this is more about the overall approach of feeling empowered and having the knowledge and the skills, and the belief in oneself, and potentially of others. 



So here's the part where you can help?
What are your thoughts about fear and power being psychological barriers to inclusion? Is there any research that might be useful for me to look at? Is this an area that you are interested or have done some work in?

I look forward to talking. 


Project building - psychological barriers to using social media

Project planning has begun in earnest as the first assignment deadline approaches. So being that this module is all about being a 'networked practitioner', it is expected that we try and explore our openness and practices. Thus I am trying to be open while working through the planning process, one, so I can reflect on how this feel, and two, so that I can start to use my network to help. 

So I am sharing my work in progress, as it progresses. So if you think you can help me with the research or theory, or you want to lend me your ear, comment or feedback on anything, please do. And remember it is a work in progress!!

Project plan - part 1

Being Prepared. Exploring the psychological barriers to volunteers using social media and adopting a values-driven approach to empowerment.

Project overview

“You wouldn't climb a mountain without being prepared, so you shouldn't use social media without doing the same!”
Background
Scouting volunteers do amazing things with young people every day, but there exists a fear of using online tools like social media for Scouting purposes. We help volunteers overcome their fear of the online world by reminding them of the values and methods of Scouting and that the online world is just another ‘undiscovered world’ of opportunity. Thus they can be part of the ‘open landscape’, exhibiting their values, being appropriate role-models and effective 'digital' citizens by working in partnership with young people.

Linking to the conference theme: a focus on Inclusion
Looking through the lens of 'inclusion', the project will investigate the wider issues of why adults don't want to use social media or why they feel social media doesn't include them. There are physical barriers like poor internet access and knowledge and skills, however this project will explore the psychological barriers that make volunteers feel powerless or afraid to use social media.  If we want them to use social media then we need to empower them by addressing their fears. This will involve looking at and helping them to manage the risks, as well as their own identities. In summary, Scouting is all about overcoming fears, trying something new, creating community and being empowered. Consequently the values and methods of Scouting are synchronous with overcoming the psychological barriers of using social media.

Project purpose and scope
One of the main deliverables of this project is to create a proto-type multimedia learning artefact for volunteers. However the project’s underlying purpose is to explore role of psychological barriers in relation to making social media accessible to volunteers.
This project will focus on three main topics: identity, safety and confidence and explore the barriers of fear and power within an open environment. Therefore the theme of inclusion needs to address issues of confidence, safety and identity in relation to overcoming fear and feeling empowered.


This is an upside down project, because the key messages to empower volunteers are already in place. The project activities will seek to underpin these key messages by drawing on existing research and practice to identify the issues surrounding these barriers and provide a sound theoretical basis for taking this approach and linking back to the values and methods of Scouting.

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Rocking all over my mind

my brain last friday looked a little like this I think - i was ready to pop!
So, I changed my mind. Which meant a whole new set of brainstorming activities. On the plane over to the Isle of Man I therefore wrote about ten pages worth of maps and scribbles to try and get everything out. (The man sat next to me must have thought be some kind of psycho as I kept flipping pages backwards and forwards. )

For me the act of writing things down, helps me to take control and organise my thoughts (there is that power motive again!). When writing assignments this often means physical mindmapping, where I write on lots of bits of paper then cross things off or  screw up the bits that aren't really relevant. Learning by doing you see - I need some tangibility (that's probably a made up word). 

So as being a Networked practitioner is all about trying out new tools, I have done a bit of mind mapping. All of this is meant to help me get to my project overview/plan. Don't worry, I will be sharing that too - and hoping for some comments and ideas!

Stage one - the overview of project


At this first point I was trying to think about the reasons behind and why volunteers don't use social media. Despite the physical constraints, like not having access or skills, I felt there was an overwhelming amount of psychological reasons. This is partly because the media tells us a lot about the scary bad stuff going on, and because e-safety has always been about sexual perpetrators and strangers coming to abduct your kids.  In some ways I was starting backwards with this, as I know what my advice is, so I needed to unpick some of the reasons and link it to the advice. 

Key words
I then went back and tried to link up some of the keywords, especially as they related to topics that we have already started to explore in the module.


As you can see, there are some links starting to form with some of the core areas, which include things like identity, power etc.

Psychological barriers
I then wanted to brainstorm some more and think a bit about these barriers through the idea of openness making you vulnerable. And I think this is the key point. Openness means that you have to take risks, face fear, be trusting...and to do that you need to feel empowered - or in control - or (new word here) self-efficacy - in other words it's what you believe you can do.


There are probably loads of other nodes that I could add on here but I like the idea of these three core barriers around identity, safety and confidence which link into the issues of fear, power and trust. You will also see that I have started looking out how the values of scouting help to empower, but suggesting to volunteers that it's part of what we already do and therefore if we journey into the open landscape, we can following the same values and paths.

Next stop, first draft of the project plan....will be needing your help.


Monday 10 November 2014

working on a project title....Be Prepared

My job (hence my context)
I work for The Scout Association at Headquarters. My job is National Development Officer
(Safeguarding). Basically a large part of what I do is develop resources and training for volunteers to help them understand their roles and responsibilities within Scouting in regards to Safeguarding (Child protection, anti-bullying, safer recruitment). So I spend a lot of my time out and about meeting and working with volunteers and training trainers who will go on to deliver safeguarding training to volunteers across the country. It truly is an amazing organisation which can't really be paid justice to in a few words. Having worked for the organisation for nearly 7 years I am proud to be a Scout and share the values of the organisation.

My project
My project will be based on work that I already do around empowering adult volunteers in Scouting to use social media in a safe and fun way. For me safeguarding is about enabling people to do things, rather than stopping them - empowering rather than scaring.

You wouldn't climb a mountain...... without being prepared, and so you shouldn't use social media without doing the same!
Currently I offer guidance on a weekly basis about how to use social media safely, and so for my project I want to explore this, and link in research as well as create a multimedia artifact that can be used in work. 


Open education in an open landscape
Looking through the lens of 'inclusion', my project is focused on why adults don't want to use social media or why they feel social media doesn't include them. There are of course some physical barriers like internet access and personal knowledge and skills. However I think that the psychological barriers are the main thing that is making volunteers feel powerless or afraid to use social media. The media today is constantly telling us what a dangerous place the internet is, and e-safety messages for young people are about the risks and the harm that may befall them. For adults working with young people this makes the internet a scary place, especially as for some it's not their natural environment. So we need to help them understand that it doesn't have to be scary, and they can prepare for it in the same way as they would prepare for other 'scary' scouting activities (like climbing).

If we want them to use social media then we need to empower them by addressing their fears and giving them the skills. This will involve looking at the risks and helping them to see both the good and the bad of openness, and helping them to manage their own identities.

Psychological barriers = confidence (power), safety, identity. 
Self-efficacy= make them believe they can do it by adopting a scouting approach (values, preparation, risk assessment and openness)

Key messages:
  • Social media doesn't have to be scary
  • Use the skills and processes already have to undertake the activity
  • Values-driven approach
  • Take ownership of identity
  • Stay safe by mitigating risk, behaving appropriately
Outcome - Volunteers do amazing things with young people everyday, and we help them overcome their fear of the online world and help them to be part of the open landscape, exhibiting their values and being appropriate roles models and effective 'digital' citizens.



Reality bites. Project planning and back to the drawing board.

We are now in week 6 of the module and at the final, crucial stages of thinking about our project plans and preparing for our first assignments. In true Sam fashion I had loads of ideas and thought about lots of different topics. Part of this module is about thinking and creating out loud, so here's some of the thoughts and processes that I have been through so far.

Phase 1: Initial thoughts (aka: lots of excitement and creativity but all over the place)
Originally I was focused on inclusion as a theme, mainly because a lot of the work I do is based around inclusion - and how we help people become a part of something, or make sure that we don't exclude. 

Power: In particular I am fascinated by power. So I thought about doing something that focused on power and inclusion. I talk alot about power dynamics in training especially as many of the topics I deliver are sensitive, and I work with volunteers and young people, so power is important. Power is about making the language we use accessible and the way we approach our relationships. but it's also about giving people power to take action in their own right.  I think openness and power has some links to identity but also acceptance, whether it's academic/non-academic/age/gender/experience/disciplines
Changing relationships:I also had thoughts around creating a new discipline (innovation) and whether there were ways that the informal (non-academic) can influence the formal (academic). This has a direct link to something I want to do, and also links to implementation. In the charity/youth work field, there is no such thing as trainer training or qualifications in many of the subject areas we become experts in. So for example, my peer network and I talk to each other a lot about values based training especially in safeguarding. I would love to create a kind of open studio for us to develop resources together and share our expertise more widely and openly. Thus not only helping other practitioners, but also changing culture and teh way that people think about the subject area. I think our approach is already innovative, but by creating something open and online. Does a discipline/education/field have to start in academia?
The journey:Journeys through openness started to fascinate me too following a couple of tweets with George Veletsianos (the author of one of the papers I read whom I exchanged some tweets with.) and some of discussions about what we do, I started thinking about journeys. So here I am thinking about are there routes to openness, and do different disciplines afford different routes? Therefore how do decide on the best approach? So just like doing needs and people analysis in training, can we tailor an approach for different people?

Phase 2: 3 potentials topics.... (28th October and thought I was doing well!)
I then shared with my tutor group three potentials areas where I had ideas, in order to ask comments and get some feedback in what direction to go (below is the exert from the forum)

1. Bursting the bubble: Building digital networks that improve professional practice. Here I was thinking about how networks actually inform and develop practice. In particular I wanted to focus on this idea of making sure you have diversity of voice (filter bubble) and so your network has many voices, or at least you know how to chose the ones that will actively challenge and help you develop. There might also be something about how you measure that effectiveness (I am not sure that you can 100%, but so far there is a lot of anecdotal evidence about this but I am not sure there is so much research on outcomes/outputs). (As Louise is doing something about communities of practice then I might move this down my list
2. Seeing the tree from the woods: discoverability of non-academic Open educational resources. In this I was thinking about inclusion as welll as innovation and implementation. In my professional life I am non-academic, and I think that when you look for resources, then academic resources trump non-academic. This is probably because this is not a priority for, for example, charitable organisations. So this one was about recognising the dominance of academia, and considering how to get heard. There are a few ways that this could be honed to be more specific too.
3. Journeying the open landscape : can blogging lead to academic publishing for the non-academic scholar. Back on my non-academic thing again. I am really interested in the different journeys that digital scholars take, and also how people develop. I found a blog post as a starting point, and this is something that I think that I want to do as a practitioner....I think again this could have links to inclusion innovation and implementation
I had pretty much settled on the third option, as it linked to this idea of journeys, and my creative part of my brain was thinking about the imagery of journeys and how it would make a great little project artefact, with things like 'what to wear' for identity, 'what to pack' for tools, 'travelling companions' for building your network etc.
Phase 3: journeys of a digital scholar (or trying to go around the world in 84 days)  
So is started to flesh out my ideas, and considered my approach.
Postcards from a digital scholar"  From theory to practice:Blogging as a foundation for digital scholarship .My theme would be implementation, and basically my plan is to blog my way through the project/module, picking up on each of the themes that are suggested along the way in the module, with a particular focus on blogging and my practice/experience of blogging. My initial thoughts are that there is a lot of information out there about blogging, and this approach is not necessarily new, but if I want to improve my own practice then I need to review the research and practice there is, and reflect on what that means for my own practice and actually do it.
Therefore my artifact would probably be a 'journey planner' of some of the key considerations of using and implementing blogging, (for a practitioner who is not connected to a learning institution)  and I am thinking of a multimedia approach. (4th November 2014)
Now hear, let this be a lesson to you.....
I started to look at potential research and resources, and had got a few good suggestions and ideas from my fellow students. However I was starting to find it difficult to find exactly what I wanted. I then sat down on the 6th November and did a project timetable, with key dates and the actual number of days that I would be able to commit to the module and complete assignments. I realised that I was probably aiming too high, trying too hard and potential not going to have the time to cover what I wanted to. The module materials are quite good in suggesting that you think 'realistically' about what you can accomplish. Although I was still interested in my area, I just didn't have the time to learn and research a whole new subject area. 
I contacted my tutor and had a discussion about this and my proposal for a new idea, based on existing knowledge and an area of work that would also benefit from my final artifact. It was really important at this stage to make that decision and to be aware that my intended project was way out of scope for what could be realistically completed. 
So here's me telling my fellow students...and I will talk about my new project shortly.

          

Digital disruption....project invasion

H818..the 'Networked Practioner' (my last Open University masters module) is now in full swing, and I will be taking over this blog with all of my project musing and developments.

The rest of the module is aimed at creating an 'artefact' that will be presented in the online conference in February. And so the project planning begins.Part of the process is about publishing and sharing practice, and so regular reflections on where I am, problems, issues, research etc will be useful in charting my journey. 

If you are following me, or reading this, please do feel free to contribute and comment to the future posts. After all this is all about me building my network and helping others to build theirs! I don't want to get too lonely.


Friday 7 November 2014

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!)