“There’s a shared commitment to getting it right.”

John Harrington, National Youth Workers Network Aotearoa, explains how the ITO has gained industry confidence through engagement and leadership.

A shared commitment to “getting it right” for youth work is the foundation of the partnership between the National Youth Workers Network Aotearoa (NYWNA) and the ITO. John Harrington, Chief Executive Officer, says that together the organisations have done much to grow the capability and capacity of youth workers since the partnership was created.

One of the issues facing the sector is the slow uptake of workplace training by youth workers. Qualifications that did not reflect the true flavour of youth work weren’t helping. The two organisations needed to combined their efforts to improve professional development opportunities for staff and volunteers in the sector.

The ITO offered to develop a degree in youth work alongside the new degree in social work. John, who is passionate about advocating for the development and recognition of youth work, was only too keen to take up this opportunity. While fully committed to certificate-level qualifications, he says “many youth workers have skills and knowledge that aren’t reflected in the current qualifications. The degree lets youth workers gain a qualification that reflects their expertise”.

Work began on the development of core competencies as the basis of the degree. Then John was invited by the ITO to select an expert panel of youth workers to write new national unit standards for youth work. “It really helped that the ITO was prepared to recognise the differences between youth work and social work in the way that the competencies and the unit standards were written.” reflects John.

Another initiative that has come out of the partnership, the Tohu pilot project, aims to sign up around 50 youth workers to a two-year qualification process from August 2009. The ITO supported the NYWNA’s creative response to the needs of youth workers. With youth workers shying away from a structure focused on individual assessment, Tohu uses a model of assessment in groups and learning in communities or wānanga instead.

 The outcome of the ITO fulfilling its leadership role by engaging the youth work sector has been increased confidence from the sector in the ITO. John remarks on “the passion, vision and commitment of the ITO in working with the sector to get it right. They’ve collaborated with us in the best interests of the sector, supporting us with what we’ve wanted to do”.