Competence Related Piece of Work Which Outlines Personal and Professional Development

Competence related piece of work which outlines personal and professional development

The purpose of this assignment is to outline my key learning and personal and professional development throughout three years of being a CYMI degree student. Entering into the CYM degree course has enabled me to bring the professional alongside the spiritual in the context of myself as a youth work but also professionally, influencing the processes of working with young people and in meetings with other professional in a way which invites Christ into the plan for youth work. Being provided with on going professional and spiritual support throughout the learning process has allowed me to invest in the frame of mind that youth work should be transformational not just for young people but for practitioners also. Youth work in its professional and spiritual dimensions is about participation, thus participation is a fundamental action in its process. Freire 1968; “When a word is deprived of its dimension of action, reflection automatically suffers as well; and the word is changed into idle chatter, into verbalism, into an alienated and alienating “blah.” It becomes an empty word, one which cannot denounce the world, for denunciation is impossible without a commitment to transform, and there is no transformation without action.”

Building Relationships & Learning

Fields 2013; “Discovery as well as growth happens best in the context of relationships” there has been much learning that has taken place around the topic of building relationships and the learning process for young people. I have learned about the personal and practical aspects of building relationships with young people, Jeffs & Smith 1990, highlight the importance of conversation and emphasise two elements which are “Being with”- To fully engage in conversation, we have to be in a certain frame of mind. We have to be with that person, rather than seeking to act upon them. “Being open”-Conversation for the informal educator is not about trying to win an argument. Rather, conversation is about understanding and learning. The development of skillful conversation has been of vital importance to my professional development and the development of relationships with the young people I have worked with throughout three years. In building positive relationships I have met many needs of young people, the need for consistency and acceptance of young people for who they are regardless of held ideologies, words or action. As a youth worker, I am neither a passive facilitator nor a paid friend but rather a competent and skilled worked whose job it is to assist young people in building more life fulfilling futures. In order to build such a future for themselves or to begin telling a different story for their lives than they have already been given, the world view of young people needs to be broadened. This is being a lot of my learning and development has taken place. The question of how to broaden the world view of young people who cannot see beyond their own door steps and who’s childhood experience and family life is marked by destructive elements of multiple social deprivations and poverty. The one size fits all approach to learning and education caused conflict with the young people I have worked with, sitting in a room, listening to a talk and trying to grasp concepts that are beyond their own experience proved to be too difficult and too off putting for young people, as a result they would not enter into any projects or program nights where this was the emphasis. David Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning is a theory that greatly helped this situation, as I grasped the concept of learning by experiencing I began to apply this to my youth work.Kolb considered this cycle of learning as a central principle of his experiential learning theory, a four-stage cycle of learning in which concrete experiences provide the basis for observations and reflections. Observations and reflections which are then assimilated and distilled into abstract concepts producing implications for action and the creation of new experiences. I have learned that young people best learn when they are given real life, concrete experiences and when abstract thoughts and concepts are brought in line with their view of the world. Faith learning was a particularly difficult task with young people as much teaching is abstract, from a different time and in a different narrative. By making biblical stories come to life or my placing young people physically in the practical elements of the story, for example; going to the mountain and giving them a mustard seed and telling the mountain to move, gives young people all they need to learn in which ever style they learn.

Personal & Professional Values

When first given the task of defining what a value is, I have found it quite difficult to do so, often finding it hard to differentiate between characteristics and qualities associated with a person. Values are understood to mean different things to different people. Even the definition and description of what values are can be interpreted differently. It should be no surprise, therefore, that different people view the origin of values and the development of values in different ways. In the early stages of my placement, as well as learning what a value actually is I also learned that there are many different types of values. These are, organizational values, the values that are held by the professional organisation for which a person works. Personal values, based on one’s own judgment of what is prioritized as important in life and finally Christian values, which derive from the personal faith and practice of an individual and those outlined within the Bible. Within my own practice I have experienced moments when each of these sets of values come into conflict with one another and the values of others with whom I work. Banks, 2014; “Interestingly, it is often only in collaborations with other professions that youth workers may become aware of their underlying professional values when they find themselves challenged to justify particular ways of acting”. In the beginning stages of my placement, working in a lager staff team that I had ever worked before conflicts such as these came to light more frequently. Organizational values were also a concept that was new to me, however working in an organisation which placed high importance on values and leadership allowed me to explore what my own personal and professional values actually are. O,’Toole, 1996 states; “At its core, the process of values-based leadership is the creation of moral symmetry among those with competing values”. He went on to state “values-based leadership brings order to the whole by creating transcendent values that provide a tent large enough to hold all the different aspirations. It is more than just a mere compromise. When all sides are heard, opportunities frequently surface that can provide for mutually beneficial alternatives”

Management & Supervision

The organizational structure of supervision has been an area of practice that has greatly contributed to my professional development and also personal development. Over the previous three years I have learned to value the structure of supervision and to utilize it well, especially whilst in the process of discovering what my own professional values are and how to manage and deal with conflicting values as a worker within an organisation. Kadushin, expanding upon the work of Dawson (1926) highlights three functions of supervision,

Administrative – the promotion and maintenance of good standards of work, co-ordination of practice with policies of administration, the assurance of an efficient and smooth-running office. Educational – the educational development of each individual worker on the staff in a manner calculated to evoke her fully to realize her possibilities of usefulness; and

Supportive – the maintenance of harmonious working relationships, the cultivation of esprit de corps. [Kadushin’s (1992) rendering of Dawson 1926: 293]. Over the past three years I have received all three of these functions of supervision. Supportive supervision on a one to one basis with a supervisor allowed me to both work through organizational or co working conflicts and learn how to do so, but also how to effectively manage my time and learn the extent of my effectiveness in certain areas of work. Within the supervision structure areas for training and on going development were utilized and acted upon.

Supervision is a structure I have grown to value greatly as a professional, however throughout my time in placement I found it difficult to see the spiritual I dimension of supervision and question if there was indeed a spiritual dimension to a structure so formal. This thought process was a challenged and tested slightly when I entered into pastoral supervision, a structure of the CYM course but also of my placement organisation, which puts great emphasis in faith and community in working environments. “Supervision is considered a “ministry”. Like other ministries, it originates from a faith community, flows out of the charisma of that community, and nourishes and expands the community. Rooted in God’s presence and the gift of the spirit, supervision strengthens contemplative posture and abilities for discernment. Supervision enables directors to be vibrant messengers of God’s gracious love for individuals and faith communities worldwide” (Benefiel, Holton and Benefiel, 2010, pp.93)

Community Work & Mission

As a community youth worker with no experience of working in a church environment, many aspects of learning and the course I found difficult to apply to my own context and experience of youth work. This was perhaps my greatest challenge but also my biggest learning curve as aspects of ministerial formation and practical community work did not seem to fit professionally for me as a youth worker. My placement organisation operates from a faith ethos underpinned by Christian values of faith, hope and love, but also youth work values of equity, diversity & interdependence and principals such as participation, understanding and testing values and beliefs outlined by the model for effective practice. In many ways I struggled to see how the Gospel message would relate to the young people I was working with and the youth work I was undertaking. In learning about theologies such as liberation theology, incarnational ministry and mission, this attitude and viewpoint quickly began to shift and change. Model’s such as Thompsons PCS model and the concept of oppression and anti oppressive practice paired with theological concepts has opened new dimensions of understanding of these concepts. In undertaking community mapping exercises and exploring concepts of community development such as investing in social capital, I quickly began to understand more the place of the gospel message for young people in west Belfast. Further complicating the complex nature of youth work with faith was a task I struggled with, this personally challenged me to realise that faith without action in the context of youth work robs it of its power to transform the lives of young people. Thus the idea of mission has greatly influenced my practice in very recent and new ways. The tendency to stay in safe youth work spaces is very much still within my nature, but the challenge to venture out in pursuit of God’s purposes is also present. I don’t believe that God is interested in my comings and goings or not goings, as a youth worker, rather I believe his interest is found in my willingness to forsake in order to pursue him in all things.

Conclusions & Continuous Learning

In conclusion, learning in all competence areas throughout the CYM course have greatly challenged me and contributed to my personal and professional development. Interconnected spiritual and professional development, God’s call on my life to work with young people matched with the professional development, practical learning and placement experiencehas shaped me to be the youth worker I have become. The key thing I have learned to value in these three years is in fact learning and the importance of committing to on going, life learning and professional development beyond degree studies. There are many aspects of professional practice that I have learned and have became greatly competent and confident in, there are also aspects that still have learning to do within. For example, learning to utilize structures such as supervision has been fundamental, but learning how I might go on to supervise or line manage another person is something I will come to learn.

Bibliography

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