Reflexion on partner meeting in Ireland

Last week we spent five interesting days in Ireland. Thank you to all of you who organised the meeting and those of you who joined us at meeting and shared experiences of working with marginalised youth in Ireland.

The meeting made me think of all the different outputs we get from this project. One thing is the formal outputs in terms of a teaching module, an anthology and other visible products. Another thing is the impact the meetings has made on each of us. I have been very impressed by the interest and eager to exchange knowledge between students, youth, practitioners and academics in Denmark, Romania, Spain, Holland and Ireland. Everywhere we have been met by interesting people who have embrassed our idea of co-creation and WHO have taught us lesson on how to do exactly that – co-create.

Forandringsfabrikken Norway

Talking about vulnerable youths then this website must be looked at the project is about vulnerable youths working towards change and working towards being heard and towards being respected. All of the youth connected have been placed in care outside their homes and all have a demand for respect, trust and being involved in their own lives. What they want is more based on these ideas thatn programmes, methods and intervention programmes. Very much like the youth we hvae been talking to. http://www.forandringsfabrikken.no/

Gorodn

 

Wicked problems and wicked competences

Wicked Competences
At the moment I’m writing a chapter for the HIP anthology on the subject of ‘Wicked Competences’. This is proving more difficult than was originally thought! Writers out there have specified a number of wicked competences, but it seems that there mightn’t be a direct alignment between these and the characteristics of wicked problems. So what I’ve decided to do is to reflect on the ‘know-how’ social professionals need to acquire to address features of wicked problems. To reduce the risk of this exercise becoming too abstract, a case study example of young people hanging-out on a street corner was designed. In particular, I devised the case study to contextualise and explicate particular features of wicked problems. By doing so I tried to identify elements of ‘wicked competences’. As I’ve been thinking and writing about these connections, other ideas are emerging concerning how the ‘Wicked Problems’ framework aids reflective social professional practice. One area of interest concerns how the framework could assist social professionals to reframe their thinking when they become frustrated with attempting to address social problems. Incorporating the theory of ‘Wicked Problems’ into one’s professional outlook may help to reduce professional burn-out.  I’m also thinking about how the theory of wicked problems could support social professionals to critique modern and commonly accepted performance management practices. Hopefully, more on this idea in the chapter!
Mark Taylor
IT Sligo
April 2015

Partner meeting Amsterdam April 2015

Our fourth partner meeting is in Amsterdam is coming soon. I am looking forward to working with the data collected in all partner countries and to get a genuine feeling of the projects advancement. After interesting meetings in Romania and Spain including lots of learning, the next meeting is about working towards the production of the outcomes of the project. Outlines for the data analysis are prepared by the Dutch, outline of the Module Concept will be presented by the Danish and the anthology is coming along nicely in the hands of the Irish.

I love working in an international team and I think you are all doing a fantastic job. See you soon, Lene