It’s been a while since youth work was formally inspected. Work to develop a standalone form of youth work inspection by Estyn is underway and youth work inspection will be reintroduced from late 2024. The reintroduction of inspection follows the introduction of the Youth Work Quality Mark for Wales. In this blog, we will explain what inspection is and how the Youth Work Quality Mark complements it.
Youth work has been considered as part of local authority inspections, but introducing a stand-alone inspection for the whole of youth work will help to highlight the important contribution this education field is making to the lives of young people in Wales. It will also help to underline the legislative basis for youth work, including its statutory basis, and the importance of maintaining a vibrant voluntary youth work sector.
Estyn colleagues, along with representatives from across the youth work field, are in the process of refining the detail of what inspection will actually look like, a process which will continue until the pilot inspections are completed in early 2024. This collegiate approach will ensure that the inspection process is supportive and meaningful, as well as being a key driver for service improvement.
When we work with young people, the quality of our interventions are often hard to define. That moment of engagement, when a young person has turned an emotional corner, grasped an opportunity, or worked out a solution to a problem are the highs in many youth workers’ careers.
These moments are often the result of many hours of planning, reflection, development, or change. Listening and responding to young people is critical. These breakthroughs are examples of the principles and values of youth work making a real difference to a young person. Sometimes, the youth work sector itself generalises this by justifying it as ‘just part of the job’. We must not lose sight of the fact that youth workers often go that extra mile to help and support young people. These moments, and the preparation for them, should be celebrated. Understanding and evaluating the impact of the work we do is a crucial part of self-evaluation and supports organisations to further improve their youth work.
High-quality youth work has a crucial role to play in supporting many young people to achieve their full potential and successfully negotiate key transitions between the ages of 11-25. Through informal and non-formal educational approaches, effective youth work practice builds the capacity and resilience of young people, and can change their lives for the better. Through participation in youth work, young people gain confidence and competence, develop self-assurance, and have the opportunity to establish high expectations and aspirations for themselves.
The Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales enables organisations to celebrate these moments, and the hard work and endeavour it takes to achieve them. It aids service improvement through reflection and review. The voluntary nature of this process demonstrates a commitment to excellence via a route of self-assessment and peer assessment. Achieving the Quality Mark brings many benefits to organisations. Most notably, having a badge of excellence which shows they are truly delivering a service to young people which you, your peers, and Wales can be proud of.
Youth work inspection will enhance the recognition of youth work in the eyes of those with significant influence, such as the Welsh Government, senior management of organisations, external funding bodies, and others. Inspection in particular aims to have this kind of influence on the education field, inside local authorities, schools, the FE sector, other employers, government, unions and funders. This is achieved by promoting the status of youth work alongside other education professions.
The intention is that the reintroduction of inspection provides public scrutiny and recognition. In turn, it is hoped that this will raise the profile of youth work, providing the whole field with a platform for improvement and opportunity. All statutory education services, and their governance bodies, are required to be publicly accountable via the inspection process, including local authority youth services. Voluntary sector youth work groups will also be included.
Inspection also provides public feedback on youth work for young people and the wider community about the youth work happening in their area. The Quality Mark assessment does not result in a published report, but inspection will. However, both will be focused on highlighting innovation and good practice. Any concerns arising are highlighted in a supportive and empowering way to help organisations provide the best possible services for young people.
The Quality Mark has a self-assessment element which is available for all youth work organisations in Wales to use regardless of their size, where they receive their funding, or whether they then take the step to being externally verified. Estyn will use the self-assessment and improvement planning processes that organisations already have in place as the starting point for inspection and providers won’t be expected to produce any additional documentation before an inspection.
Because of the legislative requirement to inspect youth work, the main key difference between Quality Mark and inspection is that the Quality Mark is voluntarily applied for, whilst inspection is mandatory.
Like the Quality Mark, the inspection process will involve uploading evidence to a virtual area. Estyn will also provide a number of guidance documents with the provider in the same way. There is no expectation that providers prepare documentation specifically for inspection, only to share their internal reporting and quality assurance reports. The process for assessing the Quality Mark and the inspection process helps to focus on the importance of effective self-evaluation. Inspection can be seen as a way of validating the types of service improvement that were prompted and encouraged by Quality Mark assessment. During an inspection, inspectors primary evidence base comes though meetings with young people, youth workers, and other key partners, and observing first hand youth work happening.
At Swansea University, we have recently piloted a model among our primary PGCE student teachers to support such reflection-in-action. It is informed by Schön's seminal work, as well as a range of other theories and concepts.
There was unanimous agreement that the success of PIT Stop rests on relationships between mentor and mentee, the quality of questioning and interaction, framing the dialogue around a developmental, non-judgemental narrative, and close liaison between university and partner schools. The post-lesson discussion was key to facilitating reflection-on-action.
Loren Henry: As CEO of Urban Circle Newport, I am instrumental in establishing a strong organisational reputation as a champion of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. I was recently awarded Visiting Fellow of USW, recognising my expertise in leading anti-racist and anti-discriminatory work. I am also a member of the Anti-racist Wales External Accountability Group.
Lisa Taylor: I am Director of Education in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Education at the University of South Wales. I lead on the continuous development of the University of South Wales (USW) Initial Teacher Education Partnership.
As educators, we recognised how valuable the high-quality documentaries Wales Untold and Humanitree would be as professional learning resources for teachers of all age phases. We could see how they could facilitate critical conversations about race, diversity, inclusivity, heritage, true history (like authentic conversations about Cynefin), and identity to develop a shared understanding and sense of belonging in classrooms. The funding secured to create these rich documentaries had run out, so there was no resource to feed them forward. Together, we approached Welsh Government for funding to create professional learning resources for teachers and were directed to DARPL and the inspirational Chantelle Haughton. After some deep, philosophical and heart-warming meetings, we were awarded a pot of funding to create anti-racist professional learning resources based on Wales Untold and Humanitree. UCN also secured funding from USW to develop resources to facilitate anti-racist workshops across USW. Strong relationships were being built internally and externally on trust, mutual support and respect.
Brave spaces. Conversations began with a group of teacher educators and UCN leaders looking collaboratively at the initial teacher education curriculum and asking honest questions about how diverse and inclusive our curriculum and resources are. UCN led anti-racist practice workshops for ITE staff and students. Student teachers were invited to a performance of Urban School of Arts, a show written and performed by young people about the realities of growing up in inner city Newport. The show was followed by a Q&A session where student teachers could ask questions to the young people.
In 2021, Welsh Government accepted all 51 recommendations of the Williams review
