Learners' Own Words

No matter the role an adult plays in the life of a young person – youth worker, mentor, teacher, parent, counselor, caregiver – there is always an inherent power dynamic. Adults don’t often consider the effect of power in their interactions with young people but young people are almost always acutely aware, and uniquely affected. In that gap, there is tremendous potential for better outcomes, genuine trust, positive youth development, and meaningful systemic change. The key is in learning to implement effective youth-adult partnerships.

Your first step is to develop awareness of the pros and cons of power dynamics. As a youth worker, you have a significant impact on what happens in a young person’s life. The main focus of youth work is to encourage all young people's development while recognizing that individual youth experience the world differently; development is the most effective strategy for preventing problem behaviors. And development is the chief aim of effective youth-adult partnerships.

This training will help you understand the importance of defining positive youth outcomes in your work with young people through the lens of youth-adult partnerships. You’ll learn a framework for sharing power appropriately. You’ll explore strategies for implementing a youth-adult partnership approach in your programs. And you’ll come away with effective communication and relationship management skills to inform, empower, and engage young people.

• Learn how youth-adult partnerships positively impact youth development
• Learn how to share power in your work with young people
• Adapt your youth work to incorporate an understanding of power dynamics so you can implement effective youth-adult partnerships
• Gain effective communication and relationship management skills to inform, empower, and engage young people

Each of YIPA’s trainings are designed around a broad framework of eight youth work competencies. The competency focus of this training is: COMMUNICATIONS.

Gain communication flexibility which allows you to develop healthy, productive work relationships, engage in collaborative problem solving with youth, and improve individual and group facilitation.