Accreditation

Rightly or wrongly, love 'em or hate 'em the dreaded Recorded and Accredited Outcomes seem to be taking over Youth Work - what's happening over in Play and Community Work guys?

ASDAN, YAA, AQA, DoE, AQA, OCN, GCSE, GSOH, BBC - (OK, the last two have nothing to do with accreditation) but it can be baffling. Which accreditations are the best, easiest, quickest? Which carry the most value? Which accreditations do employers like?

The Blair and now Brown governments are obsessed with targets and accountabilty. The powers that be seem to have deemed Recorded and Accredited Outcomes the way that youth work proves it worth. Teachers, Nurses Police have all been bogged down by paperwork and now its the turn of youth work.

However, we shouldn't just lie down and change the whole nature of youth work in pursuit of accreditation should we? I believe we need to continue putting PROCESS at the very heart of what we do but try to get a PRODUCT too. That way we give the government the tick in the box they crave and stay true to young people. I fear that if we don't change we are opening the doors for commercial companies such as Pertemps to take over youth work provision and profit not people will be the primaru concern.

We don't have to bog young people down with portfolios, folders, evidence if all they want is a warm place to chill out with friends. For me it comes down to knowing what accreditations are out there and choosing the one(s) that best suit your young people. It really is not rocket science. It is merely a matter of better planning.

                                                                                                                    Jaya from ETC Project, West Midlands 

Do you agree or disagree with Jaya? Is accreditation killing youth work? Will it save it? Let us know your thoughts by mailing them to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or sound off in our Forum