Vision not Division: Defining our Terms

Vision not Division

Defining our terms

The Vision not Division consultation is a unique opportunity, bringing together people with an interest in the contribution that non-formal learning can make to young people’s education in the 21^st century.

We believe that the event can contribute to the creation of a broad and inclusive vision of modern education. Looking to the future, we may need to work together to compile ‘definite definitions’ for formal, non-formal and informal learning. However, our priority, as a planning group has been to design an opportunity for creativity and collaboration.

Common ground

In the interest of promoting a good understanding of our starting points, we have collated on the following page a variety of recent definitions. Based on these definitions – and taking into account feedback from the preparatory consultations carried out by RSA – we believe that there is potential common ground in these characteristics of non-formal learning:

• A commitment to the ‘agency of the learner’
• Purposeful and intentional learning but most often a voluntary commitment by the learner
• Reliant on a set of values/beliefs about learning rather than an organizational setting
• Learner centred
• Requiring a flexibility in learning styles, tending towards experiential and reflective
• Provides for accreditation of learning if required by the learner
• Takes place in a wide range of environments and settings covering a broad range of subjects and activities
• Delivers an integral aspect of Life Long Learning

In our view non-formal learning occupies the space that separates formal and informal learning and permeates both these arenas, when utilised by skilled and expert practitioners. We hope that we can begin our discussions by accepting this broad understanding, moving forward from this point.

John Bateman, on behalf of the Consultation Planning Group.

(Please see definitions below)

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Vision not Division Guest Blog Series–Post #7: Vision not Divisions by Howard Williamson

Continuing in our Vision not Division guest blog series is a post by Howard Williamson, Professor of European Youth Policy at the University of Glamorgan.  His paper “Vision not Divisions” reflects on his experiences working in youth policy towards informal learning within the challenges of the 21st century educational framework.  We have posted an excerpt from the beginning of his paper and the full paper can be read in the Scribd document viewer below.

In the Vision not Division Series guest bloggers, who will be attending the consultation as key delegates, will be sharing their views and ideas on our blog.   Keep checking back to find all the series’ updates by our guest bloggers as we get closer to developing a vision for non-formal learning for young people in the 21st century at St George’s.

Remember to visit our blog during Vision not Division from 18th-20th November as we will be posting videos of speeches and interviews and updates as the conference unfolds at St. George’s House in Windsor.  Also, check out our twitter page for live updates too!  @UKYouth

BLOG SERIES POST #7

Vision not Divisions

Some experiential reflections from informal learning on the challenges for building a relevant education and learning framework for all young people in the 21^st century

When the brave new world of ‘new Labour’ was bedding in – or ‘hitting the ground running’ as it liked to think of itself – I provided the number two in the Number 10 Policy Unit, Geoff Mulgan, with a simple one-page ‘map’ of contemporary youth policy.  It covered, at the top of the page, the famous Labour sound-bites [‘education, education, education’, ‘responsibilities as well as rights’, ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’, ‘a hand-up not a hand-out’], and, at the bottom of the page, the generic and specific ‘needs’ of young people – from education and training to crime and delinquency, and from care leavers and those with special educational needs to substance misuse and homelessness.  In the middle I tried to portray the services currently available and those that were already on the cards in Labour’s manifesto.  It was a map that transformed dramatically with the initiatives taken by the Labour government in its early years (see the chart in the Social Exclusion Unit’s 2000 report on young people).  However, tucked in the bottom corner of the column on education and training, I noted (and look back with some pride that I noted) with a question mark: ‘integrated 14-19 academic, vocational and citizenship curriculum?’.  I had always subscribed to such a vision, having myself had an ‘academic’ education with a touch of paternalistic citizenship (‘serving the less fortunate neighbours on our doorstep’ that had certainly introduced me to the notion of civic responsibility) and then hung around with my mirror image: kids in a local comprehensive who had had a diet of vocationalism and dropped out at the earliest opportunity.  Their one and only contact with academic learning was probably through me, just as I acquired some more street-wise and practical knowledge and skills through my contact with them (after one of them had made the memorable comment, though I had not been meant to hear it: ‘let’s face it, boys, the only thing that’s handy about Howard is he lives round here’!).

…This is but an opening sortie, built from personal experience.  It is unashamedly biased towards those who have traditionally lost out on an educational offer, for it is their lives that have been blighted for having been excluded.  But a further reason is that it remains relatively straightforward to design a learning context for a majority of young people; the really significant question is whether we can construct a similar, or ‘parallel and equivalent’ learning offer that is meaningful and motivates the significant minority who have historically been cast adrift when learning and inclusion has been at stake.  Otherwise the long tail (tale?) of educational failure, under-achievement and early departure from learning that was the story of the 20^th century is likely, in the 21^st century, to be repeated.

Read the full paper by Howard Williamson below…

View this document on Scribd

Check out the previous entries in the Vision not Division Guest Blog Series:

#6 The Values of Uncertainty by Professor Guy Claxton, University of Winchester

#5 W5 + H =C by Jim Cote, University of Western Ontario

#4 What’s so special about classrooms? by Dan Sutch, Futurelab

#3 Lessons to Learn, Non-Formal Learning by Catalina Novac, World Bank

#2 ECYC and the recognition of non-forma learning by Annina Hirvonen, ECYC

#1 Catching a wave by Alan Rogers, Consultation Group for Vision not Division

RSA Report: Vision not Division

This is your first chance to read the RSA’s report–Vision not Division:  the contemporary value and role of non-formal education in England. The unpublished RSA’s report will be circulated for the use of participants at UK Youth’s Vision not Division consultation on 18th-20th November at St George’s House in Windsor.  See the excerpt from the introduction below and continue reading the full report in the Scribd document viewer.

Introduction

When we hear education, we tend to think school.  Despite compulsory education being a comparatively recent development, the classroom or the lecture theatre has come to dominate our perception of what education is. By comparison, education outside the school is often poorly understood, under resourced, and seemingly lacking in validity and esteem.

Our purpose in this paper is to think beyond the relative order and hierarchy of the school room and explore the value of ‘non-formal’ education in a changing social, economic and public services landscape.

Despite the lack of public discussion of education that isn’t schooling, there are trends which suggest it is increasingly important.  Following a severe recession, nearly 1,000,000 young people aged 16-24 are now not in education, employment or training (NEET).  The continued problems of engaging many young people in formal education, the dispiriting failure suffered by many others, the increased access to knowledge outside of educational institutions, the importance of supportive communities of learning outside the school to educational success, the problem of divorcing learning from personal experience and emotional well-being…there is long and growing list of new and longstanding reasons to re-examine our understanding of education beyond formal provision, and to reassess the value we place on it.

Continue reading below…

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Vision not Division Guest Blog Series, Post #6–The Virtues of Uncertainty by Guy Claxton

The next in our Vision not Division guest blog series is actually a paper, “The Virtues of Uncertainty,” by Guy Claxton, Professor of the Learning Sciences and Co-Director at the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester.  Further down in the post you can also read Professor Claxton’s other paper published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) titled “Learning to Learn:  a key goal in a 21st century curriculum.”

In the Vision not Division Series guest bloggers, who will be attending the consultation as key delegates, will be sharing their views and ideas on our blog.   Keep checking back to find all the series’ updates by our guest bloggers as we get closer to developing a vision for non-formal learning for young people in the 21st century at St George’s.

Remember to visit our blog during Vision not Division from 18th-20th November as we will be posting videos of speeches and interviews and updates as the conference unfolds at St. George’s House in Windsor.  Also, check out our twitter page for live updates too!  @UKYouth

BLOG SERIES POST #6

The Virtues of Uncertainty:  A character curriculum for the learning age

(excerpt below–Read full paper in the Scribd document viewer following)

We seem to live in a morally bashful age.  Perish the thought that anyone might try to ‘impose their values’ on anyone else.  Education colludes with this squeamishness by pretending that the only serious questions it faces are technical ones.  How are we going to raise standards?  What are the most appropriate methods for testing students, and when, and how much?  Should we have 14-19 diplomas, or a six-term year?

But words like ’standards’ and ‘appropriate’ merely finesses the underlying moral questions.  They have only the appearance of neutrality, for we have only to ask ‘Standards of what?’ and ‘Appropriate to what end?’ and their value-laden nature is hauled to the surface.  Only if we assume that ’standards’ refer, self-evidently, to performance on national tests–with a sprinkling of statistics about ‘attendance,’ and ‘exclusions’–do the moral questions subside.  But that assumption is looking increasingly flimsy.  If, after 100 years of tinkering and innovation, half of all young people still don’t get a clutch of good GCSEs; if millions of school-leavers still can’t read well; if thousands of students vote with their feet every day–not because they are inherently lazy or stupid, but because they can see no value in what school is offering–you might have thought that a slightly deeper look at aims and values was timely.

Continue reading the paper below…

View this document on Scribd

Learning to Learn:  a key goal in a 21st century curriculum

There are two good reasons for reconfiguring 21st century education: economic and personal. The well-rehearsed economic argument says that knowledge is changing so fast that we cannot give young people what they will need to know, because we do not know what it will be. Instead we should be helping them to develop supple and nimble minds, so that they will be able to learn whatever they need to. If we can achieve that, we will have world-class workforce comprising people who are innovative and resourceful. The personal argument reaches the same conclusion. Many young people are floundering in the face of the complexities and uncertainties of contemporary life: the relatively successful children like Emily, as much as the more conspicuous failures of the education system such as Todd. Emily sees herself as ready for a life of tests, but not the tests of life. Todd does not even believe that he has it in him to master a new skill.

Continue reading below…

View this document on Scribd

Check out the previous entries in the Vision not Division Guest Blog Series:

#5 W5 + H =C by Jim Cote, University of Western Ontario

#4 What’s so special about classrooms? by Dan Sutch, Futurelab

#3 Lessons to Learn, Non-Formal Learning by Catalina Novac, World Bank

#2 ECYC and the recognition of non-forma learning by Annina Hirvonen, ECYC

#1 Catching a wave by Alan Rogers, Consultation Group for Vision not Division

What should our priorities for learning be in the future? Vote in the Vision not Division Powerleague

What should our priorities be for learning in the future?  Vote now and have your say!

A major consultation, Vision not Division, is currently underway promoted by UK Youth, Futurelab and St George’s House with the support of The Royal Society of Arts to investigate the potential that non-formal learning has to provide a more inclusive educational offer to young people in the future.

The organisers are very keen to engage as many young people as possible in this discussion and have therefore developed a Powerleague to capture your ideas.

This league is intended to promote discussion and debate over the roles that education should play in our future learning needs.  It contains ideas that may seem familiar and others that might seem very strange, it contains ideas that may seem very desireable, and others that you would not want to see at all.  Choosing one idea over another helps you explore your own priorities, and the emerging league table provides a snapshot of the priorities of everyone else who is playing the league.

When you’re playing, imagine the world we may be living in 2025 and beyond and choose the roles you would want learning and education to play in that world.

Alternatively, think about the role education plays today, and choose how you feel this should change over the next 17 years.

In the league, these very different ideas are also grouped into 4 different broader ‘educational functions’:

1.  Specific Skills

2. General Skills

3. Socialisation

4. Personal Growth

The first two groups are self-explanatory.  ‘Socialisation’ refers to the value of education to society and to the way in which individuals become part of existing social structures.  Personal development in contrast focuses on the value of education to individuals and the way education helps people to express their individuality and forge a place for themselves in society.

In reality, many of these overlap, but this categorisation offers another way of viewing the league and asking questions about what priorities you and others might have.  There are many different and conflicting ways in which we might categorise the functions of education, these are intended here not as a statement of what we believe, but as a prompt for discussion and debate.

We do hope that you will want to participate in the powerleague and encourage others to do so as well.  Every view is important.

Vote now in the Vision not Division Powerleague!

Are you interested in more information about Powerleague?

As well as this league, you can also make comments about items, groups or about the way in which the league is developing.  Comment now.

Here you can also make suggestions for ideas that should be included, or few new ways of categorising and grouping the items.

How are the league positions calculated?

Well, there is a complex algorithm that determines how the items are positioned in the league.  It works like this:  each item is given a score, which is the proportion of votes it has won–an item with a score of 1 has won every vote it has been in, an item with a score of zero hasn’t won any votes, an item with a score of 0.75 has won three-quarters of its votes; the higher an item’s score the higher its ranking.  For any league the average score will be 0.5.

Just because one item has a higher score than another doesn’t mean it is objectively more popular; if the scores are close together or not many votes have yet been cast, then it may be just luck that one has a higher score.  We only say x is more popular than y if we are at least 95% certain that it is.  For both leagues, significance can’t be calculated untill everything has been pitched against everything else.

Want to make your own Powerleague? Go to http://www.powerleague.org.uk/

 

Vision not Division Guest Blog Series Post #5: W5+H=C by Jim Cote

The fifth post in UK Youth’s  guest blog series on non-formal learning in the lead up to our three-day forum Vision not Division at St George’s House is by Jim Cote, a Sociology Professor at the University of Western Ontario .  Guest bloggers who will be attending the consultation as key delegates will be sharing their views and ideas on our blog in this blog series.   Keep checking back to find all the series’ updates by our guest bloggers as we get closer to developing a vision for non-formal learning for young people in the 21st century at St George’s.

BLOG SERIES POST #5

W5+H=C

At the upcoming consultation conference I have been asked to play the role of an ‘internal verifier’ to challenge those in attendance to produce a charter that can move the rhetoric concerning nonformal learning (NFL) to a reality. Performing this role is humbling, if only because the goal of the conference is so daunting.

Judging by the groundswell of literature on NFL in many countries over the past decade, this is an area whose time has come for a variety of reasons, including the collapse of the youth labour market (beginning in the 1980s, with continuing repercussions today) and the resulting flight of young people into higher and further education as a means of coping with increasingly insecure employment opportunities. This extension of formal education has accelerated the spread of credentialism, with all of its irrational features, including massive job over-qualification among younger and older workers alike. Meanwhile, governments in various countries are increasing the age of compulsory education to 18 (de facto or de jure), further exacerbating the coercive and alienating features of formal education.  A consequence of these changes is that those who experience problems with the formal education system are now at a greater risk than ever before.

In addition to alleviating the risks for those not favoured by formal approaches, NFL promises to multiply the benefits of formal approaches as people manage the demands of contemporary ‘knowledge’ or ‘information’ society.  Canadian studies find that adults spend about 15 hours per week in forms of ‘explicit’ NFL (this estimate does not include ‘tacit’ or ‘accidental’ learning, which is much more difficult to measure), with the 18-24 age group spending some 23 hours per week.

I assume that everyone in attendance will agree on the untapped potential of NFL, but this event is also set up to prevent it from becoming a preaching-to-the-converted love-in. To take us beyond the pitfalls of groupthink and into action, I propose that the problem be viewed into terms of the following equation: (Who, What, Where, When, Why) plus How = Charter. In other words:

• WHO are we to target in the charter? I assume adults have different needs that would muddy the waters in drawing up a charter, but what upper age do we then specify for defining ‘youth’? In addition, we need to identify which youth segments should be targeted. The answer is perhaps easier with at-risk youth, but what about other youth who are not at risk but do not have the resources that a comprehensive charter might afford them? I have in mind here the ethos behind the Positive Youth Development movement in the US, which states that problem-free does not mean well resourced, so the vast middle group of the youth population is ignored by policy.
• WHAT do we include in the scope of NFL to target in the charter? Do we distinguish between tacit and explicit learning; do we include the so-called ‘soft skills’ associated with human agency, and if so how do we avoid demanding conformity to certain behavioural standards that some young people simply cannot meet because of their developmental, emotional, or cognitive difficulties that are beyond the scope of remedy by a charter?
• WHERE would the NFL identified by the charter take place?  The venues in which youth work currently takes place produce some forms of NFL, but should the venues be expanded to, say, a shadow organization of the formal educational system to ensure that the full benefits of NFL be realized?
• WHEN in a person’s life should NFL be targeted for accreditation or some form of recognition? Given the NEET problem, the 16-19 age period is an obvious target, but what about those in their early 20s, and do we create a slippery slope by extending the age upwards?
• WHY do we need to treat NFL in more formal terms? The failings of the formal educational system identified in my introductory comments addresses this question, especially how extending the age of compulsory education puts some youth at greater risk. Given these persistent failings and the threat of the increasing risk, we need to consider ways in which to treat NFL through a similar lens as formal learning, perhaps by creating an infrastructure that shadows schools and is mandated to develop specific plans, targets, and outcomes (like accreditation), to reduce risks and increase resources among the young in general.
• and HOW do we accomplish such a feat? Can this be done through existing channels, departments, and networks? Or does a shadow organization of the formal educational system need to be established, which fully professionalises youth work and transforms what used to be guidance counselling in secondary schools to an individualised system where all young people have mentors in the same way that all students in formal systems have teachers?

If we can sufficiently solve this complex equation, we should have the basis of a charter. In solving the equation, we need to answer some tough questions, but the world our young citizens are facing is tough too, and we are in a position to make a difference.

Jim Cote is a Sociology Professor at the University of Western Ontario.

Check out the previous entries in the Vision not Division Guest Blog Series:

#4 What’s so special about classrooms? by Dan Sutch, Futurelab

#3 Lessons to Learn, Non-Formal Learning by Catalina Novac, World Bank

#2 ECYC and the recognition of non-forma learning by Annina Hirvonen, ECYC

#1 Catching a wave by Alan Rogers, Consultation Group for Vision not Division

Vision not Division Guest Blog Series Post #4–What’s so special about classrooms? by Dan Sutch

The fourth post in UK Youth’s  guest blog series on non-formal learning in the lead up to our three day forum Vision not Division at St George’s House is by Dan Sutch, Senior Researcher at Futurelab.  Guest bloggers who will be attending the consultation as key delegates will be sharing their views and ideas on our blog in this blog series.   Keep checking back to find all the series’ updates by our guest bloggers as we get closer to developing a vision for non-formal learning for young people in the 21st century at St George’s.

BLOG SERIES POST #4

What’s so special about classrooms?

Depending upon your intonation as you read that question it may have come across as dismissive of the role of classrooms, but actually it is intended with more enthusiasm than that. I’ve been reflecting upon a presentation I gave a few months ago at the ‘Education Unbound’ event in London where I was asked to talk about the role of social software in ‘blurring the boundaries’ of formal and informal learning – whilst considering the place of non-formal learning in the wider educational landscape. The other cause for reflection, of course, is in preparation for discussion about the role, future, and developments in non-formal learning in the Vision not Division event.

I’m concerned not just with formal ‘school’ classrooms however, but about places where activities are organised for specific learning activities to take place. The Scout hut; the community centre; the outdoor education space are all places where groups of learners gather with a learning aim in mind. Of course there are fundamental differences between formal classrooms and those considered non-formal: understanding the relationship between internal and external motivations to learn and recognising where the agency lies for the content and approach to learning are particularly important to consider. Yet it is salient to ask this question across all education sectors.

Indeed the question of what is so special about classrooms demands more of an answer now than ever before. Historically, the classroom was almost the only place where learners could have access the resources to support their learning – indeed bringing large groups of learners together was in part a way of providing them access to scarce resources –text books, reading books, equipment etc. Now however a wide range of resources can now be accessed online: from school owned resources made available through Learning Platforms, to educational resources created and shared widely (from MIT, OU, BBC, and resources like icould) to resources created purposefully for out of school learning; to resources for alternative purposes, but that can be used by learners to find out and discover (youtube, videojug, wikipedia etc).

Historically, the school was one of the only places, other than perhaps Churches, where a trained, professional was available to teach and support learning; now mentors and teachers can be found in supermarkets, accessed from home and found online. The extended school moves school aims and practices into the home; the ‘whole child’ agenda attempts to bring the life and wellbeing of the child into the actions of the school. This blurring of roles can be seen to continue with the possibilities offered by social software, online networks and new ways of organising interest groups. But what does this mean for non-formal learning providers?

As the interest grows in bringing Children’s services together to provide a more coherent offering to students, it is important to recognise that a whole range of non-formal education providers are becoming more recognised as partners for schools. The National Trust offers contextualised, hands-on discovery learning; many museums offer the chance to engage with a range of artefacts and stories; Science centres the chance to explore processes of science, and outdoor sites provide opportunities to develop skills of leadership, enquiry and collaboration. As many readers here will recognise, these sites for learning have developed such approaches to learning over many years, whilst schools are looking for ways to add these approaches to their own offerings. Developments in digital technology afford other approaches to education that are currently being investigated – but such developments provide a particularly interesting opportunity to non-formal learning providers. As questions are being asked of the role of digital technology and how schools should respond, a larger, more important set of questions is being articulated. What is education for and how should it be delivered or accessed?

Futurelab has been leading the Beyond Current Horizons programme for the past two years, in which it has been exploring such questions in the context of socio-technology change, 2025 and beyond. This futures programme has been tasked with exploring the trends affecting and being effected by education in order to investigate a long-term vision for education. A whole range of challenges and opportunities are set out in the huge research base but the executive summary of the final report may provide a place to begin considering the future of all types of classrooms. Similarly, setting the work of non-formal educators within the future scenarios created by the project might challenge us all to think of the specific roles and opportunities for non-formal learning.

Within the current economic context, when budgets are tightened and cuts are looking to be made, surely now is the opportunity to look at how non-formal providers, and indeed services through digital technologies, can be used to share the responsibility for ‘formal’ educational provision.

Could workforce remodelling look not only at ‘in-school’ staff but utilise the expertise of museum educators? Could curricula developments include provision from online networks, and could the partnerships set out in the Government’s recent whitepaper move beyond schools to the non-formal providers?

Of course there is something very special about sitting in an auditorium listening to a world expert talking about their work and insights; there is something very special about discussing a subject of interest with peers facilitated by a person whose role is to help you understand; and there is something very special about being able to access world-class resources online and using them when needed. And of course there is something very special about a really good classroom experience. But they all have different reasons for being special, and offer something distinct from one another.

The classroom is a complex place: it brings together a group of people with a professionally trained expert in a site dedicated to teaching and learning; it provides access to resources that often are created to help learn about particular subjects or issues. But what is so special about them? What is particularly special about non-formal learning spaces and activities? Vision not Division will begin to answer some of these questions, but for all involved in non-formal learning, perhaps now is a good time to begin to answer those questions as we look to develop richer learning experiences across settings and across the lifecourse.

Dan Sutch, Senior Researcher, Futurelab

Check out the previous entries in the Vision not Division Guest Blog Series:

#3 Lessons to Learn, Non-Formal Learning by Catalina Novac, World Bank

#2 ECYC and the recognition of non-forma learning by Annina Hirvonen, ECYC

#1 Catching a wave by Alan Rogers, Consultation Group for Vision not Division

Make sure children aren’t shut out from the Equality Bill: Email your MP and complete our survey

UK Youth is a part of Young Equals, a coalition of charities, children and young people who are campaigning to stop age discrimination.

Tell your MP that under-18s should not be excluded form age discrimination protection in the Equality Bill.  Your email will help raise awareness of age discrimination against children and young people and could make a real difference as these issues are debated in Parliament. 

Email your MP here.

Take part in the Young Equals survey:  Have you been treated unfairly because of your age?

Young Equals is gathering evidence of harmful age discrimination against under-18s and wants to hear about your experiences.  If you are 18+ and would like to contribute you can answer in relation to your experiences as a child, or in relation to other people’s experiences as a child (e.g your own children).  We will use this information to help change the law and get legal protection from age discrimination for children.

Take part here.

Vision Not Division Guest Blog Series Post #3–Lessons to learn, Non-formal Learning by Catalina Novac

The third post in UK Youth’s  guest blog series on non-formal learning in the lead up to our three day forum Vision not Division at St George’s House is by Catalina Novac at the World Bank.  Guest bloggers who will be attending the consultation as key delegates will be sharing their views and ideas on our blog in this blog series.   Keep checking back to find all the series’ updates by our guest bloggers as we get closer to developing a vision for non-formal learning for young people in the 21st century at St George’s.

BLOG SERIES POST #3

Lessons to learn, N0n-Formal Learning; The role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in young people’s well-being

A 2008 World Bank study on non-formal learning defines non-formal education and learning (NFL) as a social learning process that focuses on the learner engaged in activities outside of the formal education system. NFL is by definition voluntary and intentional, and covers a wide variety of learning fields: youth work, youth clubs, sports associations, voluntary service, and many other activities, which organize learning experiences: “NFL is also an integral part of a lifelong learning as it helps ensure that young people and adults acquire and maintain the skills and competences needed to adapt to a continuously changing environment” (World Bank, 2008).

NFL activities provide learning, challenge and enjoyment, supporting youth personal growth and self –development, building trusting relationships (Bamfield, 2007), therefore, social capital.

A number of European Commission reports indicate that several European countries experience high rates of early school leaving, a phenomenon which creates not only a long-term economic problem for the youth and the society as a whole, but an increase in health risks, unemployment, and youth passivity.

NFL may have beneficial outcomes for early school leavers as it provides complementary skills to formal education setting as well as a bridge to return to formal education.  High level of unemployment among the youth is a raising problem for Europe.  Transition to work after completing only a few years of education leads to strong risks of unemployment.  NFL may be able to facilitate this transition from school to work through activities and practices that help young people master skills and competencies needed for future jobs.

Young people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds encounter barriers in their attempt (if any attempt) to access the labor market or higher education.  There is a need for policies to support equality in education and availability of all forms of learning to all youth, including NFL, which guarantees to contribute considerably to school to work transition.

Going to school is a structural process that involves obtaining grades, and being disciplined and able to follow certain rules.  Although school provides the academic control indispensable for a career, it may not offer all the necessary background to succeed in life (such as life skills, practical skills, etc).

Young people need to have a healthy sense of well-being in order to operate successfully in school and outside school.  Could NFL support a happy well-being in youth?  It is imperative that it does.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985), a life-span developmental theory provides answers to the question of youth healthy sense of well-being supported by learning outside the classroom (NFL).  SDT is an organismic personality development and motivational theory that considers environments that either support or thwart a person’s basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness). According to Deci & Ryan:

SDT is a macro-theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within social contexts. The theory focuses on the degree to which human behaviors are volitional or self-determined – that is, the degree to which people endorse their actions at the highest level of reflection and engage in the actions with a full sense of choice. (Deci & Ryan, 1985)

With the SDT, the growth for healthy development and well-being is facilitated by satisfaction of three psychological needs: autonomy, relatedness, and competence. These needs are fundamental for health and well-being.  According to the SDT theory, if these three needs are fulfilled on an ongoing basis, individuals will function effectively and develop in a healthy way.  If these needs are not fulfilled, individuals will suffer from a lack of well-being and their psychological health will be impeded. Also, according to the SDT, the climates that support satisfaction of these needs facilitate psychological well-being. (Deci et al., 2000)

According to Ryan (1995), intrinsic motivation, internalization, and emotional integration are developmental processes supported by conditions that fulfill psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness; they are hampered by environments that discourage them.

The SDT deals with growth and well-being and at the same time with the undermining effects of need thwarting environments. The SDT suggests possible ways to reduce human alienation (Ryan & Deci, 2000). According to Ryan & Deci, the theory focus is on life-concerns such as fear, anger, anxiety, and all dissatisfactions related to the lack of fulfillment of central psychological needs.

Applying SDT will help us explore possible ways of offering NFL activities that support young people’s competence, autonomy and relatedness.  Participating in the NFL activities also sustains young people’s motivation to take part in these NFL activities and become active participants in the society as a whole.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) argues that the quality of social contexts influences the motivation, performance, and well-being of individuals who operate within them. The theory uses the concept of autonomy versus control to characterize the quality of social environments. It argues that autonomy-supportive social contexts are likely to facilitate self-determined motivation, healthy development, and optimal functioning. (Ryan & Deci, 2000)  Therefore, creating autonomy supporting environments is necessary for sustaining youth development through NFL.

Autonomy, competence and relatedness are indispensable nutrients for preserving the well-being and the psychological growth of a young person.

A NFL study in Moldova (World Bank, 2008) shows that young people’s experiences from formal schooling are more likely to be negative, as a result of a controlling environment, and of unequal treatment in the classroom.  For instance, the more privileged students (such as the mayor’s child) sit in the front row, and the disadvantaged sit in the back, as a young Roma stated conveying her own experience.  A sense of hopelessness and failure embodied by the reminiscences of the Soviet formal educational system, abusive by nature, also contributes to the negative experiences of formal school in Moldova.  The instructor has an authoritative role. This authoritarian formal school inhibits students (as reported by most of the Moldovan youth) and doesn’t open the opportunity for dialogue.  The NFL offered by NGOs, new in Moldova, opens youth dialogue and opportunities of empowerment, making Moldovan youth active participants in their communities and supporting their right to freedom of democratic expression.  The autonomy need is therefore fulfilled; NFL also develops young people’s capabilities as decision-making agents.

The psychological need of competence can also be fulfilled in young NFL participants, since NFL enhances communication skills, freedom of speech and critical thinking, promotes active citizenship, and teaches practical and life skills.  The 2008 World Bank report quoted above indicates that participation in NFL in Moldova helps young people develop knowledge and abilities and motivates the youth to apply these skills in formal school and future careers.  Young people stated that through the NFL activities they developed wider skills, knowledge and understanding that equip them well for the worlds of education and work: “Through the NGOs activities I have gained knowledge and abilities that are crucial for my future; no one gave me such educational information before; and now I understand that I have the ability to inform and educate others”, reported Iulia from Cahul. Most youth reports show that young people’s knowledge and abilities significantly improved due to NFL, and they succeeded getting a job and a career due to active participation in NFL.  Currently some of them volunteer as NFL peer leaders and educators.  Their need of competence is fulfilled; in addition, they use their aptitudes to educate others.

The third psychological need, relatedness, is satisfied through NFL participation as well.  NFL represents a great opportunity for the young people to safeguard and develop social capital (social relationships) and increase social cohesion.

Social capital has a focus on trust and social relationships that produce benefits. Social networks, based on people who trust and assist each other, is a powerful asset in developing countries such Moldova, where lack of material resources, such as computer, radio, TV makes youth rely on their own friends for important resources and information flow.  Building social capital through NFL is most important for disadvantaged young people (such as people with disabilities, minorities, and the low social strata) who may not be able to connect with peers their age otherwise; NFL activities bring them together, and provide the opportunity to express themselves without making distinctions based on race, ethnicity, disability, social background, etc. NFL also contributes to social cohesion, strengthening relationships among young people from different ethnicities.  Although there is a clear division between Moldovans and Russians, and strong discrimination against Roma, reports from Moldovan youth indicate that NFL keeps these groups together, helping them peacefully embrace their different cultures and traditions.

Our duty as educators or policy makers is to create an environment that supports young people’s motivation to actively participate in the NFL, design new forms of NFL and strengthen the existent ones to enhance youth opportunities of active participation in NFL.

Catalina Novac, World Bank

References

Bamfield L. (2007). The Contribution of Non-Formal Learning to Young People’s Life Changes. A Fabian Society Report for the National Youth Agency

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. In S. Fiske (Ed), Annual review of psychology (pp. 141-166). Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews, Inc.

La Guardia, J. G., Ryan, R. M., Couchman, C. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Within-person variation in security of attachment: A self-determination theory perspective on attachment, need fulfillment, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 367-384.

Reis, H. T, Sheldon, K. M., Gable, S. L., Roscoe, J., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Daily well-being: The role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 419-435.

World Bank (2009). Assessment on the Contribution of Non-formal Learning to Youth Skills and Competencies (under print)

The Source–October Edition

If you haven’t read this month’s edition of The Source, check it out on our website. The Source is UK Youth’s online resource packed with information, features, updates and more. This month’s edition focuses on alcohol awareness and features UK Youth’s Unheard Voices–young people having their say.  If you would like to sign up for The Source register here.