a competence based approachto empower young jobseekers: tools and practices from jes ngo

A competence based approachto empower young jobseekers: tools and practices from

JES NGOYouth employment seminar Tallinn - 19/10/2010

Youth employment seminar - Tallinn JES stadslabo - 2

Who is JES?

•Urban city laboratory

•Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels

•Create chances for young people living in those

cities for:- Creative and meaningful free time activities

- Employment and training

- Mental and physical space

- Social participation

- Participation in policy making

•On the crossroad of youth work, training and

labour market integration


The City of Antwerp

� Almost 500.000 inhabitants

� Population trends: growing,

rejuvenating & diversifying

� Nine districts

� Most important economic

sectors:� Industry

� Port

� Distribution


City of Antwerp: facts and figuresFlanders Antwerp District Antwerp

District Deurne

District Borgerhout

Foreign nationality 6% 16,7% 24,4% 13% 21,4%

Foreign origins / 30, 7% 41,8% 25,8% 44,5%

School delay in secondary school

/ 51,5% 56,9% 53,0% 62,3%

Unemployment rate 7,1% 14,6% / / /

Unemployment pressureBelgian nationality

/ 9,6% 12,4% 8,8% 12,3%

Unemployment pressure non-EU

/ 19,2% 19,2% 20,0% 20,6%

Unemployment pressure - 25

/ 15,4% 16,4% 16,2% 20,7%


Why are young people unemployed?

� School dropout! → Lack of qualifications, low-skilled

– Realistic vision on their future?

– Aspirations?

– Disillusion, low self esteem, lack of aspirations due to experience of failure, no sense of agency

– Wellbeing (psychological, physical, material, …)?

� The quality of the social network?

� Take advantage of existing institutions and services?

– Knowledge on codes, institutions, rights and duties in society?

– Accessibility of institutions (in the field of welfare, education, employment, free time, childcare, mobility, …)?

– Cooperation and cohesion between institutions in different fields?


Unemployed population by origin and level of

education


How it all began: informal learning and RAC

� Objective: reduce the negative consequences of

school dropout by reinforcing the recognition of

informal learning / acquired competences (RAC)

� 2004:� Adoption of RAC in youth work as one of the political priorities for the City of Antwerp

� Steering committee on RAC


How it all began...� 2006-2007: ESF-projects:

� WACKER

� City of Antwerp, organisations

for youth work, education,

labour market reintegration

� Common competence

framework

� Methods for competence

identification

� C-STICK

� JES vzw

� Digital portfolio

� Competence framework

� Methods for competence

identification and assessment


How it all began....� 2005-2009: ERDF-projects:

- YCC Kronenburg (Deurne): social economy project

» Infrastructure for youth work

» Workplace for repairing and leasing bikes

» Competence based approach

- YCC in 'het Kiel'

» Renovation of an old school ball room

» Organization of (international) concerts and parties

Youth employment seminar - TallinnJES stadslabo -10

How it all began...

� 2008: YCC De Branderij (Borgerhout)- Existing Youth Centre

- Youth culture, city adventure and multimedia workshops, training for youth workers and youth leaders, local youth work activities

- Labour market reintegration

- Training on key competences

- Competence based approach (C-Stick, WACKER)


YCCs: concept

meets young people where they are

Networking

RAC

WAC

Local youth work

Training for youth work volunteers

Cultural youth work activities


YCCs: mission

� Mission� Accessible and welcoming centres

� Maximal opportunities and counselling for development towards adulthood

� Attractive to youngsters

� Integrated and customized counselling and activities

� Needs and lifestyle of youngsters are central

� Integrated: youth work, employment and education

� Competence identification, development, APL

� Target group: 16-25 aged, weak socio-economic or socio-cultural

position

� Illustration: see movie 'Shoot groot succes'


YCCs: employees

� RAC-counsellors: competence based approach in free

time activities

� WAC-counsellors� Crisis and rising youth unemployment

� Mission:

� stepping stone between street and work

� Job application and choice of study

� Competence based approach

� Close cooperation with VDAB and Studiewijzer


WAC-counselling: objectives

� Target: 120 youngsters

� Objectives: improving educational and labour market

situation

� Method:� Competence based

� Outreaching

� Empowering

� No part of formal institutions� Stepping stone

� Confidential person


WAC-counsellor


WAC-counselling: activities

� Target group:� School dropouts + 16

� Disoriented + 16

� Unqualified unemployed 18-25

� Low-skilled unemployed 18-25

� Activities� Support in finding a job

� Orientation, counselling and informal training

� Support in finding an appropriate school

� Orientation and counselling on study choice


C-Stick

� Help young people to:� Become acquainted with terminology

� Identify their own competences and be able to talk about them

� Translate this in a (digital) personal development plan

� Translate this easily into a

customized CV


Digital portfolio

•A digital portfolio (on a USB flash drive)

- Easy to handle for young people

- Possibility to update

- Possibility to integrate in other web-applications like ,

the website of the Flemish employment service,

vacature.com,…


C-STICK’s: digitaal portfolio


Lessons learnt

� WAC-counselling focuses on the most important

bottlenecks that young people face: education and

employment

� Outreaching approach works!

� BUT� Difficulties to find the right places and gain trust -->

location of the youth centre and integration into the local neighbourhood

� Young people aren't present during office hours

� Peer pressure

� Male & Moroccan origin


Lessons learnt

� Partnerships --> � Know and respect each others reference frameworks

� Common mission

� Roles and responsibilities

� 'Apprenticeships'

� Profile of a WAC-counsellor ≠ 'common' youth worker� Training and coaching

� 'Phase-model' for counselling


Future challenges

� Broaden up to girls and other ethnic minorities– Research on their free time activities

– Partnerships

– Activities only for girls

� Partnerships with schools

� Create possibilities for 'real' APL


Conclusions: the role of youth work

� It’s a very inspiring and motivating perspective to start

from strengths instead of weaknesses and give

youngsters the freedom and responsibility to

experiment and to discover

� Youth work = fun. We need to find methods that fit with

this

� Youth work = diverse. We need to find methods that fit

with different target groups

� This implies a changing role for youth workers We need

to prepare our youth workers for this.

� Use common competence framework or initiate a

dialogue with other sectors in order to create

opportunities for formal recognition!


Conclusions: role of youth work

� Crucial � → relationship between young people and youth worker:

trust, belief in possibilities, equality

� → Integrated, competence based, outreaching approach

� Identification of acquired competences� → orientation, alternative learning paths

� Narrow the gap between young people and

institutions� “young people tend to travel trough relationships rather than trough institutions”

� Empowerment� Start from the ability, possibilities of people

� Young people and institutions have to do efforts

� Participation →meaningfulness


Contact details:

JES vzw

Marjan Van de maele

+32 2 411 68 83

[email protected]

www.jes.be

www.c-sticks.be

Questions and discussion

a competence based approachto empower young jobseekers: tools and practices from jes ngo

Documents

youth work workplace

organisationsfor youth

crossroad of youth work

wacker city of antwerp

school delay

secondary school

accessibility of institutions

unemployment rate