Who are the innovators?

Who are the innovators in youth work contexts? Is it the worker, the young person or both? Where does the concept of innovation fit and how is this encouraged/discouraged etc?

Youth workers are often quite autonomous in relation to decisions about how to engage young people although with the push towards targetted work, this might become less easy.

In relation to using digital media, where are the innovators around participation and inclusion. Where are the examples? Who is doing this? It's not just about whether young people can send emails or go on Facebook. It's about critical consumption. Where is the innovation around this?

Reflecting on reflection...

As a youth worker, I consider myself to be a reflective practitioner. Used to reflecting on my practice, whether face-to-face work, training or coaching, mulling over what has happened and what it means is part of the professional culture. Don't think I could do it any other way really.

However, thinking about where it comes from in terms of whether it's from an academic or professional  perspective or perhaps something that's a bit of both. I think that it could be just simply being able to ask the question 'why' or 'how' in relation to things that happen: the ability to be able to investigate further, check out...

The rewrite process that I've just done enabled me to not only to reflect at a distance on  what I'd written, but also to reflect again and further refine my question. Reflecting last night on how I've processed the feedback that I'd received and how I'd processed this, was useful. It's got to be about learning, about being interested in what the feedback means, a curiousity about my own learning in relation to the perspectives of others. Otherwise, you'd go under!