This post follows on from ‘It’s all been done before’ and poses a powerful question to youth workers.
I find youth workers behave in one of two ways – generally. They either copy things from others (good ideas that they think they can replicate in their own youth work setting) or, they create their own new ideas. You either surround yourself with resource books, or unleash your creative side.
There is, of course, a sliding scale of originality and imitation. We all take some inspiration from others, making the necessary changes to an idea to make it fit our setting. We must allow experience to influence our own practice – it’s how we learn. However, I feel I know the point at which I am either simply imitating something because it saves me time in preparation or whether I’m taking an idea, and transforming it into something new. Imitation is time saving, but kills creativity. The youth worker can get lazy if poorly time-managed. Never having the time to ‘innovate’ but only to ‘imitate’.
The last-minute youth worker has no other choice but to run to a book that offers everything on a plate, or to maybe copy something he/she has done before. The one that values creativity must allow time for it to flourish. When we engage in innovative youth work, we hold more conviction in our practice and are able to motivate people more easily. We deliver with a passion and enthusiasm that is never found in imitative youth work. We use ourselves as a resource – we connect and relate genuinely.
Imitative youth work tends to deliver and sit back to wait for the results. It is detached from self (youth worker) and has engaged less in the creative process so doesn’t own the outcome as much.
I value innovative youth work so much and find it hard to sympathize with the resource-based, creatively dead delivery I sometimes see. If you must use resource / ideas books – promise yourself you won’t copy someone else’s ideas. Wake up your creative side and mix those ideas up until they become your own.
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