Practise what you teach

The importance of giving young people a say in casework has received much attention in recent years. Little attention, however, has been given to the question of how to educate youth workers as a way of ensuring young people's involvement in such professional practices. This paper reports on a model for preparing youth workers for participatory casework practice. It is a curriculum grounded in a collaborative-based pedagogy. Such educative frameworks that invite student's participation align with effective theories and models on youth participation. Educators interested in developing youth work students' capacities to engage in direct practice that encourages young people's involvement in decision making need to 'practise what they teach' and teach in ways that encourage students' active participation. The teaching and learning activities engage students with rationales of youth participation and what we know about young people being given a say in casework. The possible influence of personal experiences and broader social and economic arrangements are explored. And a scenario-based activity invites students to assess the implications of current knowledge, biography and context, to identify challenges and opportunities for practice.