Youth and Education Working Group (RAN Y&E)

The connection between the field of education and youth work is invaluable. Children thrive better in a cohesive pedagogical and educational climate. Teachers and youth workers play a big role in this environment, and collaborate with all kinds of people and organisations in neighbourhoods that play a role in the upbringing of youth. No uniformity, but a coherent pedagogical approach aimed at strengthening democratic citizenship among young people.

Schools have the objective to provide a safe and respectful environment for their students and function as a lab for democracy. One of their central roles is to ensure all students experience democracy and therefore understand democratic and social values to form their identity and prepare them for adulthood and a fully-fledged citizenship. Schools offer a safe environment where emotions and opinions can be dealt with, but they are also a place where extreme opinions can be shared and expressed/voiced. This can be disrupting or even threatening and, at times, very challenging for professionals.

Similarly, youth workers are in regular contact with youth in the streets, at youth centres or online. They know what young people struggle with, and like teachers, they play a role in facilitating discussions on controversial topics in a productive and meaningful manner. They also support youth in building life skills, develop healthy relationships, build resilience, develop critical thinking skills and guide them in making the right decisions. Youth workers form the connection between school and life outside of school.

The working group is set up to connect these professions and their experiences, which combined, can play an invaluable role in the prevention of extremism and radicalisation. It will focus on the need to better equip teachers and youth workers to support them in their role in preventing radicalisation and on strengthening the cooperation between the two sectors. The aim is to raise awareness of the topic as well as empower and build capacities for teachers and youth workers to address radicalisation. This working group will also give young people the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with these first-line practitioners.

Videos

RAN Policy and Practice (Warsaw): Building resilience among young children

Radicalisation makes victims of the most vulnerable, and there are few more vulnerable than young children. Those with limited parental guidance, suffering from discrimination or exclusion, with mental health issues – sometimes linked to trauma – or victims of abuse are the most vulnerable of all.

Children taken to Syria or Iraq by their parents and now returning to Europe, and non-European children forcibly displaced by Daesh and arriving in Europe, are likely to have many of these problems. They may have also witnessed atrocities, lost family, perhaps seen their parents imprisoned, and gone through the trauma of resettlement. Building up their resilience gives these children a chance.

RAN brought together policy-makers and practitioners in Warsaw on 4 July 2018 to find solutions to these challenges.

Holding difficult conversations: the classroom

When tackling radicalisation and extremism, first-line practitioners sometimes need to have very difficult conversations.

What should you say in a challenging situation?
What should you not say?
Which techniques may help? What do practitioners from the RAN network recommend?

Webinar

RAN Webinar on Post-COVID narratives that polarise

The aim of this webinar was to equip participants with tools and methods to deal with polarising narratives among children and teenagers they work with.

Papers

After RAN activities and Working Group meetings, an ex-post paper highlights lessons learned, insights and follow-up initiatives.

Contact

Working Group leaders:

Jean-Philippe Fons, France
Dennis de Vries, Netherlands

For the Working Group contact points, please see the contacts page