Sharing and learning

Ensuring voices are heard

When it comes to the provision and delivery of social services in the community, the voices of young people are often lost. Better methods of involving young people in the education and training of both current and future social work practitioners is needed to ensure that these professionals are able to respond to the specific needs of young people and engage with their perspectives in a meaningful and effective way.

A new project run by Canterbury Christ Church University is exploring how the use of social media by young people can enable the sharing of experiences and contribute to the knowledge and understanding of social work practitioners at a local, national and even international level.

Unique collaborative resource
Supported by Nominet Trust, the project will review many different forms of social media – social networks, blogs, video conferencing, etc – to identify expressed views and experiences of young people. Young people will also be physically involved in the research initiative from start to finish to ensure their voices are heard.

It is hoped that the increased contribution of young people’s needs and opinions to social work knowledge will lead to greater understanding among professional service providers, as well as influencing practice affecting their everyday experience.