Community Learning Development Resource 602 – 04
ORGANISATIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR WORK WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS AND INTER-AGENCY CO-WORKING
SUMMARY
A set of principles to fundamentally shape and drive the thinking and practice within an organisation, where interaction with people as clients is a core element of the work. How does this set of principles stand-up as value set – are any transferable into the community development work arena?
THE CONNEXIONS STRATEGY
The Government Connexions Strategy training materials, in 2001, identified eight fundamental principles, which informed and underpinned the work of Connexions Personal Advisers
These Connexions principles were:
- Raising aspirations – setting high expectations of every individual
- Meeting individual need – and overcoming barriers to learning
- Taking account of the views of young people – individually and collectively, as the service is developed and operated locally
- Inclusion – keeping young people in mainstream education and preventing them from moving to the margins of their community
- Partnership – agencies collaborating to achieve more for young people, parents and communities than is achieved by agencies working in isolation
- Community involvement and neighbourhood renewal – through the involvement of community mentors and through personal advisors brokering access to welfare, health, arts, sports and guidance networks
- Extending opportunity and equality of opportunity – raising participation and achievement levels for all young people, influencing the availability, suitability and quality of provision and raising awareness of opportunities
- Evidence based practice – ensuring that new interventions are based on rigorous research and evaluation into ‘what works’
PROMPT FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION
Do these Connexions Service principles contribute to informing and modelling the development of learning principles for community learning, community development and regeneration thinking and practice?