Unlearn

In our class reading Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work [Chapter 1] (Bianca Baldridge), the author states "...youth work in Black spaces has been focused on literacy and learning in ways that will help students unlearn false histories taught in school...". What stood out to me were the final words of "unlearn false histories" which reminded me of this video I watched during a teacher orientation. Tell me what you think!

Understanding YDEV

Know	Learned
Although I have been a youth worker for many years (whether I knew it or not) one thing for sure was that Youth Work is important. These articles reinforced that Youth work is important for the healthy development of young people.  Since it is an important aspect of Youth it should be noted that Youth workers are also an asset to their communities.  Youth Development is about empowering youth and working alongside of them, making sure that their voice is valued.	These articles were great in helping me learn the origins of Youth Development. I have never sat down and thought about where the term came from and how it have evolved over the years. I was also intrigued to learn about the Deficit approach. Looking back at past programs I have worked with or attended as a student it is clear which programs were aimed towards  the “high risk” communities. “High Risk”, “At Risk”, “Low Income” have always been phrases that have bothered me because for a student to see they are recruited for a program based on these categories  sets up a stigma. The chart below from one of the readings was the most impactful. Knowing that certain populations are using the deficit approach to recruit for programs is very different than seeing it on paper. This chart showed the true issues of this approach by neglecting extracurriculars from “high risk” communities and instead trying to “fix” a single targeted  stereotype of the community.
More
One thing  I want to learn more about it the deficit language and how organizations use the language and/ or are changing it to fit the Youth Development approach.  I believe that it is important to know what the history of youth work is in order to take it into the future.