Genetik: a part-time student’s view
What’s life like on the part-time Genetik Youth Work course (from September 2010, relaunched as Genetik Elements)? Current student Bethan, 23, talks about her experiences of the course.
‘I love working with the young people in my church, and I wanted to learn how to help them. A while ago, I did a 5-month training course at Genetik, where I learnt about working with young people in different settings, and planned lessons to use in a school. Once I’d finished, I moved back home and carried on working with my church youth group.
‘Although I’d completed the course, I felt that I wanted to get some further training. By this time, I was working at The Message as an intern, where I heard about the Youth Work course.’
The course in Youth Work, which has been accredited by the National Open College Network, is a VRQ (Vocationally Recognised Qualification) Level 3 and provides a valuable foundation to a Youth Work degree.
‘You only need to come in for one day a month (or two evenings a month), but you have to do assignments, and write down how many hours you work with young people. It’s quite hard work when you have got a full-time job and are doing youth work, to have a life and do the assignments on top of it all, but I love it. It’s amazing! You need to be good at time management, which is not one of my greatest skills, but you get better at it as you go.
‘One of the things I like about the course is that Jon, one of the course leaders, is really helpful. He’s happy to help you with your work and chat to you if you’re finding something difficult. The course is so accessible to everyone, for whatever kind of youth work you’re doing. We’re all from different walks of life: there’s an 18 year-old and a 60 year-old in the same class!’
The course leaders use a combination of taught sessions, group work, discussions, assignments, observations and a ‘Learning Log’.
‘We do group work and encourage each other, which is great because if you’ve got a difficult situation in your youth group and you don’t know how to resolve it, there is generally someone else who has more experience, so they can help you with it.
‘We look at six different areas, including the core values of youth work, facilitating learning and development, and building and sustaining relationships.’
‘The assignments focus a lot on personal reflection and making sure you’re not putting your values on other people, but empowering them to develop their own.
‘I’m really enjoying doing the Learning Logs. Basically, you’ll have a youth session or a situation where you’re working with young people, and then you write up what happened, what you learned and anything you may have struggled with. Sometimes, if things go wrong in my youth group, I’m like ‘Ok, I’ve got a Learning Log here!’ It’s an opportunity to look at what you’re doing, and seeing what you can do better.’
Everyone on the course is supported by a mentor and line manager, who is based in your placement setting.
‘Everyone on the course is already working with young people somewhere. The purpose of the course is to train and equip you to meet the needs of those young people, and to give you support as you do it. There may be a new law coming in that means everyone who works with young people needs to be qualified. You can’t really do the course unless you’ve got a placement, but I’m sure The Message would help people find one if they needed help.’