A Practice Framework for Ultimate Youth Workers In the field of youth work, where the challenges are as diverse as the young people themselves, the difference between good youth workers and Ultimate Youth Workers is abundantly clear. What makes an Ultimate Youth Worker? To navigate this intricate landscape successfully, youth work practitioners need more than just skills and experience – they require a practice framework for Ultimate Youth Workers. A framework that embodies much more than is taught in a Certificate IV or covered in a code of ethics. In this article, we explore the three pil ..read more

In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving world, the role of a youth worker is more vital than ever. These dedicated professionals play a crucial role in empowering young people, supporting their development, and guiding them towards a bright future. Recognising the need for high quality continuous growth and professional development opportunities, the team at Ultimate Youth Worker, is thrilled to announce the launch of our online professional development platform. This innovative initiative aims to equip youth workers of all levels with the necessary skills, knowledge, and resources to excel ..read more

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast, “Thinking Critically About Youth Work: Part Two”, Aaron continues to speak with Dr. Brian Belton about the need for youth workers to be critically reflective about who we are as professionals. Taking our conversation up to the next level we speak about the need for supervision to help youth workers become more critically reflective. We talk about why we need this for the benefit of the profession and for the young people we support. Thinking Critically About Youth Work: Part 2 Brian Belton (FB: @Dr. Brian Belton LI: @Brian Belton ..read more

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast, “Thinking Critically About Youth Work: Part One”, Aaron speaks with Dr. Brian Belton about the need for youth workers to be critically reflective about who we are as professionals. Over the years we have had some really great deep web chats with Brian, but this is the first face-to-face!! I mean he lives in the UK and Aaron is here in Australia! Critically thinking about youth work is something that both Brian and Aaron are very passionate about and we hope these two podcast sessions help you to re-think what you thought you knew abou ..read more

Work with the Young Person as the Focus I was recently looking at the Certificate IV in Youth Work training package and wondering the age old question of what makes how youth workers engage with young people different. Different from social workers, teachers, student welfare professionals, mental health workers and all the other professions and para-professions that work with young people. It is an age old question in youth work. What do we do? How is this different from everyone else. In fact it is probably the foremost question of our professionalisation debate. The sad fact of the m ..read more

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast, “Listen to Engage”, Aaron speaks to us about the need for youth workers to listen respectfully to their young people. One of the keys to developing respectful engagement with our young people is the skill of listening to gain understanding of how they view their experiences. Listen to Engage We have two ears and one mouth, so the proverb goes, so listen twice as much as you speak. As youth workers we engage in a relational profession. We speak, we listen, we engage. Unfortunately, we can sometimes forget this. We listen to inform our you ..read more

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast “Supervision” Aaron speaks to us about the need for youth workers to have good professional supervision. As an industry that claims professional status it is ludicrous that mot of our members do not receive a minimum of monthly professional supervision.. Supervision In, the AYAC National Youth Work Snapshot 2013, a survey of youth workers showed that 8.4% of surveyed youth workers had never had a supervision session and around 51.7% receive it less than once every three months. As an industry that claims professional status this is a ..read more

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast “Why research must inform your practice” Aaron speaks to us about the need to use evidence based practice in our youth work. We look at the need for professionals to have a theory base in their industry which informs the way they practice. Why research must inform your practice All too often youth workers get tarnished with the reputation of the slackers in the wider human services sector. We just drink coffee and play pool with young people right? Well the sad fact is there are a lot of people who call themselves youth workers out there ..read more

In todays podcast “Planning your year ahead” Aaron helps us to think about the areas we need to plan for our best year in 2021. We look at our personal and professional lives and set about planning eight areas to develop the best possible start to the year. Planning for your year ahead One of the most important steps we can take for our own development and to be able to provide the best possible service to our young people is to have a clear plan for our year ahead. Most people go through life hoping things will happen for them. They wing it and then they wonder why their dreams never come t ..read more

In todays podcast “2021 Resolutions” Aaron muses on the future of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast and all the other goodies that the team are putting together over the next year. We are so excited to see what this year has to unfold. After last year and the huge trial that 2020 was for so many people we believe that 2021 is going to be an awesome year in the youth sector and we hope specifically for the Ultimate Youth Worker tribe that this will be a year of strengthening for you. Ultimate Youth Worker is now a subsidiary of Ultimate Services Australia PTY LTD. This gives us the financial s ..read more