Young people and ICD

Young people are either ‘citizens in waiting’ or ‘new citizens’ and are therefore key future agents for positive change.

Many young people globally are engaged or have an opinion on the key local, national and international concerns of the day. They also are the most likely section of any community to have interactions with diversity - either through school, social interaction or networking via the web, or by being influenced by the media and popular culture. They therefore have the greatest potential to be multipliers in society of the human rights agenda and sustained intercultural dialogue.

Studies show that two things young people want the most are:

• A clear identity
• A way to make an impact.

BC’s increasing focus is to encourage young people to act locally, by offering opportunities to become involved in the activities of local communities so as to improve their local consciousness and identification. Through participation and dialogue young people learn to challenge and change attitudes, to become more aware of public affairs and capable of thinking of possible ways of having an impact at the local and the global level.

Some young people, through their desire to explore their identity, can be susceptible to extremist influences. Therefore intercultural dialogue is a powerful tool in advancing confidence, skills, support and opportunities to reject exclusive ideologies and to take part in public life as active citizens.

Young people will want to engage in intercultural dialogue for two main reasons:

• Personal development (improvement of language skills)
• Increasing global literacy

The British Council’s work is heavily focussed on young people, and includes the Teaching of English, Connecting Classrooms, Youth Exchanges, Living Together, Global Exchange and Shared Futures to name but a few.

One of the most successful and largest BC ICD programmes working with young people is Connecting Classrooms. The project aims to directly engage with 30,000 schools and two million young people worldwide by 2013, and many thousands more through its online offer.

Connecting Classrooms builds lasting partnerships between schools in the UK and around the world. Through these partnerships, the programme develops trust and understanding between young people in different societies, creating a safer and more connected world for the future. By introducing an international dimension to their learning, the programme develops young people as global citizens – equipping them with the skills and cultural understanding they need to live and work in our global society.

All approaches to working with young people on this agenda should strive for active intercultural dialogue on an equal basis. Below are some ‘Dos and Don’ts’ in working with young people that should be taken into consideration before ICD projects are started. For more general pointers on ICD projects please go to the good practice section:

Do

• Discuss relevant issues and be results-orientated. Young people are more likely to get involved in action-orientated activities rather than talking shops.
• Reduce the rhetoric.
• Reinforce empowerment and ownership of participants in all aspects of the project.
• Ensure the inclusion of young people with fewer life opportunities.
• Use language and ideas that build on young peoples’ aspirations and that are central to their lives and to the lives of families and friends.
• Raise awareness of individual and shared historical experiences and cultural practices.
• Empower young people to act on what they see as wrong, and to work with others to make it better.
• Give young people the opportunity to develop their attitudes and beliefs about the wider world, to work with others from different backgrounds, and break down barriers between them.
• Raise young people’s voices, so that the perspective of young people is heard more by decision makers and society.
• Build the capacity of young people to represent themselves and others.
• Support young people to collectively take action on issues of concern to them, and raise young people’s voices on these issues further up the public and political agenda locally and internationally.
• Use alternative approaches to formal evaluation questions to monitor impact, such as life journals, expression through drama, storytelling, arts and media.
• Use information technology creatively, but moderated, to engage and sustain dialogue with young people.
• Create networks that will support young people along their change journey and enable opportunities for learning to be shared with family, friends, local communities and society as a whole.

Don’t 

• Use jargon.
• Rely heavily on formal presentations such as PowerPoint to encourage active interaction.
• Raise expectations of ability to make changes without taking into account the local political and cultural environment.
• Engage young people in a project without ensuring there is full and ongoing support after the project ends, such as by creating virtual dialogue, linking to mentors, etc.
• Assume young people are comfortable with diversity. It is important to ensure issues of stereotypes and prejudices are challenged at the start and throughout the dialogue process.
• Simply tell young people their attitudes or behaviours are wrong without providing the opportunity for young people to research and explore issues and to then make self-informed choices.

 

SALTO resources centre:
www.salto-youth.net/rc/