Intellectual Output 1 (Comparative Analysis)
This study aimed to analyse the interpretation of European youth policy from the perspective of partner countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Poland).The assumptions of Positive Youth Development (PYD) and the methodology of integrative theology were adopted as the theoretical level. The main goal of the study was to understand how these assumptions are taken into account in the development, implementation and evaluation of youth policy and youth work – perceived as a field of knowledge and practical activity in the field of educating future youth workers. The study content relates to the following issues in relation to youth: wellbeing, welfare and poverty, education and training, employment and enterpreneuship, labor market situation, family relations, housing and environment, health and risk behavior. The point of reference was statistical data and qualitative research from the five years preceding the start of the project (2015-2019).
Intellectual Output 2 (Course Module)
The aim of the course module is to motivate students to acquire knowledge, develop skills and competences to include them in work with young people. Particulary they empower basic for a deeper understanding of the development and specificity of EU countries’ approaches to knowledge, skills and attitudes that should be included in youth work. This will enable future youth workers to support and educate teenagers as active members of social groups, local, national and transnational (European) communities. The course consists of 5 sections that promote students’ reflective learning and the gradual development of holistic strategies while supporting their clients in many complex social contexts (Youth Policy in EU Context, Social Exclusion / Inclusive Education, (Un) employment / Well-Being, Prejudice / Tolerance, Risk / Protective Factors): Curriculum content is based on the Project Study: “SP-Young: Discourse of Cross-Border Situation (Comparative Analysis)”.
Intellectual Output 3 (Study Handbook)
It is a diagnostic and methodological publication based on the study of the project “SP-Young: Discourse of the Cross-Border Situation (Comparative Analysis)”. It is prepared as a tool for teachers within the Course Module of the SP YOUNG Project – Integrative Work with Youth. The textbook is addressed to students and lecturers of courses related to social professions (social work, social pedagogy, social rehabilitation, school counselors, career counselors, assistants to people with disabilities, probation officers, guardians in rehabilitation centers, etc.) and consists of three parts (including 13 themes): General Characteristics of Youth Problems, Social Exclusion and Inclusive Education, Risks and Protective Factors. Each chapter contains a theoretical introduction, presentation of the state of knowledge on a given topic, specific topics, goals and teaching methods, plus description of good practice, questions to consider, and examples of exercises for working with students.
Intellectual Output 4 (Youth Work Reader)
Book is a form of anthology that has been prepared by authors from partners’ institutions. It summaries contemporary issues on youth from a interdisciplinary perspective related to social welfare policy and implementation of social work practice. Book is prepared as a theoretical comments and basis for reflection useful during work on SP YOUNG course module themes and leads to deper understanding EU youth policy, current youth problems, youth work aims and methods. First part (Youth in Societies – Structural Condition and Challenges in Welfare Measures) is devoted to anthropological issues, “invisible youth” in contemporary societies plus local activities perceived as a tool in social prevention. Second part (Toward Resistant Adolescence and Adulthood) is a collection of text describing values perception, drug use problem, unaccompanied minors, youth education in multi-cultural school context, youth at risk plus Positive Youth Development concept overview.