TruthBook Religious News Blog

Spirituality is often overlooked in youth work. Ana Paula Nacif finds out why and looks at how projects can successfully incorporate this element into their work.

The cornerstone of youth work is to encourage young people to realise their potential. But whereas fostering physical and mental wellbeing are relatively straightforward, when it comes to spirituality, the lines begin to blur.

According to National Occupational Standards overseen by the Lifelong Learning UK sector skills council, youth workers need to understand their spiritual self, know the difference between spirituality and religion, and be able to provide activities enabling young people to relate to the world in a spiritual way.

Yet the confusion between where spirituality ends and religion begins means that many youth workers are unsure about whether they should bring that dimension into their work.

The National Youth Agency consultation paper Spirituality and Spiritual Development in Youth Work has put a spotlight on the issue and sparked a debate on spirituality's role in youth work.

According to Maxine Green, the paper's author, the overwhelming response - from those working in secular and religious settings - shows the importance of spirituality.

Loss of self

"People are saying that we must not lose spirituality," she says. "You have youth workers on the ground meeting young people for whom spirituality and faith are a huge issue. Young people are told that if they do well in exams and get good jobs, they will be OK. But there is another level."

One of the main issues facing youth workers is how they can bring spirituality into their day-to-day work with young people, and whether it should be separate or part of a holistic approach to fostering young people's wellbeing.

London Youth, a charity that supports young people and youth clubs, has set up London Youth's Diversity Group to explore the issues that affect young people's wellbeing and spirit. Tracie Trimmer, director of projects and interventions at London Youth, says: "We address issues of spirituality for young people with a focus on valuing and celebrating diversity."

But, apart from encouraging diversity, Green explains that spirituality can be fully integrated into the work already being done by youth workers.

"We are not going to 'do spirituality'. Spirituality is not something you do with young people," she says. "As youth workers, we see spirituality as something to help young people develop, something that they can contribute as strong agents for initiating changes in our society."

Current youth work techniques such as art, music and other creative work, as well as group discussions, can incorporate spirituality. Training can also help youth workers feel more comfortable about spirituality and ease tensions around the boundaries between spirituality, faith and religion.

"We are developing ideas and practices to integrate it into the work, so youth workers can feel more confident," says Green. "There are tensions and the way forward is through communication. If we find the subject sensitive and we back off, it only polarises the community."

Despite the challenges, Bishop Roger Sainsbury, chair of The National Youth Agency, believes youth workers have a key role to play. "Spirituality is a journey of discovery and youth workers need to encourage young people on this journey, rather than preach at them with set answers." But he emphasises that, although spiritual development should be included in youth work, it must be done in the context of social, moral, cultural, mental and physical development programmes.

To be able to deliver this kind of integration, Portsmouth Youth Service is carrying out research with young people and youth workers. It is also investigating ways to link spirituality with emotional intelligence and mental health.

Sharon Court, outreach and development worker at Portsmouth Youth Service, is doing the research and organising workshops for youth workers and other professionals to equip them with the skills they need to include spirituality in their work. She believes that spirituality and youth work are compatible.

"Youth work is the best-placed profession to deal with spirituality because it takes a holistic approach," she says. "It deals with the whole person, accepts where they are at and it is flexible."

The main findings of The National Youth Agency consultation on spirituality have not been published yet, but a range of issues have been provisionally identified. These will provide a basis for further discussions.

- The debate about spirituality and youth work is important

- Young people must be involved

- Some respondents voiced concerns about fundamentalist teaching

- How spirituality can be incorporated into the youth work curriculum and how youth workers should be supported and trained

- Spirituality is often seen as a concern of the individual, but the role of communities and social cohesion should also be considered

- Spirituality and spiritual development is a complex area and both secular and faith organisations can contribute

www.nya.org.uk.