Youth Leadership

A Myth or Reality

miriam.teuma@um.edu.mtDept. of Youth and Community Studies

University of Malta

Paradigm Shift

From:

Young people as potential social problems

To:

Young people as a potential community asset (Little 2002)

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Today

- Empowerment- Emancipation- Participation in decision making- Active Citizenship

(Gore, 2007; Skott-Myre 2005; Haikella 2001)

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Youth Participation and Leadership

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Myth 1

Calling young people leaders makes them leaders

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Adults may have different motivations to create illusion that young people are involved.

These range from: - legal obligations; - to obtain funds for their own projects; - to a personal need of power.

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Reality 1

Young people are leaders when they initiate, design and manage

and

involve adults in the decision making (Hart 1992)

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Myth 2

Leadership can’t be taught. The lucky ones are born with the ‘right stuff’.

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Reality 2

Young people can be taught the skills and behaviours needed to be effective leaders through learning by doing.

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Leadership is a collaborative, social andrelational activity.

It should be understood as a collective capacity rather than an individual trait.

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Leadership is an educational process.

Effective youth leadership is a process that engenders trust and is the result of relationships that focus on the interactions of youth and adults

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WHY?

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WHY?

The rapid change leads us to be aware of only part of the young people’s reality

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Benefits for Young People

- a contributor to academic success- improves mental health- higher self esteem- increase in self efficacy- improves social justice- strengthens the ability to contribute to society- ability to work with others and in diverse environments

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Benefits for adults

- become more competent in the youth field

- more able to adapt themselves for young people’s needs

- more satisfaction from their work

- more energy and enthusiasm

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As a result REAL youth leadership contributes to co-learning and inter-generational learning.

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Reality 1

Young people are leaders when they initiate, design and manage and involve adults in the decision making

And new learning communities are developed where learning takes place in a non-formal and

informal way.

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Effectiveness is achieved through

complex thinking, full commitment from all stakeholders and a mindset which sees

differently and is ready to make a twist towards a true

partnership between young people and

adults

Myth 2

Leaders

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Positive thoughts cannot exist in a

vacuum. They must be shared with all to be

effective.......just as leaders - young and old must share parts

of themselves with others to be effective.

You are invited!

miriam.teuma@um.edu.mt