Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast

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.

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 about youth work.

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. On 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.

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 most 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 appalling. It is no wonder that the sector in Australia turns over staff at 23% every year. Supervision is important to staff retention.   The best supervisors I have had came from both ends of the qualification spectrum. One was a qualified Social Worker with over a decade of experience who regularly attended courses on supervision. The other was a Youth Worker who had no qualifications but was an avid reader of supervision

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.

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 to fruition. One of the ways I begin each year is by doing a 'Wheel of Life' assessment. It helps me to look at where I am at and where i would like to be. It also helps us to look at the areas of our lives that we need to work on.

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 support to further develop the work we have been doing for the last eight years. This gives us the backing we need to take Ultimate Youth Worker to the next level in 2021.

In this episode of the Ultimate youth Worker Podcast 'Child Rights' Aaron and Jessy give us some insight into the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child and how youth workers can use the articles within it to sharpen their practice. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 and was entered into force 2 September 1990. The fifty-four articles contained in the convention form the basis of many of the legislative frameworks relating to young people in Australia such as the Child Youth and Families ACT (2005) in Victoria and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. As youth workers it is important for us to understand the articles and reflect on how they influence our practice. 

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘National Principles for Child Safe Organisations’ Aaron gives us an overview of the ten principles and where they came from. As youth workers our sector has always championed the rights of the child however there hasn't been a standard that we all were required to meet. The National Principles are a guiding document for all of us in how we are to work with children and young people in Australia. In 2017 the Australian Government asked the National Children’s Commissioner to lead the development of National Principles for Child Safe Organisations as part of  the Child Safe Organisations project. The Australian Government also commissioned the Australian Human Rights Commission to develop practical tools to help organisations implement the National Principles. The National Principles were developed under the guidance of Community Services Ministers across Commonwealth, state and territory governments under the National Framework for Protecting Austra

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Raise the age’ Aaron speaks with Jessica Sanders from Jesuit Social Services 'Worth a Second Chance' project about how we can understand the legal issue of the age of criminal responsibility and how we might support the campaign to raise it from 10 years of age. Jess is an author, advocate and social worker from Melbourne, Australia. She is incredibly passionate about social justice and supporting young people to be their best selves. Jess has supported Aboriginal women and children fleeing family violence. Climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in alliance with African Women fighting for their rights to land and provided workshops to children teaching the importance of consent and respect for self and others. Today Jess manages a youth justice campaign that elevates the stories of young people in the justice system and advocates to create a justice system that uses a therapeutic approach as opposed to a punitive one.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Cultural Intelligence PART 2’ Aaron continues to speak with Gregg Morris from Mahana Culture about how we can begin to gain some Cultural Intelligence. As youth workers we have a developing Intelligence or IQ eg. theory that informs our youth work practice. We have good Emotional Intelligence which lets us understand our young peoples feelings and how to respond to them appropriately. Yet we do not spend enough time thinking about Cultural Intelligence. Today Gregg helps us to begin understanding our Cultural Tale.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Cultural Intelligence PART 1’ Aaron speaks with Gregg Morris from Mahana Culture about how we can begin to gain some Cultural Intelligence. As youth workers we have a developing Intelligence or IQ eg. theory that informs our youth work practice. We have good Emotional Intelligence which lets us understand our young peoples feelings and how to respond to them appropriately. Yet we do not spend enough time thinking about Cultural Intelligence. Today Gregg helps us to begin understanding our Cultural Tale.

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Self Care 201’ Aaron chats with us about how we can take our self care journey to the next level. We have run self care training using our balanced life framework for eight years and in almost every session some says something along the lines of this is too basic and we want something more. We usually ask them if they are implementing all the steps we talk about in the level one training and if they have been doing it for at least two years. Most people tell us that they have given it a go and that they had dropped the ball. It is important to get the basics right before moving on to the next level otherwise you will have the same trouble at this level. For the rare youth worker who has got the basics down we send them along to look at the 'Wheel of life' In Youth Work, we often speak about having a "toolbox" to help us become a more rounded person and provide the best possible service to our young people. This could be in the form of a literal box o

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Self Care in Youth Work’ Aaron chats with Ex-student panel about self care in youth work. How do youth work practitioners leave work at work? Do relationships, boundaries and practices change when we engage in self care? What supports do youth workers need to be effective at self care? What happens when things go pear shaped?

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Online Youth Work’ Aaron chats with us about how to conduct a critical incident debrief. We look at two models and unpack how individuals and teams can best use the debriefing process to look after themselves and reflect on the best ways forward. As youth workers we find ourselves working with young people when they are at the best and when they are in their darkest places. When they are at their best we feel a sense of pride and live on the mountaintop. When they are in their darkest place we can see them in the depths of pain and the heights of anger. In their darkest place young people can be prone to making rash decisions. Sometimes, this can lead to young people lashing out, running away or in extreme cases they may harm themselves. When a young person lashes out or injures themselves as youth workers we find ourselves in the midst of critical incidents. We deal with the circumstances as best we can. We keep as many people safe as we can. We p

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Online Youth Work’ Aaron chats with Wolfgang Vachon from the C2YPodcast about youth work in the virtual realm. How do youth work practitioners work in the virtual realm? Do relationships, boundaries and practices change when interacting with young people online? What supports are available for youth workers online? What does an intervention look like when you have only met the young person virtually?   Its testing times for youth work globally. Austerity measures have cut us down and a global pandemic has crippled us. Yet, youth workers are a resilient bunch. We make do with what we have. recently that has meant moving to the online space to continue building relationships with our young people.  This has been a trying time for many of us. The technical issues, having the right equipment and getting the ok to use different programs from management have all but scared us from the process. For others we dove in with abandon and used everything we co

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘I want to quit’ Aaron speaks to us about how to resign from a youth work position well. Regularly at Ultimate Youth Worker we speak with people who are ready to move on from the position they are in. It may be that they are moving on to greener pastures and with the blessing of their manager or it may be that they hate where they work and already have a foot out the door. All of these people get a conversation about how to resign well and now we will give you that information too. In testing times people have one of two ideas about their job. They either dig in and stick it out or they throw in the towel and say 'I want to quit'. We are currently in testing times with the corona virus spread throughout the world and we know that there are youth workers who are ready to quit. When there is an economic downturn we see people hold on to their jobs tightly. When there is an upturn we see people move on. So how do we resign well? There are three stages…

In this episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast ‘Getting your first youth work job’ Aaron speaks with the Ex-student panel about how we can get that first youth work job. Every week we get questions at Ultimate Youth Worker about how people can transition from student to youth work employee. So we figured we would ask a bunch of former students who now have a few years in the field to give us their view. What ensues is a mad free-for-all on the ways we all entered the sector. BTW we all did it differently! The days where you could get a youth work job because you had a heartbeat and loved to throw a frisbee are all but over. So now the move is to get a qualification. In Australia the Diploma in youth work is now seen across the sector as the minimum qualification, with more and more organisations wanting a degree. So you spend one to three years of your life getting qualified and now you want to move into the wonderful world of paid employment as a youth worker... but if you are like most students y

In todays episode Aaron speak about the growing research into stress and how we have been taught to think about it all wrong. We have been told for many decades that stress is bad for us. That we need to run away from stressful situations because stress causes significant physical health concerns. Well in a nutshell the latest research would argue that if we think stress is bad for us then it probably will be. However, if we believe that our stress reactions are there to point us in the direction of getting support then stress is actually a good thing for us. Stress helps us to begin a process of emotion regulation. It helps us by bringing to the forefront of our minds the situation we are in and it asks us to reappraise the resources we have to deal with it. We have internal and external resources at our disposal and we need to use our rational brain to think about how we can use them to deal with the negative issues in our stressful situation. Arousal reappraisal teaches individuals to think of stres

In todays episode of the Ultimate Youth Worker Podcast Aaron speaks with Neil Milton about his journey to founding Positive T-Shirts. We discuss why Neil decided to support the cause of suicide prevention and how you can get a great bit of merchandise to aid the cause. Neil Milton is the founder of Positive T-Shirts which is a social enterprise-giving all profits towards preventing youth suicide. Neil is a public speaker, motivator and novice social media junky. Neil also is the General Manager for another not-for-profit working to prevent harm and abuse of children. He has worked in some of the roughest schools in Adelaide as a youth worker and has also had a stint working for life line. His motto in life is “one day at a time” Neil enjoys hanging out with his wife and children, also exercising, when he gets out of bed! Positive T-Shirts The Positive T-Shirt brand birthed in 2016 out of a passion to create t-shirts and other apparel that literally change lives as you wear it and as others see it. That’s why