I Am Youth Worker And I Am A Blogger
I Am Youth Worker And I Am A Blogger
Are You Blogging Yet
Should or should not is the question? or is there no time for blogging for youth workers these days with their ever busy schedule.
Blogging is a way to inform, educate, empower other youth workers. It can be used to…
- Share good practice
- Share ideas
- Connecting with others
- Raise issues and explore solutions
- Communicate
The list can go on I just listed a few to give you the benefits of blogging.
Sharing is Caring
This is an ideal platform to not just share resources from your locality but also from other international countries.
For example, through my blogs I have connected with Lindsey Sherwin who shares the same views and passion as me. We connected and she wrote few articles (see here) and also participated as the guest speaker on our webinar.
We shared ideas and resources like the YWN News Letter. I have also other bloggers who are either trainers or working in the youth and community field
Reflective practice
We are all aware of the importance of reflective practice within our field. My Journey into blogging has helped me to think out load about the day to day work with young people. A blog gave the opportunity to reflect on my practice and also invite others to participate and discuss related issues or challenges faced by youth workers.
I believe blogging if used for the right purpose can play a important part in self-development as well as professional.
Networking
If your like me and want to build good relationship with other professionals then blogging can play important part in building good networks within the field and outside of the youth work field.
A place to do partnership like the example I gave earlier. If your up for it you can build a community of like-minded people and start promoting youth work to other professionals
Raising the bar and profile
Be the first to share new concepts and develop ideas. Your motivation and stories may raise the bar or inspire other youth workers. For example I wrote an article on how to set up a detached youth work a step-by-step guide was one of most visited pages on my site.
People who visited it they also shared it with others as well. So the point I made earlier that someone will benefit if there is of value to them and solves a particular problem.
It’s all positive here
When it comes to media coverage young people have not had any positive coverages apart from all the negative stories that we have read. For example, there was one that comes to my mind now when a major newspaper quoted that youth workers take young people on holidays if they misbehave.
So it is fundamental that youth workers speak out through blogs forums and any means possible to challenge some of the stereotypes out there who are quick to label young people as unruly or anti social.
Establishing links with the community
Blogging can create a sense of community. For example, if you’re working for a local voluntary organaisation you can use it to inform community members, parents , professioanls and share your good work with them so that they are informed and aware of the activities their child are participating in. You’ll be surprised and find that there are other bloggers in the community who would be happy to connect or help out in any away.
It’s all about me
Blogging will provide an opportunity to inform, educate, and empower young people yourself and the community your working in. It will provide a platform for the organization to showcase, promote their work and developing respect for youth work to other professionals and the community
So get started with blogging?
Get started if you haven’t yet and share your work with others. I hope you were inspired or motivated by this article and now ready to start you own blog. Be sure to give us a thumbs up and share this article with others you may feel will benefit.
As always you reach us on twiiter, facebook, instgram, youtube and google plus.
Happy blogging
YWN TEAM
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