Dr John Bamber Project Specialist - Centre for Effective Services (Dublin, Ireland)

Monday 02 October 12.00pm -1.30pm Executive Seminar Suite – Massey Wellington Campus *

This seminar is aimed at practitioners, managers, funders and academics, with a vital interest in work with people in informal, non-formal, and community-based settings. The focus is on how to raise and maintain professional standards, understood broadly as an explicit and systematic commitment to improving practice and providing quality services. The case of youth work is used to explore the common issues and challenges involved in such a commitment.

Paramount amongst the challenges today, is the need to substantiate the value of the work in terms of beneficial outcomes, often in contexts of increased competition for resources. There are no easy answers to the resultant pressures but central to any coherent response is the need for professionals to be able to provide evidence about the processes and the results of their work in ways that are credible and consistent with their own missions, values, ethos and traditions. One central value is the commitment to learning and development.

In unpacking the concept of evidence, this seminar considers how the use and development of socially useful theory can play a critical role in supporting cycles of continuous improvement.

About Dr Bamber

John’s main area of work is youth policy and practice. This includes support for the Irish Government's Department of Children and Youth Affairs. In particular John assists with the development of the National Quality Standards Framework in Youth Work. As part of this commitment, John works collaboratively with colleagues in the field to provide workshops and resources to support evidenceinformed approaches to the work. Before joining the Centre for Effective Services in Dublin, he was Senior Lecturer in Community Education at the University of Edinburgh. John has undertaken personal and commissioned research and published articles across the range of his areas of interest.

* Marked as ESS at entrance A on the Massey campus map http://bit.ly/2gSDXxo
Car parking is not available – please use public transport or taxi / Uber
No charge for attendance – enquiries to info@akoaotearoa.ac.nz
Event will be streamed live at http://bit.ly/2wSFfMB (recording available at same link)