Challenging Disadvantaged Thinking
Alastair Lichten is a campaigns intern at the Foyer Federation, a charity that supports Foyers and other organizations in transforming opportunities for young people making the transition to adult independence.
Volunteers and fans of the vInspired blog, after a really proud day how do you explain the work you do? By talking about working with “NEETs” or amazing young people full of potential?
Do you describe your job as saving the state money by not being unemployed or by what you achieve and the talents you use?
The Foyer Federation Open Talent campaign to transform the investment our society and services make in young people is exploring the concept of Advantaged vs Disadvantaged Thinking.
Disadvantaged Thinking starts by defining what’s wrong with a young person and then thinking of solutions to fix them and move them on. Whole systems are built around servicing these disadvantages with the result that we lower our aspirations to helping young people survive.
Advantaged Thinking looks at a young person and finds their assets, their talents and their potentials that even if currently undeveloped will allow them to thrive.
It’s exciting to be exploring and acting on an idea that has such potential to change the way we work with young people. Advantaged Thinking is more than changing a few words or phrases and Disadvantaged Thinking is more than extreme caricatures and headlines about “feral youths”.
When I meet other third sector organizations and volunteers there’s a real enthusiasm about Advantaged Thinking and “of course” young people say this is how it should work. But I see the problems of Disadvantaged Thinking that we need to challenge.
I suspect volunteers, support and charity workers within this system would like to break free.
But there’s that funding application which only asks about young people’s disadvantages and not their aspirations.
But there’s that mail out that might raise a few more donations with a dehumanised black and white photo of a young person in crisis than one thriving after the right investment.
But there’s that need to justify our work as keeping young people off the streets or out of trouble, that seem more tangible than investing in our futures.
Though all this cataloguing of disadvantage some of the motivating enthusiasm is lost, time and resources squandered and the Disadvantaged Thinking routines wired in. But it’s not the way we want to or should be working with young people and it’s time we changed that.
Are you an Advantaged Thinker? To support our Open Talent campaign please get in touch at foyer.net or @FoyerFederation