Designing Inclusive Pathways With Young Adults

"This book is the second in a series entitled ‘Learning and Development for a Better World’ and it explores the potential for self-directed lifelong action learning (LAL) by focusing on the design of development pathways with and for young adults. The book considers the reasons why LAL pathways are needed and draws on innovative approaches used by the Global University for Lifelong Learning (including micro enterprise, peace-building, music, sport and the creative arts) with examples from nine countries. The aim is to offer a timely response to the pressing global problem of access to learning and development for marginalized young people during the vulnerable period from their mid-teens to mid-twenties. This book is an engaging and compelling text. I enjoyed the flow of ideas and the key messages of need and solution that it provides. The authors are articulate and convincing in their crafted messages – as well as passionate. Reading this book is time well spent and both enjoyable and instructional.Brendan Bartlett, Professor of Education, Institute of Learning Sciences Australia, Australian Catholic University This book will help both policy makers and those working with young people to change lives. In many areas of the world, young people, particularly women, lead impoverished lives. Developing approaches to lifelong action learning with these young adults will provide hope for the future. Emer Clarke, Formerly Area Director of the UK Learning and Skills Council The plight of millions of young people is clearly worsening as social and economic divisions increase and deepen. This book will serve those well who want to agitate for change and reform based on a belief in social justice and equality of access to learning and economic fairness for all young people.David Davies, Professor Emeritus and Former Executive Dean, University of Derby, UK This book is a valuable resource, an indispensable text and a must read for all working with young people. What captured my attention most was the way in which it illustrates how access to purposeful learning and development can be provided to marginalized young people. Eldrie Gouws, Professor, Department of Psychology of Education, University of South Africa This is a significant and far reaching response to the global problem of young adults’ unemployment and lack of educational opportunities, especially in disadvantaged, remote and poverty-stricken communities in developing as well as developed countries. It is of interest to a wide audience of readers, including youth, parents, educators, non-profit organizations, governments and churches.Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt, Co-author, ‘Lifelong Action Learning for Community Development: Learning and Development for a Better World’, Sense Publishers, 2013"div v>

Action Learning and Action Research deepens understanding and contributes to new knowledge about the theory, practice and processes of Action Learning (AL) and Action Research. It clarifies what constitutes AL/AR in its many forms and what it is not.

This book advocates for community-based research with vulnerable populations within the field of higher education. The chapters outline how research can democratize knowledge generation to make it more accessible and socially relevant, and emphasizes the value of the lived and experiential knowledge of vulnerable and marginalized populations. Rooted in a critique of the current practices of higher education that fail to support participatory and transformative research, the research is structured at micro, macro and meso levels to ultimately emancipate colonized thinking of stakeholders about power, privilege and participation. Focusing primarily on various contexts within the Global South, the contributors argue that the time is ripe for community-based research which combines the theoretical knowledge of the academy with the local, experiential knowledge of those experiencing the consequences of social inequality to co-construct knowledge for change.

This book confronts the issues young people face growing up in the confusion and anxiety of today’s highly global society. Young people face their futures consumed with feelings of doubt, uncertainty and ambivalence. The Global Financial Crisis and the rise of the Islamic State means young people are transitioning into adulthood in a time that we call an age of anxiety. They may be the first generation to have fewer opportunities than their parents yet, despite this, they are learning to imagine other kinds of futures. These are futures where economic collapse provides opportunities for entrepreneurialism and innovation, where Islamic State does not need to pose a clear and present danger, and where political action provides hope for a better world. Dealing with the current political and economic climate and progressive campaigns such as Black Lives Matter, Howie and Campbell tackle some of the biggest threats to the future of society. An innovative and wide-reaching study, this book will be of particular interest to scholars of human geography, disaster studies, politics, and sociology.

The Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Spaces for Young People is a thorough and practical resource for all who wish to influence policy and design decisions in order to increase young people’s access to and use of public spaces, as well as their role in design and decision-making processes. The ability of youth to freely enjoy public spaces, and to develop a sense of belonging and attachment to these environments, is critical for their physical, social, cognitive, and emotional development. Young people represent a vital citizen group with legitimate rights to occupy and shape their public environments, yet they are often driven out of public places by adult users, restrictive bylaws, or hostile designs. It is also important that children and youth have the opportunity to genuinely participate in the planning of public spaces, and to have their needs considered in the design of the public realm. This book provides both evidence and tools to help effectively advocate for more youth-inclusive public environments, as well as integrate youth directly into both research and design processes related to the public realm. It is essential reading for researchers, design and planning professionals, community leaders, and youth advocates.

With increasingly interconnected educational and employment ecosystems, credential innovations are trailblazing multiple pathways to professions at a pivotal moment of rapid change. In the current state of credential proliferation, the quest for simultaneous improvement of quality and value reflects heightened cross-sector interests, while at the same time the quest for concurrent enhancement of access and success remains. With the evolving educational models, technologies, and organizations, credential innovations will continue to serve as powerful catalysts in realizing the great promise for inclusive pathways to professions. The Handbook of Research on Credential Innovations for Inclusive Pathways to Professions surveys the state of credential innovations, examines trends and issues, and explores models and strategies with case studies across sectors and disciplines. The 21 chapters are organized in three sections. Section I, Credential Innovations Amid Evolving Ecosystems, features a powerful array of change theories-in-action with topics ranging from conceptual re-visioning to organizational restructuring and programmatic reengineering within evolving ecosystems. Section II, Credential Innovations and Propositions Across Sectors, spotlights diverse approaches to and propositions of credentials within complex socio-economic landscapes across education, business, and technology industries. Section III, Credential Innovation Models and Strategies, showcases institutional innovations ranging from model developments, pedagogical approaches, and personalized engagements to outcome measurements and strategies for sustainable implementation. Lessons learned and implications are explored to share promising practices, inform current development, and influence future policies toward inclusive excellence in education and the workplace.

Spain has a high share of the working age population at risk of poverty or social exclusion and a high incidence of child poverty. While Spain has introduced a minimum income at the national level, social inclusion policies are the responsibility of the regions.