Grappling with the theoretical foundations of youth social action Vidal Kumar July 2016

What I’ll Cover What is youth social action? Initial reflections on working in the field Locating the concept in theory Where next for the study of youth social action?

Thousands of people are involved in the rich diversity of youth social action

What is youth social action? Practical activity in the service of others in order to create positive social change that is of benefit to the young person and their community – double benefit

Double Benefit Outcomes Employability skills Resilience/coping Processes for delivering projects well and recording outputs Citizenship Self regulation Social and emotional skills Social agency Social trust Self belief/ attitude Personal agency Guidance for choosing appropriate evaluation for more focused interventions Benefits to the individual Social agency Benefits to the community

Initial Reflections Youth social action vs. volunteering YSA as policy idea Where’s the theory?

Theoretical Building Blocks What should we study in youth social action? Why should we study it? Theory as multidimensional

The Theory Gap in Youth Social Action Individual achievements or behaviours Benefits to society or positive change in communities Character Inter-personal relationships

What are we doing at v-Inspired? New Theory of Change – with a (comprehensive) literature review Generation Change and Dartington Social Research Unit - Quality Mark Pilot Sharing and supporting research and theory – Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtues

Where next? vidal.kumar@vinspired.com Addressing the gap between what’s needed and what there is Better defining how youth social action should be researched v-Inspired engages 30,000 young people a year – want to work more with academics to understand how well we are doing youth social action! vidal.kumar@vinspired.com