ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE: Professional qualifications for youth justice workers from The Open University
Monday, July 20, 2009
Youth justice is a challenging and fast-changing field. It is about turning around the lives of vulnerable children who are often very hard to reach. A wide range of approaches and strategies are needed - requiring highly-skilled professionals who can handle demanding work and keep abreast of emerging policy and practice.
The Open University's Foundation Degree in Youth Justice has been developed in collaboration with the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales as part of its Youth Justice National Qualifications Framework (NQF) which enables youth justice workers to gain professional qualifications that reflect their roles and support their career aspirations. The YJB also publishes the Key Elements of Effective Practice.
The Open University offers three qualifications developed with the YJB - the Foundation Degree in Youth Justice (England and Wales) and the Professional Certificate in Effective Practice (Youth Justice), which has been identified by the YJB as the core professional qualification in youth justice, and the BA (Hons) Youth Justice Studies (England and Wales).
These qualifications are delivered exclusively through The Open University and these are the only professional development qualifications endorsed by the YJB.
Effective youth justice work means actively striving to improve the lives and opportunities of children and young people who are in all sorts of ‘trouble' within a legal framework where the focus is on stopping them ‘causing trouble'. This is a very challenging area of work that requires practitioners to be technically competent, knowledgeable and self-aware.
There are four over-arching aims for the Foundation Degree in Youth Justice (England and Wales):
* to provide you with the appropriate skills, values and understanding required to operate as an effective practitioner with children and young people who offend, or who are at risk of offending
* to provide you, through flexible learning routes, with a range of educational experiences appropriate for foundation degree students aspiring to progress their professional and personal development
* to provide suitable work-based experiences that will enable you to explore and evaluate your practice
Why choose the OU?
The Open University is the Youth Justice Board's preferred provider of the foundation degree. It's therefore the most relevant qualification for anyone wishing to pursue a career in the field of youth justice.
Our courses are directly relevant to the workplace. What you learn today, you can start putting into practice immediately. Course development is driven by leading edge research, collaboration with practising professionals who are experts in their fields and close partner links with major organisations keeping courses fresh, innovative and relevant to our changing world. We are leaders in supported ‘Open Learning', a unique and inspiring approach. You're never alone - support is always there for you. We have high quality teaching, with tutors who bring a wealth of experience - to their subject, and to teaching. OU students continually vote us one of the best. For the last four years, The Open University has been rated in the top two universities for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey.
National reach - local delivery
Our 13 regional centres work closely with employers throughout the UK to address local training needs. They also provide local support to our students, and to the lecturers who teach our courses around the country. Further information and advice on the programme is available from our regional centres. To find your local regional centre go to www.open.ac.uk/local.
An unrivalled learning experience
The Open University is a remarkable organisation that has helped to change the face of higher education. The quality of our programmes - and tutors is renowned and respected across the globe.
