4.5 CAPITAL CULTURAL INCORPORADO EN LOS ESTUDIANTES
4.5.2 ASPECTOS CLAVES DE LAS PRÁCTICAS DOCENTES VALORADOS
Finally under this theme, regarding the difference between the roles of adults and young people, the respondents discussed their perception of age appropriate processes. As described in theme one, one of the barriers to young people’s participation was when adults took-over. The lack of age appropriateness of the youth participation processes in civic activities can reinforce this barrier. When adults took-over, it was linked to processes directed at a much younger group, and referred to as ‘childish’. The respondents felt because they were young, adults treated them as a token
participant, without respecting the contribution they made. The also discussed frustration over processes which supported the adult members of the council and excluded the youth council altogether.
Zach discussed activities he felt were childish. “So far every event we’ve been to, is targeted at children. I mean when we’re going out to these events, we’re handing out stickers. I’ve never met any 17 year old who’d wanna [sic] wear a sticker. So it’s beyond me”. Zachrecalled this process of handing out of stickers with some embarrassment. Neil also mentioned processes that he felt were tokenistic or insincere. “I just think they could do more with more young people…. It can’t sort of became a mechanism for council to fall back on, that this is the only way they get young people’s views”. Zach had also experienced tokenism, of being put on display, when he was part of a meeting with visiting dignitaries from overseas. “I was there with my (city) youth council top on and was just sort of sitting there. And then he kept on like referring to me. And I was just sort of like ‘can you stop using me?’” These insincere activities frustrated the respondents and left them feeling negative about their involvement.
58
As well as processes they thought childish or tokenistic, there were some processes aimed at adults that restricted young people’s involvement. In particular, Angela felt the academic nature of the application process could put off young people from applying to be on a youth council in the first place. “It’s a bit intimidating and might put some people off…. I was thinking wow you’re only going to have the top youth getting into the youth council so it’s not really the best way of presenting youth as a whole” (Angela). However once they were part of the youth council, the processes had a more balanced engagement approach. “Yeah, but it [the initial interview] was really cool. There were lollies on the table and a glass of water and they were pretty relaxed about it” (Helen).
Other examples of adult-centric processes that restricted or hindered youth participation were described by Zach and Nisha. Zach said “we got policies, procedures, like obligations and stuff like that. All the boring stuff that half of us just would have looked and just put it aside. I mean what’s fun about getting pieces of paper”. And Nisha’s experience: “sometimes the councillors, their speeches could be slightly more engaging for young people. Sometimes it feels like they’re giving a speech to adults”. These examples suggest these two councils had not adapted processes or policies to support young people’s engagement. Angela, noted that some processes, such as the timing of meetings, effectively excluded the youth council altogether. “It’s quite difficult like being actively involved because they have their meetings during the day when everyone else is at school or has work. So we can’t always be there”. The respondents’ believed that these processes had been developed without considering their needs.
In contrast there were many adaptations to usual council processes that were pitched appropriately for their age group. As noted in theme one, one of the facilitators to young people’s participation, was the ability to have regular communication and feel connected to the council. Once the respondents became part of a youth council they found most activities were pitched at a
comfortable level that was engaging and age appropriate for the group. “A mixture’s good…. I think we can engage in a huge range of topics. It doesn’t have to be watered down for us or anything. I do like that side of it” (Nisha). Even those that had not experienced age appropriate processes, had ideas on the way that city councils could engage young people at an appropriate level. Six of the respondents were able to describe adaptations to processes that would support their engagement in an age appropriate way, an example of this is given here by Neil. “To facilitate better engagement simplifying policy; making decisions more accessible; and simplifying council processes in general…. and all of that needs to be broken down if local government is to become truly representative”.
59
So far the first two major themes of the respondent’s interviews have focused on the processes themselves. The final major theme looks at the impact or result of youth participation.