Participation Means More Than Simply Taking Part

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“Participation originates from the Latin word ‘participare’ which means both to take part in and to take part of something, being involved in as well as sharing something. The Latin origin opens a broad range of different meanings which is reflected by discourses of participation which have evolved since and which relate to a variety of phenomena”. Loncle et al (2008) Straight away from its birth meaning participation is seen as’ taking part’ and being ‘involved’. But surely it means more than that? Participation is perhaps one of the most fundamental issues in contemporary youth work, and one which is causing controversies in many youth work localities. (Ord, 2008) It is clear from Ord then that participation is not only a key issue within youth work but it is also has a tendency to cause divide and debate within the youth sector. Smith (1982) also highlights this by noting that “Participation has a long and untidy history within youth work. It is an idea much talked about and much misunderstood.” The author of this essay has been tasked with discussing Batsleer’s (2008) statement,”participation means more than simply taking part”. Smith (1982) talks about participation as “misunderstood” and “much talked about.” Therefore, within this essay I will attempt to critically discuss the statement in an effort to make the “misunderstood” understood. As Ord (2008) states participation is one of the most “fundamental issues” within youth work and for that reason it is imperative that we clearly and simply divulge as to whether participation really does mean more than simply taking part. I will do this through firstly reflecting on what participation really means within youth work whilst weighing up the positives and negatives of this process. The latter stages of this essay will concentrate on critiquing relevant models of participation in an attempt to reflect
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