[ Proceedings Contents ] [ WAIER Postgraduate Awards 2010 ] Youth mentoring and adult-youth relationships: The importance of context Miriam R. Brooker BA (Hons), G Dip Ed, PG Dip (Pol Stud) Abstract from a thesis submitted to Murdoch University in February 2009 for the degree of Research Masters With Training. Miriam Brooker received a WAIER Postgraduate Award in absentia at Forum 2010. [Digital Theses copy]

This study is about programmes that foster adult-youth relationships and more specifically about the community context necessary for such programmes to flourish. The study is designed to explore a faith-based community context in which a youth mentoring programme is being considered as a strategy to help develop adult-youth relationships and youth participation in the community. The study evaluates whether mentoring would be the most appropriate adult-youth programme intervention to facilitate parish ministry to its young people. Three literatures related to formal adult-youth programmes including youth mentoring, intergenerational and youth-adult partnerships inform the study. The study methodology emphasises wide consultation and elicits the perceptions and expectations of participants regarding youth mentoring and youth participation. Youth participation is identified to be an adult need given the anxiety of many study participants about the future of the parish and their valuing of a community incorporating all age groups. Despite generally positive participant expectations of mentoring as an intervention, study findings indicate that a formal youth-adult activity programme would be more likely to respond to the needs of all young people connected to the parish. The study includes four main recommendations regarding preparatory activities intended to support the design and implementation of an effective parish adult-youth programme: (1) Address barriers to communication between youth and adults; (2) Be aware of power differences between adults and youth; (3) Be open to supporting youth initiated change; and (4) Develop a shared vision for youth participation in the parish.

Author: Miriam R. Brooker BA (Hons), G Dip Ed, PG Dip (Pol Stud) Email: M.Brooker@murdoch.edu.au Please cite as: Brooker, M. R. (2010). Thesis abstract: Youth mentoring and adult-youth relationships: The importance of context. In Proceedings Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Forum 2010. http://www.waier.org.au/forums/2010/brooker.html