Pedagogy

Around the world, the youth population is considered as one of the most vulnerable population because they are more often at high risks of being involved in problems and difficulties that relate to health, family, academic, work, and personal affairs. One of the sources of the youth problems and difficulties is their negative behaviours. Among the negative behaviours observed with youths are physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse and drug dealing, school leaving (drop-out and exit), and crime and violence (World Bank 2003 27-28). Other sources of youth problems and difficulties include poverty, sociocultural and neighbourhood characteristics, media, family and peer groups influence, and the prevalence of illegal substances such as drugs and alcohol (Reppucci, Fried and Schmidt 2002 5-10).

To address the problems and difficulties being experienced by the vulnerable young population, many youth programmes have been implemented which are aimed to cater to the needs of the youth population and to uplift their poor and often oppressive condition. Numerous youth work policies were designed globally to encourage youths active citizenship, life-long learning, social inclusion and adherence to community safety. In spite of these efforts, a great number of youth related problems still continuously flood our society. Presently, many youths rarely see themselves as an important part of our society because often-times, their participation and integration rights are few and their voices are unheard (Barry 20041). It only follows that despite their large number, many youth work organizations continues to face critical problems concerning leadership and management of the vulnerable young population. They still lack the capability of addressing the problems related to youth wellness, youth crime, youth justice, and youth policy.

Confronting Youth ProblemsThe Effective Leadership and Management Styles
Two of the most critical problems relating to youth work reside on the failure of the government and other concerned youth organizations to create important youth policies and the lack of financial and other resources that will aid to the implementation of important youth programmes. Although there exist many youth development programs, it is observed that our society still lacks youth policies that relate to equality, anti-oppression, diversity and inclusion and on providing appropriate funding to youth development programmes (Harrison, Benjamin, Curran and Hunter 200776).

Every Child Matters and Performance Management
One of the many attempts to address the increasing youth problems is the publication of Every Child Matters (ECM). ECM requires all youth services to be part of integrated services for children and youths. The five key outcomes of ECM include health, safety, enjoyment and achievement, positive contribution and economic well-being of the children and the young people (Cockburn and Handscomb 200624 and 95). In line with this, managers come to face challenges that include ensuring that their services are integrated with the ECM outcomes facing the challenges of the government guidance regarding commissioning services and delivering social and personal education achieving value performance for the contribution of the youths to the community contributing to the growing number of corporate plans and strategies and managing the reorganisation of services to create local integrated provision for young people (Harrison, Benjamin, Curran, and Hunter 200775-76).

Indeed, it is very hard for any youth organisation to lead and manage anti-oppressive practice especially when it comes to providing services. However, the key to develop and maintain good anti-oppressive practice is performance management whereas the managers together with the organisations members build plans,monitor progress and evaluate achievements on a regular basis. In measuring the overall performance of an authority, it is best to use the ECMs Best Value Performance Indicators where one of the indicator is that  any event or outcome that concerns the youth has a direct relationship with the assessment of the overall performance of the authority (Harrison, Benjamin, Curran, and Hunter 200776). Thus, with this measurement, it is always important that the leader or manager addresses youth problems related to equality, diversity and inclusion. In addition, multi-agency collaboration is also an important aspect of ECM as through this initiative, the youth organisation is able to get the needed support and resources  like  funding, staff and training, and equipment, and achieve the desirable outcomes (Harrison, Benjamin, Curran, and Hunter 200776). Often, youth organisations get most resources and funds from the government, concerned organisations and private individuals. Funds are used to finance different youth services such as food, health, education and different outreach and developmental programmes such as entertainment and recreational activities. To generate funding, most youth organisations rely on donations, sponsorships and government fund allocation. Furthermore,another important resources in youth organisation are staff and training as youths need coaches and experiences that will guide them toward development. More often, staffs are made up of volunteers who desire to contribute to the achievement of the organisations goal.

The Resonant leadership Styles for Youth Management
Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee in 2002 have described six leadership styles which they categorized as either resonant or dissonant styles (Chism 200943). Resonant styles of leadership foster the group members to feel a sense of belongingnes and security to each other and reflect the leaders enthusiasm. These types of leadership that include affiliative, coaching, democratic and authoritative leadership are common to emotionally intelligent leaders. On the other hand, dissonant styles, which include pacesetting and coercive leaderships, foster lack of harmony, high expectations and controlling behaviours (Chism 200943).

In youth work as well as in other community works, the different resonant styles of leadership are interchangeably being used to encourage and ensure members participation, inclusion, equality and security. On dealing with vulnerable young population, managers are expected to be democratic, authoritative, affiliative, andor supportive to youths. It is important to note that in order to achieve youth development, managers must first build certain relationships with the diverse youths. Any resonant style of leadership can be employed as each style requires leaders or managers to build relationship, empower and support other people, especially the vulnerable ones. The same types of leaderships are also being carried when dealing with other institutions andor agencies especially when the manager or the organisation is trying to get supports and resources through partnerships (Peterson 200465).

The Seven S in the Youth Organisation
Another important theory used in youth work is McKinseys 7s Framework for it is usable in facilitating changes. The seven  S stand for (1) strategy (2) shared values (3) style (4) structure (5) systems (6) skills and (7) staff (Blair and Meadows 199628-29). To deliver services and produce positive outcomes relating to the development and improvement of the youths, youth organisations are inclined to use structures and systems that facilitate a rapid response to the needs of the young population. The structure should be aligned with the goals - mission and vision - of the organisation which aim to address the numerous problems of the youths. Moreover, the staffs are chosen depending on their skills and shared values that are also aligned with the organisations objectives and rationale for existence. Meanwhile, the youth organisation system is concerned on the procedures and routine flows of information, on ways of managing and using available resources the technologies, and on leading, managing, and rewarding the organisations staffs. Staffs of the youth organisation are motivated to use their appropriate skills and values that give importance to youth needs, services and development and attempts to address the problems and difficulties of the vulnerable young population. And finally, the leadership or management styles that are suited in any youth organisation are that of facilitator and coach rather than coercive and  pacesetting style (Blair and Meadows 199628).

The Need for Transactional Leaders
Contemporary theorists often differentiate leaders and managers. But for Blagg and Young (qtd. McKimm and Phillips 20096) the most effective leaders are those who manifest both leadership and managerial skills, thus, a transactional leader. To further illustrate, upon creating the agenda, a transactional leader is keen on planning and budgeting and in establishing the organisations direction. He ensures that there is a detailed plan and appropriate budget, time, capital and resources that are made available in order to produce the expected results. In developing the organisations human resources, a transactional leader does the organising and staffing and aligning. He analyses the type of individual best that fits each job and considers what part of the plan fits each individual. He also communicates goals, seek commitments from human resources and build teams and coalitions. Upon executing the plan, transactional leader manifests controlling and problem solving skills. He is good in monitoring results, identifying deviations from the plan and solving problems. He also motivates and inspires everyone. Thus, the outcomes come with a sense of predictability and order. Furthermore, Blagg and Young further emphasised that, Leaders must pick causes they wont abandon easily, remain committed despite setbacks, and communicate their big ideas over and over again in every counter (qtd. Shavinina 2003827).

Youth organisation is made up of different groups and individuals and is always involved in collaborative partnerships with government and agencies and organisations. Since funding and policy are often the sources of problems and issues of many youth organisations, it is only advisable that they should have transactional leaders who posses both leadership and management skills. Such skills would enable the leaders to appropriately deal with diverse group of youths, with government entities and with private individuals. In addition, transactional leaders would aid the youth organisation in solving their funding and policy problems as they are more committed to the cause and can easily communicate their ideas to other people or entities.

The Role of Government in Youth Work
Too often, the public sector is portrayed as inefficient, wasteful and unwilling to embrace change, with slow and cumbersome bureaucratic structures. As Pollitt (200332) noted, the public sector is like a dinosaur, too big, too slow-moving, too insensitive, insufficiently adaptable, and seriously underpowered as far as brains are concerned. To solve this problem, the public sector is encouraged to commit themselves to managerialism whereas management function is separated from organisational function progress is seen in terms of productivity increased productivity comes from using information and organisational technologies measurement and qualification are increased customer orientation is central and boundaries between the public, private and voluntary sectors are blurred (Pollit 2003). The governments most important roles in youth work rest on creating sound policies that effectively address the many difficulties and problems of youth and providing financial resources and other support services to youth organisations.

It is a known fact that many young populations continue to experience problems that are related to their negative behaviours and to the detrimental outcomes of their actions. As youths are considered as an important part of the society, it is only proper that their problems and difficulties are addressed. Youth workers play an important role in assisting and helping the young population to meet their needs and help them develop into functioning and competitive individuals. To become effective in leading and managing the young population, youth workers need to be aware of different issues and concerns that affect the youths and their locality. The most important objective of a youth worker is to satisfy the needs of the youths and address the difficulties and problems that they encounter. Youth workers should also be competent in influencing government support in creating and implementing favourable policies that would address various issues concerning the vulnerable youth population and in getting the needed supports (e.g. financial, staff and training and equipment). The youth workers must also encourage community participation by working collaboratively with community members, organisations, and agencies. Indeed, the role of a youth worker is not solely on leading and managing the youths but it extends to working collaboratively with other institutions, organisations, agencies and private individuals so that they will be able to get the needed supports and resources that will be used in providing the needed services of the young population.