Youthscape Essentials, the Centre for Research, and a Minibus

If you got your driving licence after January 1997, it’s likely that like me, you haven’t got the handy bonus/heavy burden of being able to drive a minibus, on your licence.

I have a friend who is lucky enough to have that magic D1 entitlement, and his employer asked him to do the test, to allow him to drive the minibus specifically for work. He’s an accommodating kind of guy, so he agreed. He had never driven a vehicle of this size and assumed that on the day he’d have some time to familiarise himself with the minibus and the manoeuvres required.

The day came, the instructor arrived and immediately it became clear that there was no such time for himself and the vehicle to become acquainted. In fact, it was straight into the theory test and then he was behind the wheel. As someone keen to perform at all times, I feel sick to my stomach just imagining it.

Out of interest, what three things do you think a minibus driver should have at all times when carrying passengers?

Safe to say, my friend did not walk away that day with a minibus driving licence. He didn’t know the three things he must always carry, he didn’t know about the particulars of parking such a vehicle. As the questions began like a round of Hardball, he very quickly became aware of all that he didn’t yet know. He was confronted by his current blind spots.

And it strikes me that that is what great research can do for us. It asks questions that help us notice what we don’t yet know and opens up further questions we might need to explore further. Research helps us to listen well and hear the things that are effective, but also highlight the things that need our attention. It can confirm for us the narrative of how we believed change would happen and encourage us to stop and celebrate transformation, and it should also cause us to question our assumptions and reveal where we might have joined dots that simply don’t join.

And that my friends, is why I am relieved not to be sitting a minibus test, but to be working with the Youthscape’s Centre for Research being prompted to ask the questions that reveal our blind spots and assess where Youthscape Essentials is making an impact and to notice where we need to adapt and change.

Youthscape Essentials is ‘All round training for every volunteer youth leader’ and we are trying to gather meaningful data to understand what difference it is making and what else might be needed. We have a simple surveys for participants and hosts at the completion of the course, we carry out an annual deep dive phone call to track with those organisations new to Youthscape Essentials and those that have been hosting courses for a year or longer.

Another key moment in our calendar is our bi-annual community of learning, online in the winter and together over a half day in person in the summer. We all look forward to it as a team, a time to connect and hear the feedback from every context, urban and rural, northern and southern and sometimes even beyond UK. From every denomination, and with an array of volunteers and those in employed roles. Theres something quite unique about these communities of learning, something that happens as people share and bounce off one another with what they are noticing and learning. Some patterns that emerge are particular to their context, but many resonate across the room. Again the research team are able to help us analyse and make sense of what we’re hearing.

One of the recurring themes that emerged in the community of learning last year, was that leaders were trying to run the training material with young people who were stepping into leadership roles. Often this was a great way for the young people to grow and maintain their connection with the youth group.

And some of the material landed well, but it hadn’t been designed with them in mind, and it was pretty uncomfortable watching the insights in particular, where young peoples experiences were being discussed.

And so directly from Community of Learning feedback has come the development of Young Leader Essentials, going to print any day now. Just one example of how research helps us to listen well, notice our blind spots and how it can lead to new innovations.

If you have a licence to run Youthscape Essentials and would like to attend our winter Community of Learning, then we would love to see you there.

Join us Monday 20th jan 7-9pm or Wednesday 22nd 10-12 January 2025

Get in touch for more information at yse@youthscape.co.uk