Planning education with and for youth

Abstract

Part I of the publication comprises an introduction and four chapters, as follows: • An Introduction to the issues and key concepts referred to in the publication (youth, engagement, and educational planning). • Chapter 1 outlines the rationale for youth engagement in education, including the right to be heard, the benefi ts to young people themselves, and the potential contribution of youth as social development actors to community and societial well-being. • Chapter 2 considers the challenges of youth engagement in decision-making, including att itudes towards and perceptions about youth, and the enduring nature of tokenistic forms of participation. • Chapter 3 presents some strategies to encourage and support the process of youth engagement in educational planning through concrete examples referred to in the literature. • Chapter 4 off ers a list of recommendations on how educational planners can adopt concrete measures to plan education with and for youth. Part II presents an overview of ‘youth engagement’ as described in national education and youth policies and plans from 54 countries, and examines the extent to which young people have been engaged in national policy and planning processes, the diff erent ways in which young people are engaged, and the challenges that countries face when including young people as partners in participatory processes. The in-country examples provided in the review demonstrate that young people are currently engaged in their education at four different levels: within school and tertiary education governance, in shaping their own learning, in educational policy and planning processes, and in monitoring and evaluating their education.