4WDfoundation’s Naomi Jane and Livity’s Sam Conniff presenting about NEETs based upon their own lifestories. Using one’s own lifestory seems to be the key to their approach to education. They talk about peer-to-peer story telling as a powerful way of learning.

They feel business and industry are not engaged in the education of NEETs and they need to be.

NEET seems to be a dangerous term as it classifies people as ‘not’ something.

Recognise that learning also takes place in informal learning situations and leads to an informal ‘economy’. ‘Live’ is a project being run for young people, classified as NEET, which gives them the chance to work in real-life situations.

Education seems to condition pupils to consume learning for short term gains, such as passing exams, whereas informal learning can lead to long term skills for living. Young people are more engaged in learning when engaged in creative activities. They see creativity as important as maths. I cannot argue on the importance of creativity but surely its effectiveness depends upon the personality and learning style of the learner ?

Managing anger is a difficult issue, for which they have devised a ‘social chameleonism’ approach to show young people how to act in different situations.

NEETs experience high stress situation which can create barriers between them and educational experiences, this then affects other factors such as self value and attitude to life/death. Call for focus on ‘trauma management’ to provide tool for young people to support themselves through traumatic experiences.

Entrepreneurial spirit to provide skills for planning, financial responsibility etc. £45k to keep a young person in detention but a new business takes £25k to start up. So it is cheaper for a young person to set up as an entrepreneur rather than allow them to fall into the criminal detention system.

Becoming an entrepreneur ‘can’ break the cycle of NEETs becoming young criminals and also gives them some degree of control of their lives.

Livity have devised a ‘purpose curve’ to create the impetus to push NEETs forward in a positive direction.

It seems to me that Livity have so many great approaches to working with their audience but that must also surely make it very difficult for them to market their services compared to one clear defined product/service. On the other hand, it is clear the NEET population is a very varied group with a wide range of issues and they benefit from having specialised approaches.

It is refreshing to hear that they believe in the unlimited positive potential in their clients, this is often in contrast to the young person’s view of themselves. Maybe for many of them, this could be the first time they have worked with anyone who feels they, the young person, is valued and has great potential.

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