The everyday and the remarkable: Valuing and evaluating youth work

Drawing on participant observation, interviews and focus groups in youth work settings, the article highlights tensions in measuring and evaluating youth work and argue that the way practice is recognised and valued by young people and youth workers is disconnected from the way it is measured, monitored and evaluated. The article begins by summarising the methods of the study and providing our definition of ‘open youth work’. It then discuss the tensions in measuring and evaluating youth work in the current political, economic and social context, before proposing three questions that should be considered when designing evaluation. It concludes by advocating for a grassroots democratic approach that centres on creating the conditions for youth work to flourish.