Why do we do what we do | Theory

Context is the backdrop to a theory of change. Thinking about context includes reflecting on the following;

  • Nature, scale, causes, and consequences of the issue or area your provision focuses on;
  • The opportunity that you’re seeking to seize upon;
  • Strengths, needs, and interests of the young people you aim to support; and
  • Things that affect these young people and their lives.
     

Thinking about this question involves questioning your assumptions and examining what evidence is available to support your understanding of your context.

Starting point

Start here if you are a youth practitioner new to evaluation and quality improvement design:

Conducting a Needs Analysis - a practical example

If you’d like to understand more about what a ‘Needs Analysis’ is and how to conduct one, take a look at this article published by researchers at Goldsmiths University in 2020. It gives a clear description of how the local context was understood via ONS and government data, and then how  a survey was deployed to assess the needs and wants of the local community.

Go to site

Developing an Outcomes Framework for your provision

If you are looking for current thinking about the most important outcomes for young people, you may find the most recent Framework of Outcomes for Young People 2.1 helpful. This paper from the College outlines why socio-emotional skills are the most important outcome of informal youth provision, what they are, how they are acquired, developed and transferred, and how they are measured.

Read the report

Learn more about socio-emotional skills

If you are looking to take a deeper dive into what social-emotional skills (SES) are, why they are so important, and learn about the adult practices that promote SES growth in high-quality youth provision, this paper from the College (2022) may be helpful. The paper complements the Framework of Outcomes, providing more information about the research and evidence base.

Read the report

Advanced

Resources to build on your experience of evaluation frameworks and continuous quality improvement:

Read: Understanding the factors that enable an effective local youth provision

Research commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) in May 2019 to better understand the factors that facilitate or hamper the development of an effective local youth offer. Across different delivery models operating in 9 regional areas around the UK, 6 common enablers of effective local youth provision are identified and described.

Read the report

Read: Understanding what young people want

If you’re looking for a national picture, you can read the findings of the government’s 2020 Youth Review consultation with 6000 young people and the youth sector about what young people want.  The government’s response and priorities to 2025 are also detailed.

Go to site

Read: A Theory of Change for open access youth work

This document guides you through the steps taken by the Youth Investment Fund organisations to develop a shared theory of change.

Read the guide

Read: Learn about the link between education and employment outcomes

If you’re looking for information about the connection between education and employment outcomes, this series of reports (2019-2020) by funder Impetus and the National Institute for Social and Economic Research (NIESR) offers several evidence-based insights using the government’s Longitudinal Educational Outcomes (LEO) data.

Go to site