Social intervention targeted at the young people who come under child protection has faced new challenges in Europe over the last few decades (new forms of poverty and exclusion, structural changes) which led public policies to increasingly favour targeted approaches at the expense of more general wide-ranging approaches. The idea of « youth at risk » has spread into the mass media as well as into the public policy guidelines – encompassing both the youngsters who are in a situation of danger for themselves and the young persons deemed representing a danger to others. This second profile has received a greater focus since the young of the so-called « sensitive » districts are more and more seen as a threat to public order and to civic life. Social educators therefore need to be provided with new tools and methods to be able to help such people re-mobilise their potential in order to escape stigmatisation from society’s view of them and their own perception of themselves. It is crucial to provide them with the social and personal competence which will enable them to come back into the social framework. Those young who are looking for meaning in their lives, have less opportunities for vocational, civic, citizen education and mobility than the population in general. Their precarious professional, social and cultural situation demands that they be presented with projects relating to themes with which they are concerned. They are caught in a communication based world in which image is paramount, where information is immediately broadcasted without any filter nor caution. ‘IMAGES’ aims at enabling such young people who come under child protection, issued from quite various horizons, to compare their views, situations and feelings and to gain means for « resolving » their difficulties, despite apparently unrelated environments and cultures, through photo reporting. Due to this individual and collective resilience framework, the obvious benefits will be to enable them to commit themselves and to carry their views through this medium, to reveal and develop hidden skills that they may capitalise and use in their future life: valuing themselves will favour their narcissistic reconstruction when, in a majority of cases, their ego has collapsed. ‘IMAGES’ will offer them a self awareness through the diversity of information and the proper use of the computer tools. It also allows to meet the expectations of the specialised-education professionals looking for tools, educational innovation and openness in order to better respond to young people’s needs. Allowing them to cross their knowledge, know-hows and behaviour with those of other professionals through a co-constructivist exchange of experience will also broaden their professional prospects. Target Audience: • Young 13-25-year old people facing social, educational difficulties, non stable situations, coming under the child protection system, including young unaccompanied migrants • Social workers, educators and professionals concerned by asocio-educative animation and accompaniement. Objectives: - To enable young people restore a positive image of themselves through their commitment into a collective, open project and by multiplying the « extraordinary » experiences which will provide them back with a feeling of personal value. - To develop a critical thinking about their environment by favouring the opening to the world through an increased curiosity and by interviewing all the sources of information - To strengthen the spirit of belonging to a human collective in thouse who face educational and social difficulties, allowing them to find their right place within their own environment as a place for collective resilience. - To improve their creative, intellectual, organisational and digital skills with a view to empowerment and restoring their confidence in adults and society and thus to provide them with the power to keep control of their future, - To provide professionals with new tools, new methods and perspectives in matter of socio-educational animation. The transnational approach (between Groenland, Spain, Switzerland, France) will compare the cultural and multi-disciplinary practices (the importance of mobility for these young people, their link to « roots », the management of emotions, collective resilience, etc). Such an approach through culture and origins may be understood and begins through exchanges with others. The specific experience of Groenland, the crossing of young migrants, young in situation of drop-out, will force these young people and the professionals to reflect and prove that, in so much diverse geographical situations and socio-economical environments, the problems faced by these teenagers are similar and that the education and safety requirements, their fundamental needs, are the same.
Two objectives were pursued: 1- Strengthen the skills of child protection professionals: - promote exchanges and compare educational postures to enrich practices - allow to confront the transnational and the transcultural approaches - carry out innovative actions to increase skills and know-how. 2- Allow young people to discover a creative and acquisition potential to regain confidence and esteem: - highlight their creative and personal potential during events (looks, congratulations, passages on stage) to feed this revaluation - enhance new technical and communication skills via photo reporting thanks to professional coaching to formalize and enhance acquisitions. - for the ambassadors, spaces for transferring skills to peers generate a feeling of pride. The general aim was to sustain this experience by integrating this photoreportage tool into the socio-educational activities of the establishments involved. All confirmed this desire and listed IMAGES as a lasting achievement.
IMAGES aimed to formalize an innovative tool for mediating the educational relationship. The sharing of know-how with childcare professionals from other countries (in terms of cultures, skills benchmarks), has contributed to the strengthening of mutual skills. Photojournalism corresponds to the mode of information of adolescents who live in a world of images. The photojournalism is much more than a simple photo. The maximum amount of information must fit in a restricted format, with an immediate impact. To send a message, you have to learn a technique with photographic requirements, a well-framed method, organize your thoughts and your creation around a message based on 8 to 10 photos. We wanted to introduce teenagers with an approach to writing and above all to the "intention" of the message conveyed by the photos. Through the proposed activities, we wanted to provide them with skills that will serve them for their future through a different way of approaching communication. IMAGES also allowed them to work on their history, on their environment, on themselves. If the words are difficult to bring out, the images make it possible to put in situation certain problems.