A Project Collaboration Between True Quest Pty Ltd and HUME Community Housing Association
Breaking Brick Walls will utilise innovative education strategies to address the barriers faced by youth who are unemployed; our core teaching strategies are founded on contemporary drama education principals
and, by positioning youth as the investigators and directors of their own future, our program will promote essential social capabilities including social inclusion, self-determination, self-efficacy and leadership potential.
Why should you help?
The primary goal of our proposed program, by True Quest Pty Ltd and HUME Community Housing Association, is the provision of a forum that will allow young people who are unemployed to gain control and influence the way
in which they progress into the future. Furthermore, participants will have the opportunity to explore their creative potential within the arts sector, celebrating their triumphs and dreams for the future as they recognise and build self-confidence and self-belief
within themselves. Fundamentally, this program seeks to redefine how young people who are unemployed view themselves, empowering them with all the aforementioned capabilities to assist successful transition into adulthood.
In contemporary language, the terms 'job' and 'career' are often synonymous however, in the context of this program, they are conceptually different. A 'job', defined as "an activity through which an individual
can earn money", is often something individuals do short-term whereas a 'career', defined as "the pursuit of a life-long ambition or the general course of progression towards life-time goals", is what individuals often strive to achieve their whole life.
Breaking Brick Walls will aim not to provide young people with jobs, but foster career aspirations and empower young people with the appropriate skills and knowledge to reach for a career that they will persist with long-term. Our program will aim to unlock
intrinsic motivation and set a course for success that will not only help the young people themselves prosper but also assist in the creation of a community that thrives economically, socially, culturally, and politically.
We believe community change begins with individuals and we need your help to combat the growing prevelance of youth unemployment within Australia, specifically within the Parramatta LGA. The youth of today will be the leaders of our future generations and
it is essential that we cultivate a community of youth who are inspired and determined to achieve success for themselves and the communities in which they live!
How is the program structured?
Why do we believe our program for unemployed youth is essential?
Breaking Brick Walls has been designed for the Parramatta region in light of it’s identification as New South Wales worst youth unemployed hotspot, with a youth unemployment rate of 16.8%.
Almost 1 in 5 young people within the Parramatta region are unemployed. In order to reach the goals of Parramatta 2038, youth unemployment needs to become a priority; by entering the program Breaking Brick Walls, unemployed youth in the Parramatta region
will have the opportunity to develop skills necessary for employment while receiving vocational guidance and mentoring to assist in the completion of short and long-term career goals.
Despite the immense opportunities provided by globalisations, young people who lack educational qualifications, skills, work experience and/or social literacy capabilities are finding it increasingly hard to secure long-term
job security. Extended periods out of the workforce or education sector situates our youth in a debilitating position, pushing them further towards a life of social exclusion and poverty. As a result, it is essential that our youth have access to transitional
services that will assist in entry or return to the workforce.
In alignment with Parramatta 2038 Community Strategic Plan objectives, Breaking Brick Walls seeks to unlock the socio-economic bricks that prevent active citizenship and participation within the Parramatta region, producing
confident individuals who have the social, digital, and pre-vocational skills necessary to improve their quality of life.
Source: Brotherhood of St Laurence
What strategies do we use that make us different?
Drama pedagogy and practice has become a viable tool within the 21st century, communicating social justice inequities and, more importantly, a tool of investigation into human action and reaction; through engagement with drama, the models by which individuals
construct identity and define ideals, aspirations, values, and conventional patterns of communal behaviour can be explored, analysed, and dissected.
In addition, contemporary academic research advocates the use of drama pedagogies to explore problems, situations, themes or related ideas through the use of the artistic medium of unscripted drama. The primary aim of engaging young people who are unemployed
in drama based education is the empowerment of young people as they are provided with a safe space to reveal suppressed storylines and re-imagine their lives through externalising and re-authoring their stories. At its most basic, externalising the problem
separates the young people from their problem- saturated stories, moving the stories into a new space that previously was not noticed by participants, and therefore opening up new opportunities for young people to analyse and revaluate previous situations
or experiences, creating alternative solutions and results that foreground a successful future. Participants will participate in a variety of experientially based learning activities, engaging in action research that stimulates a heuristic learning experience.
Show your support by pledging funds to our campaign and help us to help those who hold the future of Parramatta in their hands!
