Consistency in the messiness: Report on the establishment of successful Flexible Learning Programs in Australia

This report outlines the findings from a report commissioned by Youth Plus to investigate what lessons could be learned from establishing Flexible Learning Programs (Flexis) around Australia over the last decade.

We found that the successful establishment of Flexible Learning Programs relied on an ability for the staff of Youth Plus to recognise the inherent unpredictability and need for flexibility required when working with young people who had experienced disengagement from education, while at the same time following very clear, structured decision making processes.

This complexity of working with young people forms the foundation of the Youth Plus pedagogy. The organisation identifies four guiding principles which underpin how the staff interact with the students in their care. The principles are outlined in the 2016-19 Strategic plan as:

• Respect

• Honest

• Participation

• Safe and Legal

We found that these same principles could be used to analyse and frame the decision making process that enabled the successful establishment of Flexible Learning Programs.

Expanding the principle driven pedagogy, to include how Youth Plus make decisions about staffing, student enrolment, site selection and interactions with parents and community could provide a practical framework for new programs to be established in the future.