About

Yasmeen Ali

Yasmeen Ali- known as Yas- is a lecturer and project worker.

“Yasmeen Ali is a senior lecturer, leading on the Foundation Degree in Community Leadership.  As a practitioner she has a keen interest in developing communities and has been able to develop strong links with community organisations which feed into the development and delivery of the course.

Additional to course development Yasmeen has been heavily involved in the innovative leadership programme, Global Youth Solutions (GYS). The programme is designed to focus on the basic skill of communication and the act of listening as a key to liberation.  Much of this work is delivered nationally and internationally and the Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire has been a constant influence on Yasmeen’s work. By embedding Freire’s basic teaching principles she has been able to empower many marginalised communities and more recently used it to inform research.  At the 2014 conference Paulo Freire: Education and Transformative Practice, Yasmeen delivered a paper exploring the Freirean methods used within community development practices.  This paper was published in the book Paulo Freire and Transformative Education: Changing Lives and Transforming Communities.

Yasmeen has also developed pedagogy for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community by engaging in dialogue and embraced the oral culture, helping both parties to establish a collaborative position for critical thought.  Yasmeen’s work with the GRT community led to her co-writing a paper on how to engage marginalised groups using Freirean methods.  The publication is currently being used to inform students on the course.  This work was also recognised by the University and Yasmeen won the UCLan Stars award in 2015 for ‘unlocking potential.’

Yasmeen is currently completing an Educational Doctorate in exploring innovative community development practices used within education.  Exploring this has helped strengthen Yasmeen’s position as an influential speaker within the Arab world since 2014 as well as provide students with current and up to date knowledge of the different community development practices.

Publications

Melling, A. & Ali, Y. (2015). Travellers in Time: A Critical Dialogue with the Gypsy Travellers of Lancashire. In: Peters, M. A. & Besley, T Paulo Freire: The Global Legacy. New York: Peter Lang Publishing

Ali, Y. (2018). Using a Freirean Approach within the Global Youth Solutions Programme. In: Melling, A. & Pilkington, R. Paulo Freire and Transformative Education: Changing Lives and Transforming Communities. London: Palgrave Macmillan.”

Qualifications

MA in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

BA (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice, UCLan, 2003

Conferences

2004 ‘Youth Lead Youth’ Global Youth Leadership Conference, Langdale, Cumbria

2009 ‘Youth Lead Youth’, Global Youth Leadership Conference, Helvellyn, Cumbria

2010 ‘Youth Just Do It’, Global Youth Leadership Conference, Nelson, Lancashire

2011 ‘Youth Lead Youth’, Global Youth Leadership Conference, Nelson, Lancashire

2012 ‘Leading the Kirby Way…’, Global Youth Leadership Conference, Kirkby, Merseyside

2013 International youth Peer Education conference with Russia, Pakistan, Turkey and the USA, University of Central Lancashire.

‘Success Built to Last’, Global Youth Leadership Conference, UCLan, Lancashire

‘Be the Change’, Global Youth Solutions Conference, Balikesir, Turkey

2014 ‘Shaping the Future’ , Global Youth Solutions Conference, Bradford, Yorkshire

‘Be the Change’ , Global Youth Solutions Conference, Muscat, Oman

Paulo Freire and Transformative Education: Changing Lives and Transforming Communities, Preston, Lancashire

2015 ‘Stand up, Be Awesome…’, Global Youth Solutions Conference, Muscat, Oman

‘Shaping the Future’, Global Youth Solutions Conference, Bradford, Yorkshire