Suchergebnisse

As society grows increasingly diverse, it is critical that youth development professionals are equipped with cultural core competencies. This descriptive study gauged the perceived level of cultural competence among 4-H Youth Development professionals from a Southern state in the United States. Based on the 4-H Professional Research, Knowledge, and Competency (PRKC) Model (Stone & Rennekamp, 2004), youth development professionals rated their cultural competence (equity, access, and opportunity) in eight core competency areas. Based on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 = No knowledge to 4 = Expert, youth development professionals evaluated their cultural competence ranging from 0.66 to 4.00. According to an interpretive scale, most youth development professionals rated their competence as intermediate. Participants reported the skills of active listening and an open attitude as areas in which they felt most competent. Areas of least competence were community outreach policies and procedures. No significant relationships existed between the demographic variables of gender, degree earned, and field of study when compared to perceived cultural competence. The findings will be used to detect deficiencies and create opportunities for professional training and development experiences in supporting the cultural competence and growth of youth professionals.

Youth ownership and engagement are foundational pieces of the service - learning cycle. Youth voice is posited as a promising practice for building engagement and ownership. As community programs search for proven methods of sustaining youth participation, research that examines the links between practice and outcomes is essential. This study is a phenomenological examination of how adolescents in a non - formal youth development program make meaning of having a voice and its contributions to their ownership and engagement of the program. Findings indicate that an autonomy - supportive environment is a prerequisite for engagement and ownership to develop.

This paper discusses a national study designed to identify and describe obstacles to youth voice in the decision-making process in the 4-H youth development program from the perception of three distinct populations - State 4-H Program Leaders, 4-H State Youth Development Specialists, and 4-H Youth Agents/Educators. When examining these professionals' views on the barriers affecting youth voice in the decision-making process, time and scheduling seem to consistently present the largest barrier to youth voice. Involvement in the decision-making process provides a wide range of hurdles including the opportunity structures, involvement procedures, representation and dynamics within the process. Adult power and control provides a significant hurdle to authentic engagement of youth voice in the decision-making progress. Respect barriers were described by concepts such as preconceived notions, trust and valuing input. Additional barriers were identified including organizational culture, lack of transportation, lack of knowledge/experience, lack of preparation, lack of training, fear, misguided leadership, unclear expectations, participation, staffing and lack of resources.

Retention of volunteers and participants is a critical concern for programs that rely on their manpower, but limited empirical research exists, especially on youth volunteers. This descriptive, cross-sectional quantitative study examined the influence of volunteer motivation, participation, and science project type on the retention of 4-H youth volunteers ages 12 to 19 years participating in science projects in 3 states. An instrument was created for this study that included both existing survey scales and researcher-developed items based on combined research from the citizen science, volunteer development, and youth development fields. The research revealed that consistency and engagement were correlated with the predictors of retention, but race was not. 4-H science programs have a significantly higher likelihood of retaining youth participants than 4-H citizen science programs. Suggestions for youth educators to develop retention strategies are discussed based on the findings and future research into youth volunteer engagement is proposed.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the perceived level of competence among 4-H Youth Development Agents from a Southern state in the United States. The findings will be used to identify gaps in and opportunities for professional training and development experiences in supporting the competence and growth of youth professionals. Based on the 4-H Professional Research, Knowledge, and Competency Model (Stone & Rennekamp, 2004), youth development professionals rated their youth development competence in nine youth development core competency areas. Utilizing a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1=no knowledge to 5=expert, youth development professionals rated their youth development competence ranging from 3.12 to 3.54. According to an interpretive scale, youth development professionals rated their competence as intermediate. Staff felt most competent in the areas of current youth issues, career opportunities for youth, and family structures/relationships. Staff felt least competent in the area of mental development of youth. No one identified themselves as an expert in the areas of psychological development, emotional development, and current youth issues.

The purpose of the study discussed was to determine if youth voice affects the ownership and engagement of youth in a county 4-H program. A youth-led approach was used with the treatment group to facilitate youth and adults sharing decision-making power. The comparison group utilized an adult-centered approach where decisions about the club programming were made strictly by the adults. A pre- and post-measurement design was used. Analysis of covariance was employed to determine if differences existed between youth participating in the treatment group and comparison groups and if differences existed between youth based on race. Findings indicated statistically significant differences between the treatment and comparison groups on all three constructs and statistically significant differences between Caucasian and non-Caucasian youth on the constructs of ownership and relationship with adults. It was concluded that, in programs incorporating voice, youth experience more ownership and engagement and have a more positive relationship with adults.

Results of a study aimed at determining the factors affecting the level of inclusiveness of youth voice in the decision-making process of the 4-H youth development program are discussed in this paper. State and field level 4-H professionals identified potential factors which affect youth voice in the decision-making process. The information gathered was utilized to identify the degree to which youth voice was incorporated in the decision-making process, to better understand how to suit youth's needs, identify promising practices, and diagnose barriers towards fostering youth voice within the 4-H youth development program. This feature article presents the findings of the study, and discusses potential ramifications and remedies.

A teacher's willingness to accept inclusion has been identified as an indicator of the quality of experience that a student with special needs will have in the classroom The purpose of this exploratory study was twofold: (1) to describe the overall perceptions of working with students with special needs and (2) to determine how teachers in Louisiana are currently working with students with special needs. A total of 152 teachers attended the Louisiana agricultural education teacher's summer conference with 43% completing a three part survey instrument. Data analysis indicated that teachers are confident in their ability to work with students with special needs and they agree that they can incorporate various areas of inclusion within their programs. However, they disagreed that they have received adequate in-service opportunities related to special education. Regarding educational strategies, teachers in this study identified all of the given inclusion strategies as being used regularly in their programs with the exception of tutoring after school. They also identified these educational practices as being highly effective within their programs. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, additional research is recommended to further investigate the in-service and training needs of teachers in Louisiana.

This paper is the result of a voluntary service-learning component in a qualitative research methods course. For this course, the service-learning project was the evaluation of the benefits to volunteers whom work a crisis hotline for a local crisis intervention center. The service-learning course model used in this paper most closely resembles the problem-based service-learning course model where students work as consultants. This paper focuses on the processes involved and the benefits to students in improving their qualitative research skills through the service-learning project.