Suchergebnisse

Given the growing interest in providing social and emotional learning opportunities within after-school and youth programs, identifying high-quality and innovative learning materials is critical. This review of the newly launched Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning framework and curriculum, developed at Emory University, provides an overview of this curriculum and its potential use in after-school and youth programs. This comprehensive learning system includes curriculum for young people from kindergarten through 12th grade and an online professional development site for those who deliver the curriculum.

Summary With thousands of youth aging out of foster care each year, caseworkers must provide various types of support and assistance to help these youth successfully transition to independent living. Collaboratively, youth and caseworkers work to create a transition care plan to develop attainable goals that enhance success across multiple domains (e.g. education, employment, etc.). Some youth struggle with meeting their goals as stated in their transition care plans. Motivational interviewing is an approach that can help elicit motivation and reinforce characteristics, such as self-efficacy, that may help youth thrive. Findings This article outlines key research on how motivational interviewing is an approach that strengthens positive youth development and can improve youth's engagement in skills, resources, and services as they age out of foster care. Data support the use of motivational interviewing with youth to improve their motivation as well as outcomes. Applications Caseworkers can apply motivational interviewing to all of their work with youth and their families in foster care. Motivational interviewing might be especially effective with case plans in order to create goals that resonate better with youth.

Youth-serving organizations offer young people an opportunity to gain skills and advance their knowledge of current and evolving technology through experiential learning. The key to ensuring that young people have meaningful learning experiences is directly related to the youth program leader who is responsible for designing and implementing these programs. Programs conducted by well-trained and well-prepared adults are an essential component of community-based interventions. To date, there is relatively limited research on how technology such as smart phones can be used in community-based programs and the success or failure of this as a strategy for delivering information and engaging young people in a program. In this paper, we discuss how technology was introduced into eight programs conducted by youth-serving organizations in the Southwest. We discuss the training of youth program leaders and their experience using technology at their sites, highlighting what worked and what was problematic, how challenges were overcome, and lessons learned.

A persistent challenge in the youth development field is the lack of a systemic approach to attracting, developing and sustaining its workforce, particularly direct service workers. While serious efforts to address workforce development have dotted the youth work landscape, especially over the last 15 years, much of this progress has been organization-specific rather than across the field or systemic (Quinn, 2004). In 2004, 30 individuals who were knowledgeable about the issues came together to address the challenge of attracting, developing and retaining youth workers. They represented diverse sectors of the field, including direct service workers, national youth-serving agencies, local and national intermediary organizations, federal agencies and corporate and foundation philanthropies. They took the bold step of designing an initial framework and strategy for a coordinated national professional development system for youth workers. They also agreed to pursue the next steps to collectively create the system (Stone, Garza, & Borden, 2005).

Online surveys are increasingly viewed as a method to expand research and evaluation capacity. This article focuses on a case study utilizing online surveys for data collection conducted by researchers at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Arizona. The National Youth Participation Study makes use of computer technology and the interest youth have in such technology. Online methods, survey design, techniques when surveying youth and lessons learned in developing the online study are shared by the authors.

AbstractCertificates, credentials, and degrees offered through institutions of higher education allow youth development professionals to acquire educational experiences that are recognized in a formal manner.

The Excellence in Youth Programming (Excel) Initiative strives to support youth programs in delivering high quality programs. The backbone of Excel is the Youth Development Observational Tool (YDOT) which allows for the virtual assessment of program staff who work with children and youth ages 9-18 years. The YDOT also allows Excel to provide structured feedback to programs. Excel has several unique features, including a virtual platform and a focus on the relationships between adults and youth participating in after-school programs. Offering structured assessment and interaction online eliminates expenses, provides convenient access for programs around the globe, and allows for unobtrusive assessment of worker-youth interactions. Excel is also integrated into a broader network of resources, tools, and research for those working with children and youth ages 9-18.

In reviewing the field of youth development, of which youth workers are a part, it is clear it has had a long and complex history that is intertwined with other disciplines. More recently youth workers have experienced a transformation of sorts, with youth programs in the past being seen exclusively as a place to play and have fun, whereas today's expectations include a much broader focus on the overall positive development of young people. This evolution has been heavily influenced by a number of societal changes that have placed increasing demands on youth programs. Today's youth workers are faced with the responsibility to promote a young person's development which often includes supporting academic success and graduation from high school, reducing risk-taking behaviors, increasing positive health attitudes, and more. Youth workers have seen their role change dramatically over the past 20 years with greater demands and increased accountability.

Understanding the role of youth workers and promoting an accurate representation of these professionals and their work requires a focus on current research, practice, and policies that capture the challenges and opportunities of the youth development workforce. An overview of this special issue of the Journal of Youth Development examines efforts to support individual youth workers, strategies organizations use to prepare and assist youth workers, and system approaches to building the capacity of the workforce in key areas such as quality and social emotional learning, and concludes with an encapsulation of interviews with 10 key leaders nationwide. They identified the overarching task as one of identification of the elements that can make the field cohesive across the different settings and programs, while supporting youth in their growth through experiences that are rooted in the science of learning and development. Finally, this special issue offers the opportunity to better understand the youth workers, examine different types of professional development pathways, explore the role that systems can play in support of these workers, and reflect on the challenges and opportunities raised by key leaders in the profession.