Dream Teens Project in the Promotion of Social Participation and Positive Youth Development of Portuguese Youth

Abstract

Aim: To present a youth participatory action-research program developed in Portugal - Dream Teens project, focused on promoting social participation and active citizenship, alongside with its impacts. Methodology: In total, Dream Teens brought together 147 participants (girls=66.66%; boys=33.33%). Five studies were conducted to assess its impact: (i) pre and post test assessment of action-research skills among participants (feelings and action-oriented competencies, interpesonal skills, problem solving skills, humanitarianism and feelings towards life); (ii) analysis of the most and least prioritized themes of the program, organized in 4 different levels (cognitive, emotional, behavioral and relational); (iii) interpretation of the project’s results by core group of participants (iv) interpretation of the project's results by stakeholders; (v) action-research projects implemented by core group within their community. A multi-method and multiparticipant approach was used, using quantitative analysis software (SPSS) and qualitative analysis (NVIVO), depending on the nature of the data. Results: Although in the pre and post-test there are no statistically significant differences in any action-research skill, there is a perception of overall improvement by young people. The most prioritized themes are associated to the cognitive and relational levels (in what society and friends are concerned, respectively); and the least prioritized is the cognitive level but only for school-related topics. When interpreting the results, participants report positive impacts on personal development, actions, feelings of social support and relationships. In turn, stakeholders clarify that the absence of statistically significant impacts is common in programs that aim to promote competencies, that school is not the main concern of this generation, and that bureaucracies in accessing institutions are due to their difficulty in self-reforming. Two main projects and a conference emerged from the core group's work. Conclusions: results suggest that participatory research programs with young people can constitute important resources to promote the positive development of this population.