Youth Development Practitioners Research Articles

Book Review: (Re)Defining the Goal: The True Path to Career Readiness in the 21st Century

In (Re)Defining the Goal: The True Path to Career Readiness in the 21st Century, author Kevin Fleming presents his an extensively researched approach for deconstructing the prevalent “one-size-fits-all” education paradigm. The book provides a new perspective with replicable strategies and outlines 6 proven steps to help young people thrive in the evolving workforce. Youth development practitioners will find the topics discussed relevant and practical as they guide their clientele toward personality-aligned careers and not just toward college.

Increasing Latinx Youth Engagement Across Different Types of After-School Organizations

This article explores how Latinx youth engagement practices vary across different types of out-of-school organizations that successfully sustain Latinx youth participation. Data are drawn from a qualitative study of 13 California organizations that each emphasize one of 3 missions: social justice youth development, “one-stop” wrap-around services, or academic enrichment. While all organizations are found to adhere to a core set of Latinx youth development guiding principles, there are nuanced differences in how they are operationalized in practice across varied organization types, reflecting variation in terms of discourse, scale, and scope. These findings highlight the need for youth development practitioners and collaborating researchers to understand the context of youth-serving organizations when identifying and implementing promising practices and extension programs.

Youth and Gang Violence in African Townships: Exploring the Link to Exclusion from Recreational Facilities

Research shows that recreational facilities play a pivotal role in youth development, including reducing levels of delinquency and taking the youth off the streets where they are vulnerable to many social ills. However, in South Africa, it appears that many poor African townships have been excluded from accessing this fundamental human right. This article discusses the experiences of youths from Nyanga in the Western Cape and Bophelong in Gauteng, who perceive to have been excluded from accessing well-resourced recreational facilities. Principally, the article explores the way in which this exclusion has influenced youth gang violence. The article adopts an exploratory, qualitative approach to obtain an in-depth understanding of the participants’ perceptions of the topic. Face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were conducted and the data were analysed using the data analysis approach developed by Tesch. The findings show that relevant youth development practitioners have excluded African youths from fully and actively participating in recreational activities. As a result, many of the youths are idle and this has increased their vulnerability to gangs and problem behaviour. The findings also show that there is a link between youth, troubled behaviour, and exclusion from recreational facilities. A conclusion is that well-resourced recreational facilities can help reduce youth gang involvement in marginalised communities. It is recommended that relevant youth development practitioners provide infrastructure and recreational services to offer marginalised youths alternatives to engaging in gangs and violence.

Research-Practice Partnerships as Community-Engaged Learning: Lessons Learned from a Collaborative Project with Youth Development Programs

To bridge the gap between community-engaged learning and research-practice partnerships, we describe our experiences in a project jointly conceptualized and implemented by undergraduate students and youth development practitioners over the course of two academic semesters. The project offered students the opportunity to apply the skills they learned through coursework in a way that also supported the needs of community practitioners, providing both groups with opportunities to learn from each other. In this paper we describe the collaborative project, our process, the challenges we faced, and the impact of the project on the student researchers and the youth development practitioners. Written by representatives of both the student researchers and the practitioner collaborators, we hope this paper will inspire others to incorporate students in research-practice partnerships and that our reflections on the strengths and challenges of this process will facilitate more effective implementation of community-engaged scholarship in the future.

The Experience of Learning: Early Adolescents in Organized Youth Programs

Although researchers and policymakers have focused on school as the critical place in which learning occurs, organized youth programs offer different environments in which early adolescents can learn. However, early adolescent learning in organized youth programs is an under-researched area of learning, which may limit the ability of youth development practitioners to respond appropriately to early adolescent learning needs. The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of learning in an organized youth program by finding meaning in early adolescents’ lived experience through a phenomenological methodology. For youth in this study, learning in an organized program is an experience of discovering new ways of seeing themselves and others in their worlds. Learning is comprised of feelings of anxiety that are tempered with the comfort young people find within themselves. Learning is also a relational experience marked by an emerging sense of ownership that shapes one’s sense of self. This study invites youth development practitioners to recognize the significant role they can play in cultivating early adolescent learning

Youth Practitioners Can Counter Fascism: What We Know and What We Need

Fascist, White nationalist, and misogynist groups are actively recruiting adolescent followers both online and in person. Youth development practitioners can play an important role in mitigating the influence of fascist ideologies on young people’s behavior and reducing the proliferation of youth-perpetrated harassment and violence. In this paper, we present a theoretical integration that draws on empirical research from multiple disciplines and youth development best practices to examine how youth practitioners can counter fascist recruitment of youth. There is much that youth development researchers and practitioners already know and do, or have the capacity to learn and do, that can mitigate the threat of fascist recruitment and deter young people from developmental trajectories leading them towards harmful ideologies and actions. In order to support youth development practitioners in effectively embodying this potential, we detail 3 sets of activities: (a) immunizing youth to reduce susceptibility to fascist recruitment, (b) intervening in fascist recruitment of specific youth, and (c) counter-recruiting youth into community organizing for social justice. For each set of activities, we describe the goals of each component, propose concrete actions it may entail, and highlight existing research and best practices in the field that can be applied to this current challenge. We then propose next steps in research–practice integration to further improve relevant strategies and point to existing resources for supporting youth in resisting fascist recruitment.

Illuminating the Process of Youth Development: The Mediating Effect of Thriving on Youth Development Program Outcomes

This paper examines the relationship between the developmental contexts of youth programs and resultant developmental outcomes, and explores whether the developmental process of thriving mediates this relationship. Developmental context is proposed to consist of three elements: (1) youth sparks, (2) program quality, and (3) developmental relationships. Combined, these elements describe youth program context more precisely than in previous studies, allowing for a clearer understanding of effective program settings. Likewise, the process of youth thriving provides insight into the mechanism through which youth development occurs. Sufficient model fit, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the 4-H Thriving scale were determined through a multi-phase confirmatory factor analysis. As hypothesized, structural equation modeling revealed a full mediational effect of youth thriving on developmental outcomes. The results of this study guide youth development practitioners to focus on the quality of the developmental context of youth programs and the ways in which programs can promote youth thriving.

A Summer of Discovery at Filipino Cultural School

Culturally specific youth development programs have a strong influence on the identity development of a number of youth from diverse cultural backgrounds. The following essay details a young person’s experiences while attending a cultural school and provides important implications for youth development practitioners who serve youth from various cultural backgrounds and experiences.

Living Biculturally

Immigrant youth navigate a number of environments. Oftentimes these young people find themselves in between two spaces: one environment where they have to act a specific way in order to fit in with their peers and another environment where they can truly be themselves because there is a shared sense of culture with their peers. The following essay provides a glimpse into the life of one young person as she navigates what she refers to as a “split reality.” Highlighting experiences around use of language and religion, this essay provides insightful perspectives for youth development practitioners.

Strategies to Scale Up Social Programs: Pathways, Partnerships and Fidelity

Strategies to Scale Up Social Programs: Pathways, Partnerships and Fidelity (Larson, Dearing, & Backer, 2017) summarizes a comparative case study of 45 social programs that scaled up. Three pathways, various partnerships, and fidelity considerations are discussed. This resource, commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, will be helpful to youth development organization leaders desiring to scale up. Youth development practitioners will benefit from the discussion on fidelity considerations in implementation.

Entrepreneurial intention of undergraduate students of G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar

Entrepreneurship can positively impact human resource market by creating employment and economic opportunity, something that is of urgent need. Agriculture sector has immense untapped potential and huge busi-ness prospects for young entrepreneurs. Thus, to have an insight into these issues present study was undertaken to find out the socioeconomic, personal and psychological characteristics of undergraduate students along with their entrepreneurial intention. The study was conducted at College of Agriculture, G.B.P.U.A. and T. Pantnagar. Fifty five students from each, third year and final year of B.Sc. Agriculture were selected as respondents through simple random sampling technique using chit method. Analytical research design was used for the present study. Detailed pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 110 respondents for collection of data. Findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents (60.91 %) belonged to middle age group and were female (55.55 %), belonged to general caste (60.91 %) and had received their basic education in English (72.73 %). Regarding the entrepreneurial intention of undergraduate students of agriculture, it was found that majority of the respondents (59.09 %) had mod-erate level of entrepreneurial intention, while 23.64 % of the respondents had low entrepreneurial intention and only 17.27 % students had high entrepreneurial intention. The findings of this study may help all stakeholders (policy makers, researchers, private institutions, entrepreneurship educators and youth development practitioners) who are concerned with developing youth entrepreneurship in the country.

Understanding Youth Development From the Practitioner's Point of View: A Call for Research on Effective Practice

This article calls for research on the expertise of youth development practitioners. We argue for studies focused on understanding youth practice from practitioners' points of view—as they experience and enact it—with the aim of contributing findings and frameworks that are helpful to their work and learning. To improve youth programs, first, it is essential to better understand the challenges frontline staff face in their work. We review evidence showing that running a program and facilitating youth development is more challenging and multidimensional than is generally appreciated. Second, it is essential to understand the strategies effective practitioners employ to address these challenges. Studies indicate that the expertise of frontline staff is central to program impact; we review findings suggesting the diverse, contextually-attuned skills this expertise entails. Case studies in three domains of decision-making (designing programs, youth's motivation, and ethical dilemmas) are used to provide a vision for this research.

Youth development practitioners and their relationships in schools and after‐school programs

AbstractThis article examines the kinds of relationships that nonteacher educators, especially youth development practitioners working in after‐school settings, have with students. It addresses the fact that these adults in schools have an explicit youth‐oriented and relational approach, find out many productive and anxiety‐provoking facts about their students, and often do not have sufficient training and supervision to deal with the problems that emerge. It also examines the issue that the roles of these practitioners are varied and differ from the often very defined roles of other school personnel. The article divides the typical functions of the youth development practitioner into three main domains: educator, mentor, and connector.

Positive Youth Development in the 21st Century: Exploring Online Environments

The manner that young people and adults are communicating with each other is rapidly changing in society that is, in part, driven by the latest technology. As a youth-driven program, we must engage in new strategies and methods by which we communicate with youth members, volunteers, families, and the community at large. Social and mobile media are a growing and popular venue for much of our target audience and youth development practitioners must learn how to leverage these networks to create positive youth development in online environments. If we ignore and don’t engage in the opportunity to be connected to youth online, then youth are left to make their own paths online and set the online norms. As youth organizations, we also must seize the opportunity to be online mentors and use the resources that are available and being used by our target populations.

John Coleman and Ann Hagell (Eds): Adolescence, Risk and Resilience: Against the Odds

In Adolescence, Risk and Resilience: Against the Odds, John Coleman and Ann Hagell compile an impressive group of chapters to support their view that adolescence is a period that should be framed positively. The purpose of the book was to explore the concept of risk and resilience and to outline various ways in which these topics relate to the period of adolescence. The editors focus on four ways to consider the term risk: risk factors, risk behavior, young people at risk, and young people who pose a risk to society. The editors’ collection show how, although many adolescents are confronted with risk and adversity, they may still become resilient to these difficulties by implementing protective factors in their lives and making positive adjustments after exposure to significant risk or adversity. The persuasive evidence and clear presentation of this book make it evident that professionals will indeed have greater success when working with at risk youth if they emphasize their strengths and positive abilities. However, generalizing a policy or practice that strives to emphasize only the good in all adolescents who have experienced adversities may not always be the most effective procedure, depending on youth and their circumstances (see Sullivan et al. 2010; Wright et al. 2010). According to research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs, youth development practitioners, policy makers, and prevention scientists have reached the same conclusions about stimulating better outcomes for youth. They call for expanding programs that focus on a multitude of problem behaviors and consider both the positive and negative behavior of each individual. Because the same risk and protective factors that studies have shown predict problem behaviors are also important in predicting positive outcomes, it is necessary to consider both the positive and negative experiences of youth (Catalano et al. 1998) as well as their social environments (see Cleveland et al. 2010). However, the editors have structured this book extremely well, and offered many beneficial suggestions for using a positive approach in intervening in the lives of youth. By using the approaches suggested in the chapters of this book, policy makers and development practitioners will promote social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and moral competence. Chapter 1 describes the terms risk and resilience, and what they can mean for troubled adolescents. Because the term resilience has come to denote different ideas, the authors attempt to define resilience clearly in the context of this book. The authors first pair risk and resilience as they argue that one cannot consider the resilience of a particular adolescent without first considering the risks they have come up against. Protective factors, such as strong familial relationships and communication, help to ensure adolescent resilience. However, rarely does only one risk or protective factor make a large difference. Rather, it is the cumulative effects of both risk and protective factors that most significantly determine whether the adolescent will become resilient. Also, risk is different in its nature. For example, one can be exposed to long-term chronic risk or acute trauma. According to the authors, it is necessary to experience some degree of risk in order to develop resilience. Without risk, they question whether there is a need for resilience. The authors persuasively describe resilience as dynamic process. Because resilience arises as a result of the interaction between protective factors and risk, it is a process rather than a personality characteristic. They further argue that resilience should not be viewed as something one has or does not have; it is not an outcome. Many types of A. Bechtel (&) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: bechtela@umail.iu.edu

Promoting children's ethical development through social and emotional learning

In today's climate of increased emphasis on measuring achievement through high-stakes testing, academic subjects are too often divorced from the social context in which they are taught. We know that learning is a social process. In fact, many educators and other youth development practitioners recognize that social, emotional, and ethical development cannot be ignored in the name of better academic preparation, especially in the face of data showing that students are more disengaged than ever before. Social and emotional learning (SEL) offers educators and other youth development personnel a framework for addressing students' social and emotional needs in systematic way. SEL is the process of acquiring the skills to recognize and manage emotions, develop caring and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging situations effectively. Research has shown that SEL has an impact on every aspect of children's development: their health, ethical development, citizenship, academic learning, and motivation to achieve. This chapter profiles one school in Illinois that has been implementing SEL programming for a number of years. The authors provide evidence of the impact of SEL on school climate, student behavior, and attitudes. Ultimately the authors see this as fostering the kind of understanding of the larger world that leads young people to make ethical choices. They propose that the lessons learned are applicable to a wide variety of settings, including other schools, after-school programs, and summer camps.

The Role of Youth Surveys in Community Youth Development Initiatives

Youth development practitioners and involved citizens can become confused when confronted with multiple approaches to understanding youth needs and improving communities as contexts for youth development. To reduce that confusion, this article describes 3 youth development surveys: the Communities That Care (CTC) Youth Survey; Search Institute's Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors; and the Teen Assessment Project. It also compares the strategies promoted by CTC and Search Institute. This article summarizes the results of an informal study asking representatives of upstate New York communities, that have used the surveys and strategies, about their experiences.