Professionalizing youth development: the role of higher education

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

Negotiating accommodations so that work-based education facilitates career development for youth with disabilities

Workers with disabilities are entitled to have their individual needs accommodated in a way that allows them to perform the essential duties of their job. However, adults with disabilities are often lacking in career development and are ill-prepared to negotiate workplace accommodations. This has led educators to seek workplaces that can accommodate the needs of adolescents with disabilities, so these adolescents can learn to negotiate accommodations and enhance their career development through work-based education. This paper reports on two case studies in which employers had agreed to accommodate the needs of adolescents with disabilities participating in work-based education. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) framed the analyses of these two cases - a case of a student with physical disabilities and a case of a student with developmental disabilities. SCCT proves valuable in understanding the role of work-based education in the career development of disabled youth.     

Child participation and positive youth development

This article explains how a child's right to participation in healthy relationships, experiences, and opportunities promotes positive youth development. The author identifies the substantive articles related to participation, identifies and explains the social anchors vital to promoting participation, highlights the importance of the 40 developmental assets for empowering children with the capacities necessary to assert their right to participation, and concludes by calling for a national family policy guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.     

Young Together: youth,ethnicity and education

This article presents a selection of results obtained in an ethnographic study of Dutch youth and the lessons dealing with mixed ethnic community and discrimination they receive in secondary schools. The concept of ethnicity and the meaning given to ethnie diversity are crucial in the development of a dynamic multi‐ethnic society in which ethnie divisions are challenged. The article discusses the identity policy implicit in the practice of intercultural education in nine secondary schools in the Netherlands. A static outlook on ethnie identity and a schematic view of the social positions of the Dutch and immigrants with regard to each other are evident from the contents of the lessons and the way the students are addressed. This outlook corresponds zvith the dominant representation of inter‐ethnic relationships of the mixed ethnie community, and runs counter to the diversity of interpretation models that the interviewed youth had.     

Workforce development for older youth

The challenges facing youth who are disconnected from our nation's employment and education systems are expansive. Research has suggested that youth services and supports that are grounded in a developmental approach not only help young people avoid self-destructive behavior, but also enable them to acquire the academic and work-readiness skills and personal attributes that employers seek. In 1995, the National Youth Employment Coalition and its members established the Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet) to identify the key elements of quality youth programs and develop tools that would help organizations establish, connect to, and promote quality programs. PEPNet represents a standards framework that captures the key elements common to successful programs that connect youth to jobs, careers, and education. This chapter provides some insights into the current practices that have been implemented to facilitate older youth's transition to the workforce and highlights the supports youth need for successful adulthood, citizenship, and career pursuits.     

Positive youth development initiatives in Chicago

Chicago has put in place a number of interwoven structures supporting young people during out-of-school hours, emphasizing alignment between community-based organizations and public entities.     

Perspectives on spiritual development as part of youth development

Speaking to the issue of spiritual development from her extensive experience as a youth work practitioner, the author notes several ideas she finds particularly compelling, among them that spiritual development interacts with, yet is distinct from, moral and religious development; that spiritual development is a core construct of identity formation, one of the central tasks of adolescence; and that the spiritual dimensions of youth development relate not only to work with young people but also to motivations for engaging in this work. Engaging young people in the fundamental questions of life and being human is a task that belongs in both secular and religious settings.     

Intermediaries supporting sports-based youth development programs

The authors describe intermediary organizations whose aim is to provide technical assistance to sports organizations about infusing a youth development emphasis into their programming. Team-Up for Youth, Sports PLUS Global, and the National Recreation and Park Association are the three organizations highlighted in this article. Team-Up for Youth's mission is to pioneer innovative strategies to support the healthy development of youth by strengthening and expanding afterschool sports and physical activity programs. Team-Up works with youth sports providers, policymakers and public officials, and staff and students at colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It concentrates on five areas: training and education, coaching corps, grant making, public policy, and knowledge creating and sharing. Sports PLUS Global is an international organization that delivers educational training to communities using sports to promote human development, social change, and human rights. It uses the Positive Learning Using Sports (PLUS) method to reach children, coaches, and educators in camps and afterschool programs. The PLUS method employs twelve steps that are described in detail in the article. The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) engages national partners and local park and recreation agencies to improve the quality of youth sports nationwide. NRPA, in partnership with Sports Illustrated magazine, developed and manages the Sports Illustrated GOOD SPORTS initiative. Communities are improving youth sports through the following elements: teaching life skills, empowering success among youth, promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles, and strengthening communities.     

Characteristics of sports-based youth development programs

The term "sports-based youth development programs" is coined and defined in the context of the community youth development framework. Sports-based youth development programs are out-of-school-time programs that use a particular sport to facilitate learning and life skill development in youth. Community youth development programs use a community youth development approach to create opportunities for youth to connect to others, develop skills, and use those skills to contribute to their communities. This, in turn, increases their ability to succeed. The authors describe how sports-based youth development programs can be contexts that promote positive youth development. The features of positive developmental settings for youth from the work of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, as well as the features identified by other researchers, are presented in the context of sports-based youth development programs. For example, a sports program that provides appropriate structure has delineated clear rules, expectations, and responsibilities for youth, parents, coaches, officials, and other organizers.     

The meshing of youth development and community building

Practitioners, policymakers, residents, workers, researchers, and even funders have an opportunity to merge their many practices into a more comprehensive and focused approach to change communities substantially. People are affiliated with a number of communities, and not just those with geographical definitions. There are communities based on gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, race, ethnicity, and institutions such as family and school. Building the bridges between youth development and community building and merging their principles and practices will create a force of change. This chapter lays the foundation for meshing the worlds of youth development and community building to make powerful connections that will be important to the community of youth and bring them into wider circles and forces that ultimately will be important to the adult community as well.     

Examples of sports-based youth development programs

The authors provide examples of sports-based youth development programs and offer information about program mission and vision, program design and content, evaluation results, and program sustainability. The four sports-based youth development programs presented are Harlem RBI, Tenacity, Snowsports Outreach Society, and Hoops & Leaders Basketball Camp. These programs serve diverse audiences with diverse missions, but all are focused on using sports to develop life skills and facilitate learning. Harlem RBI serves boys and girls ages seven to eighteen living in East Harlem. The program combines baseball, academic, and enrichment programs with the overall goal that participants who enter the program as vulnerable children graduate as resilient young adults. Tenacity, a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Boston, uses tennis to attract and retain students who particiate in a high-quality academic support and physical fitness program. The mission of Snowsports Outreach Society, based in Vail, Colorado, is building character in at-risk and underprivileged youth to develop their decision-making ability for healthy and successful life experiences. Hoops & Leaders Basketball Camp is a youth mentoring and leadership development program that offers summer camp experiences to improve the lives of at-risk urban youth in New York City. It uses the game of basketball to provide youth with caring mentors, develop leadership skills, and offer exposure to different educational and career paths.     

Spiritual development: a missing priority in youth development

Addressing the spiritual development of young people has the potential to strengthen youth work and its outcomes. Spiritual development matters because it is an intrinsic part of being human and because young people themselves view it as important. This article reviews the research that points to positive impacts of spiritual development for youth and notes that in an increasingly pluralistic society, everyone needs to build skills for negotiating religious and spiritual diversity. The authors propose that spiritual development involves, in part, the dynamic interplay of three dimensions: belonging and connecting, awareness and awakening, and a way of living. Three initial challenges and opportunities are emerging: empowering youth to explore core developmental issues, motivation and focus, and multisector engagement.     

Youth-centred practice: Positive youth development practices and pathways to better outcomes for vulnerable youth

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of 1012 youth (aged 13–17 years). Half were clients of two or more services and were followed for three years to enable analysis of the impact over time of services delivered using positive youth development practices (PYD). Youth completed self-report questionnaires administered by trained interviewers. It was hypothesised that youth reporting two positive service experiences at Time 1 would report better wellbeing and resilience and lower risk at Time 3 than youth reporting inconsistent or two negative service experiences at Time 1. MANCOVA was used to determine the relationships between service quality and wellbeing, resilience, and risk, with three covariates that assessed the presence of positive relational resources (with caregivers, friends and school) around youth. Results indicated that service quality at Time 1 had a positive effect on wellbeing and resilience at Time 3, but not on risk levels. The importance of consistent use of PYD approaches across services is discussed, as is the need for services to more directly address risk levels for vulnerable youth.     

Addressing spiritual development in youth development programs and practices: opportunities and challenges

If strengthening children's moral and spiritual selves is the most important challenge facing youth-serving organizations in the United States today, three things are required to respond: a clear road map of where to go and how to get there, a critical mass of champions prepared to lead the way, and candid readiness assessments and strategies for individuals and organizations ready to take on this work. More clarity is needed on defining the concepts of spiritual development and spirituality, the boundaries and bridges needed between religious and secular organizations, and the activities and practices that are both effective and allowable under separation of church and state. Immediate steps to take include engaging frontline workers across sectors and identifying strategies for integrating spiritual development into youth practice.     

Toward a new paradigm for youth development

Although practitioners and researchers continue to shape the emerging field of youth development, we have still not found a clear and compelling way to talk about our work to family members, the public, and policymakers. The diet-and-exercise analogy presented here compares features essential for good health with comparable features affecting positive youth development. The effects of the inputs or nutrients of a healthy diet are magnified when the individual makes a commitment to exercise. Likewise, the impact of teaching and developmental supports is magnified when young people become actively engaged in their own learning and development.     

Adventure-based programming: exemplary youth development practice

Despite functioning on the periphery of academic scholarship, theory development, and rigorous science, the better adventure-based programs are functioning at the forefront of professional youth practices. This article links the core elements and processes of adventure programs to the literature on positive youth development and quality youth programming. Contemporary work on developmental systems theory, developmental cascades, and initiative are well aligned with the historical, philosophical, and pro-grammatic roots of adventure education. In addition, adventure programs afford some powerful experiences by way of distinct features such as isolation, dosage, different physical environments, holistic approaches, social experiences, and program novelty. This combination of features often provides a microcosm for youth to live, learn, experiment, and grow. Despite the strengths in prototypical adventure programs, they remain less accessible and are not easily delivered to many youth. Although there are clearly differences in adventure program and other youth activities, many of the qualities of adventure programs can be included in a broader and more accessible spectrum of youth opportunities. This article thus explains the congruency between the literature on positive youth development and adventure programs and generalizes current tenets of adventure programs to the broader context of youth practice. It is time to recognize the important role that adventure programs play for many youth and fully embrace what these diverse and successful programs can teach the general field of positive youth development.     

Building business-community partnerships to support youth development

A confluence of social, economic, and demographic trends has left a generation of young Americans facing an uncertain future in the workforce. If we are to improve their prospects and prepare them for rewarding careers, disparate stakeholders-employers, educators, youth advocates, and others-must work in common purpose. This article suggests ways to build community partnerships, with a special focus on engaging private employers in the effort.     

Positive youth development within a family leisure context: youth perspectives of family outcomes

Although a variety of recreation programs provide valuable settings for youth development and should continue, the home should be considered the first and perhaps the most essential context for positive youth development. Family leisure experiences are purposively or intentionally planned by invested adults (parents) to create and maintain meaningful relationships and provide supportive opportunities for their children to learn skills and develop behaviors that will not only strengthen current family life but ultimately contribute to their overall positive development. The article presents family leisure research from a youth perspective and sets out the implications of the role of home-based core types of leisure that families engage in.     

Creating the conditions linked to positive youth development

This chapter describes a framework for conceptualizing interventions intended to create the conditions linked to positive youth development. These interventions involve strategies designed to enhance either the will or the capacity of individuals, organizations, systems, or communities to change.     

An asset-based approach to facilitating positive youth development and adoption

The present study examined outcomes for youth in foster care who participated in an asset-based camp designed to build youth assets and facilitate adoption. The study addresses youth perceptions of their assets and the relationship between assets and adoption status. Youth perceived that their assets increased over time and adopted youth reported having more assets than youth who were not adopted. An asset-based approach may lead to positive outcomes for youth in foster care.