New Year, New Look at Positive Youth Development

Inside Part I: PYD: NCFY Asks the Experts PYD Today Let Young People Take Charge and They Grow Up To Be Leaders NCFY Podcast: The Power of Service Experts' Favorite PYD Resources Part II: Creating a Youth Master Plan When Cities Make a Plan for Young People, Youth Workers are Part of the Process Master Planning for Youth in Rural Communities Support Systems for Rural Homeless Youth: A Collaborative State and Local Demonstration Keeping Kids Incorporated

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Joyce A. Walker, Professor and Assistant Center Director, Youth Work Institute, University of Minnesota

Identify Priorities for Youth Development Programs
Positive Youth Development is a dynamic movement that means different things to different people. It's something young people do; it's a philosophy or ethos that guides work with youth; and it's a term organizations and programs use to describe themselves. Research is definitely affirming youth development approaches. PYD promotes optimism and hope working from a stance that builds strengths and promotes positive decisions as opposed to defining youth work in terms of problems and problem behavior.

One important conversation in the PYD community today explores whether it's best to emphasize program quality or youth outcomes at the point of service if the goal is to stimulate youth-centered learning opportunities that promote their individual learning and development.  At issue is whether positive youth development programs should concentrate on quality experiences focused on what young people want and need or should direct experiences to reflect adult-determined priorities?  Or some combination of the two.  It's complicated since funders, organizations and community systems as well as youth weigh in on what happens in youth development programs. Despite differences in thinking, the future for youth development is bright with promise.

Let Young People Take Charge and They Grow Up To Be Leaders >>