Adolescents' Accounts of Growth Experiences in Youth Activities

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT-BASEL-, 2005

Human systems, including institutional systems and informal social networks, are a major arena of modern life. We argue that distinct forms of pragmatic reasoning or 'strategic thinking' are required to exercise agency within such systems. This article explores the development of strategic thinking in a youth activism program in which young people worked for social change. These youth came to understand different human systems, the school board, teachers, and students, and they learned to employ three strategic modes of reasoning: seeking strategic information, framing communications to the audience, and sequential contingency thinking. Although youth described themselves as agents of their development, adults played important roles in supporting their experience of a cycle of experiential learning. These findings suggest how the new cognitive potentials of adolescence allow youth to develop modes of reasoning that expand their capacity to exercise agency over a longer arc of time and across a wider interpersonal space.

This study explores whether youth involvement in Scouting has positive consequences later in life. We examine whether the number of years of participation in Scouting is positively associated with human and social capital and recreational lifestyles in adulthood, and whether these are linked to subjective well-being: relational, emotional, and physical health. To explore this potential relationship, we estimated a structural equation model, analyzing data from a national sample of adult males. We found that youth involvement in Scouting is positively related to subjective well-being indirectly via the positive adult outcomes. When compared to their peers in other industrialized countries, American adolescents tend to have five to ten percent more discretionary time than their peers do (Larson 2001). This suggests the question: "Are [the] large quantities of discretionary time-40 to 50 percent of waking hours-a developmental asset or liability?" (Larson 2001:163). The answer, of course, depends on what adolescents are doing during their free time. Neuroscientists suggest that the development of the adolescent brain-especially the cerebellum that involves coordination of cognitive processes-is likely to be affected by the type of daily activities engaged in by youth (see, for example, Giedd 2008). Indeed, developmental researchers have found youth participation in structured extracurricular activities generates positive experiences among adolescents, unlike unstructured, unsupervised time spent on watching television, playing computer or video games, and "hanging out" with friends (Eccles et al. 2003; Fredricks and Eccles 2006; Larson, Hansen, and Moneta 2006). Scholars posit that voluntary youth activities-whether in or out of school-contribute to positive youth development, which, in turn, facilitates educational achievement or psychological adjustment (e.g., Dubas, Snider, and Lerner 1993). Unfortunately, researchers often fail to examine the positive youth development that explains the influence of youth activities (Eccles et al.

2019

Racism negatively affects children of color in the United States, particularly Black children. Theirs is a history of marginalization since the slavery era, and the impacts are cognitive, social, and psychological. Additionally, Black children face unique challenges upon entering formal education, resulting in disturbing academic outcomes. Yet, adults can facilitate Black children’s development of positive racial identity to help them handle the negative implications of experiencing racism across their lifespan. A description of the research related to positive racial identity is provided along with presentation of the P.R.I.D.E. program, a Pittsburgh-based effort that is designed to help adults build the knowledge and skills needed to support Black children with this aspect of healthy development, thereby interrupting the cycle of racial oppression. A developmental framework for exploring race and child development is introduced. Strategies for teacher growth and classroom applicat...

2012

In this chapter, I will examine the theor et ical and applied de velopments in the life skills liter at ure. I will discuss the key issues related to the definition of life skills, theor et ical founda tions, and applied strat egies. The chapter will de scribe and examine models of life skills de velopment from sport psychology (i.e. the life de velopment inter ven tion; and de velop mental science (e.g. to provide practitioners with an understanding of how life skills may be de veloped through sport. The chapter provides scholars and practitioners with summary conclusions of the research, including the need to examine the trans ferabil ity of life skills across life domains and to understand that sport parti cipa tion correlates with several pos it ive (and negat ive) outcomes, but this relationship may not be causal. Furthermore, sport may not provide a homogenous ex peri ence or a panacea for life skills de velopment. Specifically, not all sports will de velop the same skills in the same way, and therefore researchers and practitioners need to ex plore the indi vidual nuances of ranges of sports, coaching styles, and de velop mental climates. Finally, scholars and practitioners can use different teaching strat egies, including direct sys tematic teaching strat egies and experiential learning strat egies, to de velop life skills.

2008

2019

The purpose of this explanatory quantitative case study was to examine the relationship between service-learning, cognitive engagement, and self-efficacy for high school students. The study was conducted at a high school located in North Carolina. Fifty-one students in grades 10 to 12 participated in the study. All students in the study had participated in at least one service-learning activity before the study. Data was collected using the Service-Learning, Cognitive Engagement, and Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SLCESEQ) which included items from (a) the Control and Relevance of Schoolwork subscale of the Student Engagement Instrument to measure the cognitive engagement and (b) the General Self-Efficacy Scale to measure self-efficacy. Also, respondents self-reported the demographics (race/ethnicity, gender, and grade level) as well as the number and type of service-learning activities in which they had participated. Data analysis did not yield statistically significant relationships...

This is the first complete draft of this paper, so there is definitely room for improvement. We are presenting this paper at the PAA meetings at the end of the month, so we would appreciate any feedback to help with the presentation and to move this paper toward publication. One of the main issues that we are struggling with is what to cut out and what to keep in. We clearly have too much going on and need to focus on 1-2 main points, but aren't sure which ones. Some additional issues:

Adolescent Research Review

Organized activities have been championed as an important youth setting to nurture character development through childhood and adolescence, but scholars have yet to document the state of research on activities and youth character. Using guidelines from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses Statement (PRISMA, Moher et al., PLoS Med 6(7):e1000097, 2009), this study conducts an extensive review of previous research in order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the various ways in which organized activities support moral and civic character development. Through database and backward and forward citation searches, 65 studies were deemed eligible between 1999 and 2019, with 44 studies on civic character and 21 studies on moral character. Relations between organized activity participation and character development were assessed by five key dimensions of activity participation (intensity, duration, breadth, type and quality of the activity), and by youth characteristics (e.g., age, family income, gender, motivation/engagement in the activity). Review of the character literature provides evidence for the positive relations between organized activities and youth's concurrent and long-term moral and civic character development. For civic studies, findings suggest that the greater the intensity, duration, and breadth of participation, the more favorable youth character outcomes. For moral character, the type and quality of the activity setting appear to be particularly important for supporting development. Overall, findings suggest that moral and civic character development ought to be considered and intentionally nurtured within activities as two separate, yet complimentary dimensions of interpersonal character. Future research is needed that explores various mechanisms that explain these associations and examines variations by characteristics of youth.

2009

Organised sport provides favourable conditions for positive psychosocial development. However, few studies have examined how sport facilitates positive development. The purpose of this study was to explore how perceived life skills were developed. Five formal, semi-structured interviews and around 30 hours of informal discussions were conducted with a single participant. Resultant transcripts were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings reveal an integration of processes, which resulted in positive development. Dispositions (e.g. hard work and self-awareness) facilitated the learning of life skills. Experiential learning was described as the method in which the participant learned new life skills. Specifically, the experience of playing tennis required the participant to develop life skills. Findings provide a unique insight into the development of life skills. Findings are discussed in relation to extant life skill research and positive youth development research.

1999

students may need to learn about poverty, others about abundance, but all need to learn about one another's dignity and intrinsic worth. As Putnam Principal Ann Southworth likes to point out to her teachers: "The power of service-learning lies in its ability to initiate the most important learning activity of all, the realization of self."