Blog 4

 

After taking the Youth Development Ideology quiz, I noticed I had  a tie between two ideologies;  positive youth Development and civic youth Development.  I was not surprised to get these results. These ideologies match my core values.

As stated in the Using Theory to Prepare Youth Worker on page 5, 

Positive Youth Development - “ Practitioners of this ideology believe that youth work programs should help children and adolescents further develop their strengths and interests. ” 

Civic Youth Development-  “Scholars and practitioners of this framework believe that young people should be empowered to work together to engage their communities in active service work”

Quote	What does this quote mean to you? How does it resonate/ apply/ speak to you?
“Play a Card.” Using Theory to Prepare Youth Workers  page 13	When  reading the selection of Moment Three: Connecting Theory to “ Dilemmas of Practice” I thought it was interesting to me. I thought back to my previous youth work. I remember being in staff meetings and remembered going over what was going to be done when the students arrived. I like the concept of getting a deck of cards with prompts. I think it is a great  way to start conversations with staff. I liked that the cards included “ dilemma of practice,” ``Mentorship,” “success,” and “Ideology”. I think this is a great way to start a discussion on how to make things better. I believe working as a team is important. I remember during the meetings, staff would report  negative  things about students. I would remember trying to find ways to change the situation. One thing I incorporated was two positives.  Instead of saying negative things about the youth, they had to come out with two positive things that had happened the day before. I think during staff meetings it should be a way to improve, and how to better the environment to better help our youth. I would like to use “play a card” in my future job.
“ Our students come to YD with a desire to make a positive impact and this focused, direct-action approach help them feel like they can make a difference” Using Theory to Prepare Youth Workers  page 3	The reason I joined the YD program was to make a difference. I wanted to be that person who youth were able to come to and feel heard.  I want to be a positive remodel.   I want to make a difference with the youth I work with or the youth I come across with. When  I was growing up I did not have that support. I did attend after school programs. Many of those after school programs I attended mainly focused on homework. I do not remember being able to have conversations about things going around the world  or  interested in. As a youth worker I want to help youth make a difference. I want youth to be heard. When working in the before and after care we had over 100 youth attending the program.  When the students were broken down to smaller groups, I would sit and engage in conversation about  things they were interested in.
“Bronfenbrenner’s conception of human development suggest that development is generally promoted by engagement in activities that regular and enduring and that are challenging in the sense of increasing in complexity as people gain competence. Such activities may be performed solo with objects (e.g., photography or pottery) or symbols (e.g., writing poetry, writing a computer program) or both (e.g., painting, playing a musical instrument), but often, they also involve relationships with others. ” Principles for Youth Development by Hamilton,Hamilton and Pittman	This quote reminded me of the before and after care I used to work for. I remember having to  plan  different activities. We had many options for the students to select from. We had different partnerships with different programs. These programs engaged students to develop different skills. The program was for 3 months and students were able to select the program they wanted  to join.   We had many different programs during the student year. We had a science program where students got to do different experiments and they were excited about it. Another program we had was a music program. Students made a song(creating the lyrics and using instruments) and were able to perform it. There was also a debate club. The students were able to create a debate of subjects that were important to them. Students were able to create their own programs and other students would join the program.  The students looked forward to being part of these programs. After the 3 months we will have a celebration. The students were able to show what they learned. For the celebration  we invited parents and teachers from the school to join the celebration.

“The purpose of development is to enable a person to continue developing.”  Principles for Youth Development by Hamilton,Hamilton and Pittman

This quote speaks to me. We never stop learning. As youth worker’s we are continuously learning. We are finding new ways to engage the youth. We learn  new development or new rules within the field. This also speaks to youth. Youth are exploring and learning new things daily. Over the course of time we are always learning something new. There is always something to learn. As youth workers we are positive remodels that support  youth develop and want to continue learning.