Youth Development Insight

By Jeremy Freeman As a wilderness educational guide, you have a balance to understand and employ. If you retain all control over the group experience, you lend your group to a sightseeing experience. If you swing the pendulum too far to the other side, abdicating all ownership, the group risks its own safety, and will suffer without the guide's experience and knowledge. Learning how much control to pass over to a group is a delicate task.  As a guide, the level of ownership you transfer needs to accurately reflect the needs of the group as well as their skill and understanding of the situation. For one group, personal ownership may mean giving them a voice to set how far and fast they want to travel on a hike with the occasional glance at a map to gauge progress. To another group, it may be appropriate to 'hand over the compass' and let them chart their own course. In this second instance, while the group may have control of their destiny, an experienced guide retains a mea

By Sarah Odendahl "The need to attend to global citizenship education is essential" are the first words of a 2006 article from UNESCO . The article identifies that of the four pillars of education from an earlier UNESCO report, " 'learning to live together', remains the biggest challenge." One of Minnesota 4-H’s goals is to help youth develop global citizenship skills. A quick Google search identifies many other organizations - from Fulbright to National Geographic - that have learning opportunities with the same goal. How can youth workers across organizations help youth build these skills? Emerging research shows that youth’s personal sparks help direct them to growth, contribution, and connection. Youth workers who can harness the skills, interests, and special qualities of youth and connect them to desired learning outcomes see increased odds of success. My personal spark for theater arts is one I enjoy sharing with youth; it’s also one that can easily