Youth Development Insight

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 ...

By Joseph Rand About two years ago, students at Becker High School in rural Minnesota created a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). These students wanted a space where they could be themselves, connect and feel safe in a town where they often feel they don't fit in and can't express their true identities. For adolescents, access to safe spaces is a crucial part of development and exploring self-identity. For youth programs, this is a fundamental concern . While physical safety is the foundation of the YPQA pyramid from the Center for Youth Program Quality , emotional safety is also of crucial importance. Only when youth feel emotionally and physically safe are they able to present themselves in an authentic way and engage in positive development. Without that authenticity, true development cannot take place. Researchers have discussed the need for safe space s for fostering peer-to-peer relationships and for developing coping strategies and community among LGBT students. The Ga...

By Rebecca Meyer Lots of recent events have me wondering how to encourage and foster empathy. Empathy is when one person is able to understand how another person is feeling. This sense of understanding is not something we are born with, it is a skill that we learn. The ability to empathize is critical because it allows us to understand other people. It's an opportunity to show caring and compassion; one of the 5 C's of positive youth development . And, it's an essential skill for creating an inclusive world. We as youth workers have an important role play. We can facilitate strategies to develop and nurture empathy in young people. Embedded in hands-on experiential learning processes, the following strategies can help support development of empathy in youth:

By Jennifer Skuza Minnesota has the nation's largest Somali American community, with census numbers placing the population at about 57,000, followed by Columbus (Ohio), San Diego, Seattle and Atlanta. Kenya hosts the largest number of Somali migrants (both refugees and nonrefugees) of any other country, according to UN estimates .

Citizenship is a concept commonly used in the field of youth development. It typically refers to young people being positively engaged in their communities. But what happens when you add global to citizenship? By adding this word, the scope of youth citizenship grows vastly and helps us re-imagine the arena in which youth live, learn, work and play. Global citizenship has been described as a continuum that ranges from being aware of the interdependent nature of our world, to understanding how local and global issues affect the lives of people around the world, to taking action to create a more equitable world. We see global citizenship as an outlook on life, a belief that people can make a difference, and a way of behaving that follows suit. Jessica Pierson Russo and I have developed a resource for youth-serving organizations and schools entitled WeConnect: A Global Youth Citizenship Curriculum. It's a program model and curriculum designed to show youth that they are parti...