Youth Development Insight

By Joshua Kukowski As a classroom history teacher, it was my perception that what happened out of school was not my problem. After one year as an Extension educator, I see that, and a few other things, differently. Anniversaries are always moments of reflection and I am hoping to share some of the key "ah ha's" that I have experienced, learned, and rediscovered as I embarked in the out-of-school youth development realm. In the past year, I have experienced, learned or rediscovered many things. I want to share a few of them with you and get your reaction -- either as a veteran or a fellow newcomer. Out-of-school time is vital Our work is important. The perception that out-of-school time is "not my problem" is wrong and counter-productive. Youth spend more time out of school than they do in school and those critical after-school times and activities have a deep impact on how our young people develop. Young people who have positive out-of-school-time ex...

By Margo Herman Recently, the Extension Center for Youth Development launched a three-year initiative to explore social emotional learning (SEL) and its role in positive youth development. Colleagues of mine have blogged about the importance of SEL, the need to build understanding around common language and measures , and why the time is right to try and make a difference in how we think about, assess, and work to improve policy and practice. This week, I ask you to think about the following important question: HOW do out-of-school time programs help youth acquire these skills? A New York Times article on Sept. 11, 2013 "Can Emotional Intelligence Be Taught?" was the second most emailed article for the paper that day. The author states "noncognitive skills -- attributes like self-restraint, persistence and self-awareness -- might actually be better predictors of a person's life trajectory than standard academic measures". Based on extensive resea...