This article discusses a program that was created to develop urban youth. The program was established by the Minnesota 4-H youth developmental program in 2003. There was also a very descriptive explanation of what the word “urban” means and how individuals may misinterpret its meaning. The program was established to help minorities to develop skills to overcome economic, educational, and social barriers. Urban develop in today’s society has not been a huge focus, but reading this article illustrates that there are some individuals who still care about the development of youth. What is urban 4-H Youth Development? Urban 4-H is a cultural responsive, community based practice that encourages family, youth, engagement, which is navigated by …show more content…
a community organization to pilot youth development. The word urban is often misperceived as poor people of color disvaluing education and cognitive development. It is expressed that many individuals see this term and are unable to get pass what it implies. This program views the term as being a context where race and culture are visual assets that play a palpable role in developing youth to become successful. The youth in the Minnesota urban 4-H program help build skills in youth to enable them to navigate their own lives. The program identifies that utilizes self directed learning, innovative leadership, and global citizenship are vital skills to help shape positive pathways to success in the 21st century. Honoring theses skills will develop a since of hope and greater expectation for the youth and give them a sense of power and entitlement to their economic development. How do we do urban 4-H? Urban 4-H is done through the expertise of trained adults who instruct students in identifying themselves as life-long learners and future leaders of the 21st century.
Through this instruction these individuals are preparing themselves for the achievement of a secondary education or preparation for the work force. The program models include: community engagement, embedded signature curricula, adult leader support systems and youth- driven clubs. The program community –engagement model meets the needs of youth and ensures that it is validated through community culture in youth motivation. The program also identifies their interest and value as it connects the two through community learning. The method could prove to be beneficial to groups who have no sense of historical cognition of their community or culture. In the development of effective community engagement four principles are mentioned to aid in the decisions of creating a cultural responsive program and this all plays a vital role in the developmental process in culture. Embedded signature curricula involve a multitude of individuals, to use specific curriculum to merge the concepts of learning, leadership, and global citizenship in their organization and impact in vital issues. Through the implementation of a multitude of approaches in a informal setting. The lessons and learning approaches will peek their interest and allow them to set education goals to thrive in diverse …show more content…
settings. Leadership support system are geared to support youth through training and support programs designed to give a foundation to innovate their work, through a collaborative effort with staff members to exchange ideas and open doors to multiple opportunities. The Youth –Driven clubs place importance on the engagement relationship between youth and adults. In this club meaningful learning experiences forged to produces realistic educational product. Another goal of the youth driven clubs is to navigate the youth who experience plurality of emotional and physical trauma and direct them onto a positive path that provides them with a safe learning environment. Culturally Responsive Staff The youth program ensures that staff will be culturally conscious and knowledgeable to energy with programs and communities. Staff will continuously receive training to improve their abilities to address a constantly changing culture. Why do we do urban 4-H? The program holds itself accountable for its results through cultural response and community based evaluations. The evaluation demonstrates the support youth receive through engagement and experience in the program. Individuals who pilot the program believe that real world issues can be solved through support and building self confidence in youth. Implications for practices Because the most crucial element of success is the relationships among youth and adult participants, program sustainability becomes a top priority.
Research suggests that several key factors determine the longevity of efforts (Hayes, 2002).The first practice of program stability is a clear vision of achievement. Rather than reacting to situations as it occurs, a clear understanding of outcomes anchors a project to a firm foundation. The second is partner and community support. By themselves, adolescence is less likely to sustain an effort, but true partnerships can fill in gaps of experience, resources, or expertise. The third is a core group of at least three youth committed to the vision and who can attend consistently, becoming the leaven of the program’s growth, and ultimately its sustainability. The fourth component of program sustainability is the opportunity for increasing challenge for the youth—something to aspire to next, once they have mastered the content, experience, or skills at
hand. The article was very informative because there are millions of adolescents who need direction on their future. From a leadership perspective education and molding young minds to build a better future should be a top priority and creating programs such as or similar to this will prove to be very beneficial for molding that future. This form of program should be incorporated across the country. Having that form of focus on adolescent’s cognitions, intellectually, and emotional development will hopefully give the future citizens of tomorrow a better chance of survival and self worth. There are too many children today no matter what racial background or culture that has no directive in life and hardly any support or guidance. Many of the youth today are faced with more challenges than there were in past generations. The job market today is very competitive and without the aid of programs like this particular one or others similar to it many of the youth today will continue or end up improvised, jobless, and feeling empty. As of this moment there were no issues or concerns with this article reading. The article addressed all questions that needed to be resolved.
In the passage “The Heartland and the Rural Youth Exodus”, the authors Carr and Kefalas both describe the different changes that happen to the youth. They depict the issues that arise when the youth leaves in search of bigger things that are outside of the small towns. Throughout the article, the issues of change in small towns is addressed and emphasized as a catastrophe for the future of these towns. The talk about the youth and towns fading away is not the only thing one thinks about when reading this article. The youth are not the only people being affected; the older generation parents of the youth are having to face the biggest change because they have the option of leaving or staying. This change can
...ll. The inner city has many complications the fact that most are African American is a mere coincidence. If we as a nation are capable of fixing all institutions and structural issues we could bring the slums out of poverty. The cycle of unemployment and poverty is a terrible cycle that cannot only be judged by race and cultural values. When reading this book keep in mind the difficulties, any family or person could go through these tribulations. There are many arguments and sides to each problem; this is another one of those. The battle for inner city poverty, and the factors that go along with it, has not been finished. Wilson brings out a different aspect which could help people expand horizons and come up with better solutions.
"Building Partnerships to Revitalize America's Neighborhoods." HBCU Central (Winter 2002): 1-6. Winter 2002. Web. 2 May 2012.
Cornerstone Youth Center provides a place for kids ages twelve to eighteen to hang out after school. On any day of the week there are approximately thirty to thirty-five students attending the center. The students appear to be from low socioeconomic status. Also, some of the students have learning disabilities or behavioral problems, which lead them to perform poorly in school.
Instead of helping, the public housing programs further concentrated the African-American community and “those who remained in the ghetto tended to become more distant” (Anderson), having access to an adequate education, resources required to obtain jobs, and also lacking protection under the law as violence grew daily amongst its inhabitants. Since “Socialization is the way in which people learn the norms and values found in their society, develop social skills, and participate in societal roles that will be continued throughout their lifetime” (Koepke)the “economic and social isolation emerged from the ghetto” (Hart)and in a sense cut its members off from the “real”
...g of the struggle of poverty and subsequent educational barriers. Though extremely grateful for all of the privilege in my life, it was difficult to realize my fortune until working with the teens at RYP who often do not have two parents, have limited adult influences, and live below the poverty line, making education an afterthought. From the perspective of a tutor and mentor, the educational support that the teens require is unquestionable, just like the injustices they face daily. Through service, not only does one gain perspective into the needs of the local community, but also insight into systemic issues of racism, poverty, crime, education and more. By participating in service and trying to counteract the sources of need for others, one will undoubtedly change their perspective of the framework question, knowing that the very least one should help others.
Often times I find myself reminiscing about my child hood. I recall driving throughout the prominent metro Detroit neighborhood in which I grew up, Rosedale Park. See in those days my community was a gem which shone bright toward the edification of the Motor City. On streets like Piedmont, Grandville, Stahelin and Artesian one could drive by almost at any time and see children outside playing, adults on porches and sidewalks fellowshipping, and houses abounding with vibrant lights, laughter, and with life. This was my community; moreover, this was a facet of my adolescence that I ignorantly took for granted. Today desolation has grown sovereign over this beautiful gem. Today the sounds of laughter have all but faded into a resounding restless silence. One could even say that abandoned houses and boarded doors and windows have become indigenous, not only to Rosedale Park, but to every part of the metro Detroit area. However, one thing has remained constant; Rosedale Park, no rather Detroit as a whole is still my community.
– “Toward a Blueprint for Youth: Making Positive Youth Development a National Priority,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Stephens, Gene. "Community Programs Can Help Youths." Opposing Viewpoints: America's Youth. Ed. Roman Espejo. San Diego: Green haven Press, 2003. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Western Governors University. 30 Sep. 2009
I think community engagement is an important tool in steering the community as a whole in the right direction. This could be influence from outside organizations, which have specified knowledge in the issues concerning the community. An example could be governmental practitioners involving the community in new policy making or in decision-making in their area (State Government Victoria, 2013). There is the idea that encouraging the youth to participate in community engagement is vital to achieving long-term success, especially within rural areas (Place & Ricketts, 2009). This could be done by involving them in community functions and decision-making processes. Community engagement has its bad sides however. One who is ready to step up and lead within these functions and decision making processes must be of strong mind, willing to be engaged at all times from their peers and judged for taking action. Dealing with your community can cause a lot of your personal life and work life overlapping each other making it hard to switch off from your role as a leader outside of work. This could be a hard concept for some young leaders looking to step into community engagement (Place & Ricketts,
Ginsburg, Kenneth R., et al. "Enhancing Their Likelihood for a Positive Future: The Perspective of Inner-City Youth." Pediatrics 109.6 (2002): 1136. Academic Search Elite. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
As I started out researching for the paper, I realized that most importantly, data would need to be collected comparing the educational opportunities and achievement of the rural youth and those of urban youth. For instance, high school grades and SAT scores could be compared, as well as college applications and attendance. Beyond this, the actual school systems of rural and urban areas would be compared - the differences in funding, ideology, resources, etc., would grant insight into the students’ experiences and goals there.
The learning environment connects the classroom to the community through a democratic approach. This community based learning brings the world into the classroom so students can implement social change and challenge social inequalities. The curriculum focuses on student experience and taking social action on real problems such as hunger, violence, and discrimination. It is important to instruct students to explore in group settings so they can work together to analyze and develop theories that can help each other and make a real different in the world. As a future educator, it is important to not only to teach my students the issues in our world, but how we can work together to find
The summer program I used to complete my observation hours for the course of the summer was a youth development program offered in Dawsonville, GA. called Next Generation. and their mission is to provide an opportunity for positive youth development as well as access to resources and opportunities many children otherwise don’t have access to. They aim to use this program to provide mentoring for the youth, tutoring for afterschool assignments, and offer many opportunities as a prevention program to the advancement of vulnerable youth. Next Generation is open year-round for students, and have a smaller program available for the summer. This is a youth program whose mission isn’t to “repair” the youth that are not excelling in academics, participating
Horwitz and John (2012) described youth development as an approach that both institutions and programs take when working with youth and a set of characteristics that youth might embody. Further Horwitz and John agreed for the need of development in a range of skills and competencies that youth need to become healthy and successful adults