Worldwide Workshop on Youth Involvement as a Strategy for Social, Economic and Democratic Development

Summarizes January 2000 discussions on building capacity in the field of youth service. Explores connections with social capital, economic productivity, adolescent development, marginalized youth, civic engagement, and policy. Includes country summaries

CECP GSO Research Exchange Conference 2011

The following literature review discusses potential non-medical benefits that may result from child and adolescent interaction with animals, and the practitioner or educator preferences regarding animal species used in Applied Animal Therapy. Discussed below are a variety of research study findings regarding the potential relationships between human-animal interactions and the various social, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and personality developmental aspects in children and adolescents. These studies looked at human-animal interactions in the school setting, in therapy settings using AAT, and in the family home settings regarding companion animals/pets. The animals involved in these studies include horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, fish, and other aquarium-dwelling species. Interaction with and preference for horses yielded the most significant benefits with child/adolescent development, followed closely by interaction with and preference for dogs. These studies address multiple factors including the owner attachment levels to the animals, child/adolescent preferences for specific species or no animals at all, and past/present history of household pet ownership. The research also addresses many aspects to child and adolescent development including, memory, focus/distractibility, self-confidence, self-esteem, social skills, attachment issues, depression, aggressiveness, and most notably empathy. The findings relay the positive impact that human-animal interactions can and do have on many aspects of child and adolescent development in many different circumstances. These studies showed that there is a positive relationship between child-animal interactions and child development, which is supported by researches, parents, and teachers

Teaching in the Middle Grades Today: Examining Teachers’ Beliefs About Middle Grades Teaching

Since the beginning of the middle school movement in the mid-1960s, middle level advocates have called for a school experience for young adolescents grounded in adolescent development that engages students in meaningful learning (Eichhorn, 1966; Alexander & Williams, 1965). The aim of this exploratory multi-case study was to understand middle level teachers’ beliefs about middle level instruction in the current educational environment. To gain this understanding, researchers asked ten current middle grades teachers with varying levels of experience to discuss their beliefs regarding their primary purpose as a middle grades teacher, the current status of middle level teaching, their best and worst instructional lessons, and their perceived barriers to teaching at the middle level. The teachers described the role of teaching in the middle grades as challenging and stressful, but of great importance. In general, they described instruction that included discovery, student engagement, and relevance in an effort to address students’ academic development. There was minimal mention of the non-academic aspects of adolescent development. Finally, teachers viewed curriculum restrictions, students’ attitudes toward learning, difficulty with differentiation, and lack of technology as significant barriers to their success in the classroom

Improving Teen Engagement in Buffalo and Erie County

Erie County offers many opportunities for teen engagement through afterschool programs, summer jobs programs, and internships. National research reveals many benefits from these programs, such as improved academic achievement, better health outcomes, and reductions in violence. Participation, however, often drops significantly after youth enter high school. A better understanding of adolescent development and youth engagement strategies, ranging from active participation to shared leadership, will draw more teens into programs and maximize their impact

The Relationship Between Values and Religiosity in Adolescents

The current work examined the areas of religiosity, values and adolescent development. The recent literature with regard to the nature of religiosity as a measure of an individual\u27\u27 commitment to a particular religion was explored. The issues of measurement and definition were outlined, and a position was taken as to the multi-dimensionality of religiosity. The recent work on values by Schwartz (1992) was also explored. Values were defined and the theory of a universal set of values, as well as the relationship of values to each other was outlined, along with the organisation of those individual values into value types. The relationship between values and religiosity was explored. The area of adolescent development, based on the theory of psychosocial development proposed by Erikson (1968, 1977) was also explored. This understanding of the nature of adolescent development has suggested that adolescents must explore issues such as politics and religion as part of that stage of development. It was suggested that adolescent development, therefore, had a significant possibility of impacting on the relationship between values and religiosity. This possible impact of adolescent development on both values and religiosity was suggested

Educational Travel and Adolescent Development

Educational travel forms the basis for novel learning experiences that enhance adolescent development by enabling students to make choices about their own survival in an unfamiliar setting. This biological adaptation is driven by stimulation of the midbrain which produces high levels of dopamine, the chemical associated with learning. The elements of educational travel that promote sustained adolescent learning are: clear communication, commitment and action, communal trust and respect, maturity developed through assigned responsibilities and exposure to varied life circumstances, flexibility, and transition back to traditional school environments

FAMILY SCAPEGOATING AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

The clinical literature on families refers to the scapegoating of children by parents as a serious problem in certain dysfunctional families. This study explores scapegoating as a more general phenomenon that occurs in normal (i.e., non-clinical) families as well. The study utilized self-reports of 403 adolescents to assess the frequency and distribution of scapegoating in normal families and what adolescent difficulties are associated with family scapegoating. Most adolescent respondents reported experiencing family scapegoating. The pattern of family scapegoating self-reports varied more with the type of family conflict scapegoated than with the family member doing the scapegoating. Reports of family scapegoating were related to adjustment problems reported by the adolescent respondents. Also, there were less significant relationships between some forms of scapegoating and low self-esteem, delinquency and peer delinquency. Theoretical and clinical implications of the results were noted, as well as suggestions for future research