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Youth Work Matters Online
A Youth Work Institute Course
The Youth Work Matters Online course takes an in-depth exploration into the foundational research and theories of positive youth development. It allows participants to interact with other youth development professionals from around the state, region and nation! Activities include synchronized group time and individual exploration.
Participants will interact with an online community to explore, wrestle and produce resources and skills for working with young people. The content comes from real youth work experience and strong research-based material, including the basic youth needs, ecological context, assets and resiliency, and experiential learning.
Over a three-week period, participants can expect to spend 4-8 hours/ week, up to 24 hours total on this course. Setting aside intentional time devoted to online work is required to have the full professional development experience. Both interactive and self-paced learning will be experienced by:
- Interacting with session presentations
- Participating in live webinars including a "Chat with a Researcher," with Dr. Joyce Walker
- Engaging in forum discussions with other youth workers
- Exploring articles, videos and websites supporting positive youth development work
How it works:
- Hands-on, interactive exploration of positive youth development
- Participate in interactive and experiential sessions and small group discussions
What you’ll have when you walk away:
- A working understanding of how to weave positive youth development into your practice with youth
- An understanding of how positive youth development reframes how we work with young people
Watch Youth Work Matters: The online course video
Technical Requirements:
- Telephone
- High-speed internet access
- Current version of Flash Player
- Computer speakers
- Mozilla Firefox is the recommended browser
Who should attend:
Youth development program direct-service providers, part-time or short-term staff, and volunteers
Facilitator(s):
To request this course in your area, contact us.
People who have taken this course say:
"Where do I start? This course has given me the language/skills/tools to intentionally develop programming that keeps the young people central and to intentionally enhance dual learning between adults and youth with process, dialogue, and decision making."
"This workshop made me take a look back in many different ways on how I interact and how I can work with youth. I think it helped me open up and see youth in a different perspective by making me remember what it was like to be young again. I also thought there were a few great pieces on working with adults and thinking about how we can program differently. It moves me from assuming the responsibility of having to plan activities/programs in order to provide opportunities for the youth to experience leadership (service). One obstacle to overcome is the emphasis that has been put on numbers. So much pressure has been put on 4-H PCs to grow the program in this way. I will be more intentional about selling "quality" to the stakeholders rather than "quantity". There is a risk in this, but if we don't take it, we are doing a disservice to the youth and the stakeholders, because we will not produce the results that we are claiming."
