Adolescence is a developmental period of risk, as well as a window of opportunity for cultivating positive development and thriving. It is characterized by simultaneous changes in the brain, body, mind, and social domains that offer a platform for building new skills and habits. This chapter discusses the role that secular forms of mindfulness and…

Contemporary developmental theory is framed by relational developmental systems models that emphasize that change across life occurs through mutually regulative relations between individuals and their contexts (represented as individual [left arrow][right arrow] context relations). Within these models, all contextual levels are involved in these…

Because schools rarely provide guidelines for teachers that outline how they should conduct personal relationships with students, teachers must wrestle individually with how to establish, communicate, and maintain clear boundaries in their interactions. As schools work to become more personal environments, school administrators will need to help…

This article addresses the fact that student-teacher relationships uncover many clinical issues, such as trauma. It looks at statistics of how prevalent mental health disorders and problems are and then shows that no teacher can handle all of the kinds of problems that will emerge in open relationships with the students. They need to do this work…

Far from being unthinking energies or irrational impulses that control or push people around, emotions are intricately connected to the way people perceive, understand, and think about the world. As such, emotions are also an inextricable part of people's moral lives. As people go about making moral judgments and decisions, they do not merely…

Most American youth hold a job at some point during adolescence, but should they work? This article presents a broad overview of teenage employment in the United States. It begins by describing which teenagers work and for how long and then focuses attention on the consequences (both good and bad) of paid work in adolescence. It then presents…

This article examines the kinds of relationships that nonteacher educators, especially youth development practitioners working in after-school settings, have with students. It addresses the fact that these adults in schools have an explicit youth-oriented and relational approach, find out many productive and anxiety-provoking facts about their…

Researchers contend that committing to an inspiring purpose in life is an important component of healthy identity development for adolescents; however, little research has focused on how identity and purpose develop together. Therefore, the study followed a sample of eight adolescent purpose exemplars for five years in order to develop a grounded…

Teachers find that having close personal relationships with students is deeply rewarding in their work and that they contribute to more effective classrooms. The relationships, which many consider to be part and parcel of good teaching, afford teachers the opportunity to reach students intellectually and emotionally. Still, the relationships can…

This article describes activities that can be used with multiple audiences of teachers, administrators, or other caregivers regarding setting boundaries in personal relationships with students. First, participants must think about and discuss relationships that they experienced with their own teachers in the past and determine what aspects of…

Family leisure involvement may provide the first and most essential context for positive youth development in today's society. Similar to the broader ecological perspective used in the youth development literature, family systems theory suggests that each individual in the family influences the whole, while the whole family also influences each…

In this article, the authors offer a general perspective of vocational identity development as central to child and adolescent career development. A review of the pertinent literatures suggests that identity development is the product of three development strands--career exploration, commitment, and reconsideration--that appear to begin during…

Career programming is a useful framework for thinking about how to support youth development across schools and multiple out-of-school-time contexts. The articles in this issue of "New Directions for Youth Development" highlight the broad research base relevant to career programming from which policy and practice can draw. This concluding article…

In data derived from student interviews, students describe how they see teacher-student relationships function for them in their experience of school, their personal development, and their academic success. These relationships are central to students' ability to feel connected at school and to their emerging identities. Students describe how…

This article highlights the limitations of our current educational system in terms of vocational learning and highlights the role that vocational learning can play in supporting youth development and improving youth outcomes. It discusses the role that nonschool settings can play in supporting vocational learning and suggests strategies to improve…