Positive youth development and youth organizing are strengths-based approaches to the lives, needs, and contributions of young people (Damon & Gregory, 2003). These approaches privilege the voices of youth as they engage with issues in their communities and challenge institutions to respond. Few studies, however, have explored the role of…

The roles that program leaders establish in their relationships with youth structure how leaders are able to foster youth development. This article examines the complex roles program leaders create in youth programs and investigates how they balanced multiple roles to most effectively respond to the youth they serve. Analyses of qualitative data…

This paper aims to outline findings from a research project that has investigated an initiative to stimulate youths to become more entrepreneurial. The concept of summer entrepreneur has been developed in the last decade in a Swedish county. It was developed out of the idea that youths should have a possibility to run their own companies as…

Since at-risk youth are in transition to adulthood, major adult learning concepts can be applied to them. The purpose of this study was to describe the learning strategies of youth in transition to adulthood in the urban life skills program of A Pocket Full of Hope®. Both qualitative and quantitative data collecting methods were used. Assessing…

Purpose - This research project has investigated the "Company Programme" of the charity YE and how effective it is at increasing Life Skills in young people. Data has been obtained using student questionnaires and teacher interviews. Previous studies have been completed on "Life Skills" and "Enterprise Programmes",…

This paper examines schooling inside a youth prison. We draw on interview and observation data from a study of a youth prison school to understand the practices and tensions of schooling in a juvenile incarceration facility. We describe the processes of schooling in the facility with an eye towards understanding both the conditions of learning and…

Students, a large percentage with disabilities, are at high risk for poor post-secondary outcomes in state agency education programs. This mixed-methods study describes the understandings of student transitions in state agency education programs from the perspectives of youth and administrators. Results indicated that: transition is more narrowly…

Bootstraps is a 12-week program designed for rural youth, ages 18-21, who are not working and not in school. The program goal is for participants to develop skills and motivation to find meaningful work, which is accomplished through a combination of classroom learning and practical fieldwork. The environmental fieldwork on public lands, funded by…

It is now mandatory for English schools to ensure that young people, under 16 years of age, who are excluded from school are placed in an education and training programme within 12 days. The programme must be at least half time, and should offer a meaningful and balanced curriculum. The "Every Child Matters" agenda also suggests that…