Youth recreation centres have been a key institution in providing young people with meaningful activity after school, going back to the mid-twentieth century in Sweden. These centres have been the focus of research, but very few studies have paid attention to the youth recreation leader, the person working in these centres. In this article, we…

The climate strikes of 2019, an extraordinary worldwide phenomenon, swiftly and succinctly showed the world the collective concern of youth. What insights might curriculum planning for climate-change education and classroom pedagogy gain from these climate strikes? Preliminary findings from this study identified four significant considerations in…

In recent years, there has been a growing understanding that consistent developmental relationships support student learning and well-being. Research shows that youth who have positive connections with adults at their schools demonstrate higher levels of motivation, self-esteem, and prosocial behavior than their peers in less relationship-centered…

The international community has set forth global targets that include calls for universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education (ECCE), as indicated in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. One major impediment to achieving this target is the lack of a skilled workforce. In this paper, we argue the case for…

Over the last quarter century, California youth affiliated with community-based organizations have participated in a variety of local and state campaigns to influence educational policy and practice. But, until recently, youth have had limited say in school budgets. Dramatic changes to this historic trend have emerged in the last few years. In…

This chapter details the ways youth community organizing strategies can inform leadership educators' approaches to engaging marginalized youth in leadership development for social change.

Our understanding of leadership has undergone a significant shift in the early part of the 21st century. An emerging perspective, dubbed Eco-Leadership, suggests leadership is a collective process involving both leaders and followers co-creating leadership. Because our beliefs and attitudes toward leadership affect how we lead, it becomes crucial…

Leader self-efficacy (LSE) is a construct studied in adults and college students which is associated with leader emergence, individual performance, and group performance. However, to date, it has not been heavily examined in youth. Therefore, a five-item youth LSE scale was created which can aid in further research of this construct. This holds…

This evaluation report explores the evolution of the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI), an annual convening of youth leaders, youth organizers, adult allies, and educators from across New England. The report closely examines the first several years of YLI, tracking its growth and challenges through the eyes of youth, adult allies, and Nellie Mae…

This article identifies key strategies for selecting and training chaperones for youth programs. Although substantial research on volunteer core competencies and training exists, very little has been written to specifically address volunteers who serve in a chaperone capacity. We surveyed chaperones who had participated in an international youth…

This qualitative case study explores college and career aspirations of rural Black and Latinx middle school students in a community- and youth-based leadership program and how various forms of social capital help cultivate and sustain the aspirations of students. Data include student focus group interviews with a total of 14 rural Black and Latinx…

The use of narratives and storytelling has become an increasingly common strategy in grassroots organizing and advocacy efforts to influence policy change. Drawing on qualitative interviews and observations, Jeffrey Moyer, Mark Warren, and Andrew King present a case study of the successful campaign by Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE)…

This article embeds the study of character development within the two-decades-long research program framed by the Lerner and Lerner model of positive youth development. Character development involves attaining the feelings, thoughts, and skills needed to act coherently across time and place to serve self and others in mutually beneficial, positive…

Youth engagement in municipal government has the potential to benefit both youth and the community. Yet, some forms of youth civic engagement may be related to social class and race resulting in benefits to select youth and communities, thus perpetuating a longer term trajectory of privilege or marginalization. Informed by theories of social…

This paper charts the experiences of a group of young people and their involvement in a local government initiative to engage young people in public decision-making. Activated through a youth leaders' council that sought to influence and inform local government decision-making, the participating young people were given responsibility for enacting…