The worlds of business and youth-based community organizations share similar philosophies of creativity, collaboration and communication. Using research conducted at an urban youth theater program, the author demonstrates how young artists play organizational roles and act with a “sense of agency” comparable to that of the corporate world.
In recent years, afterschool programs have come to be envisioned as sites for addressing the failure of urban schools to provide adolescents with the requisite skills and knowledge to participate in a rapidly shifting social, political, and economic landscape. The purpose and nature of such educational endeavors has taken many varied forms, as a growing number of stakeholders become invested in shaping the direction and implementation of afterschool programming. However, youth, as the recipients of these programs, have rarely been looked to as sources of experiential knowledge about the
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Katherine SchultzEdward BrockenbroughJaskiran Dhillon
Prime Time Palm Beach County has implemented a quality improvement system that is creating a community of afterschool practitioners who value high-quality programming.
Responding to the expressed needs of the field, the U.S. Department of Education is building You for Youth (Y4Y), an online learning community whose modules will enhance the professional development of afterschool practitioners and program managers.
Dance classes provide a model for afterschool and in-school education where multiple, “embodied” modes of teaching and learning enhance development and where risk-taking is rewarded rather than punished.
Pairing age-appropriate novels with thematic units on the civil rights movement and the presidential election allows one afterschool practitioner to bring democracy to life for inner-city middle school students.
The author’s “Nana” was grandmother to an entire neighborhood of children. Today, her afterschool program fulfills a similar set of needs for 21st century children and their parents.
This article describes the way that an afterschool center and school begin to collaborate, using the analogy of moving from friendship to dating and marriage.
Single-sex empowerment groups can help boys from disadvantaged backgrounds make healthy choices. What qualities does an adult leader need to facilitate boys’ empowerment?
Adult facilitators in afterschool programs can work with LGBTQ youth to construct a safe space in which the youth can validate their identities in the process of doing literacy work.
This article addresses the ways in which an afterschool theater program creates an experience which builds confidence and encourages authentic work on the part of young people. It provides guidelines for practitioners for creating an atmosphere where learning can thrive.