Volunteers play a pivotal role in enhancing the effectiveness of the 4-H program. Research demonstrates that offering professional development opportunities to volunteers contributes to retention. The Volunteer Research Knowledge Competency Taxonomy (VRKC) is a framework that pinpoints essential competencies for proficiently delivering 4-H youth…

This article compares the only two countries--the UK and Finland--that have systematically applied the concept of curriculum to youth work on the national level. It begins by charting the development of a curriculum in youth work in England which has culminated in the production of the new UK government's Department for Culture Media & Sport…

"Ecosystems of Youth Leadership Development: Pathways to New Programs" introduces new insights into youth leadership development, where the voices of youth who have been disaffected by previous programs are brought to the forefront. This is opposed to past studies where research is often grounded in understanding only the positive…

CLOVER by 4-H is an online learning platform that creates a space for youth to explore interactive learning experiences across a range of 4-H program areas. This article provides an overview of a pilot conducted around the implementation of CLOVER by 4-H to provide positive youth-development experiences in 4-H programming. As a result of the…

The Junior Scholars Program (JSP) is a tuition-free youth learning program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. At JSP, Damaris, a former JSP instructor, was introduced to Kadiatou, the Schomburg Center's former education and outreach programs manager. They write collaboratively to (re)member the dialectical…

Youth experience many benefits from participating in the 4-H program. It is unclear, however, what role parents play in their child's reenrollment in the program. This study uses data from a multi-year multi-state study of youth retention in 4-H to examine the effects of parental expectations and experience on their intent to reenroll their child…

This article presents research findings on Generation Z (GenZ) individuals' motivation and preferences as volunteers. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach, gathering data from 910 Gen Z individuals aged 18 and older across six states. Gen Zers prefer volunteer opportunities related to education and social impact, influenced by an…

Extension has a role to play in workforce development by preparing the next generation to be successful communicators. While Extension 4-H youth programs have contributed to public speaking development since their inception, there has not been a validated instrument to assess young people's public speaking self-efficacy. We utilized an…

Within education, we often encounter the urgent need to recruit teachers who possess subject-specific knowledges and who can pedagogically teach the students the right things. In this article, I turn to youth work and the statement "I have a plan to not have plan" to put forward another view of pedagogical work--one that views knowledge…

The long-standing mission of 4-H has been to positively develop youth, assist them in career development, and provide high-impact experiences. The attrition of extension agents has substantially impacted this youth development goal. Although numerous reasons exist why extension agents are leaving the profession, a lack of employability skills…

Youth sport has been a context where positive youth development (PYD) can be promoted (FraserThomas et al., 2005). However, for youth sport to effectively foster PYD, all adult leaders need to understand and invest in the approach. The youth sport context is a large system that encompasses multiple stakeholders across the developmental lifespan of…

The research aims to identify the key challenges facing today's youth and determine how cooperative organizations can better support and engage with youth in a way that addresses their mutual interests and needs in the current and rapidly changing social and economic environment. The authors analyze the main problems facing today's youth and ways…

Sparse knowledge has been accumulated thus far on youth mentorship from the perspective of gender and the contribution of such relationships between young women and girls. What is more, leadership development programs barely refer to gender uniformity in mentor relations as a key toward meeting their goals. The objective of the present article is…

This article presents the impact of Arizona State University's Design Studio for Community Solutions (DSCS) on youth engagement and community resilience. Through a mixed-methods approach, the study assesses the impact of DSCS programs on youth engagement and community resilience. The findings highlight best practices, underscoring the importance…

This study is an evaluation of the national youth service corps (NYSC) program of the federal government of Nigeria. It assessed the input, process and output indices of the programs to determine the extent to which the program has been successfully implemented and what it has achieved so far. To the researchers' knowledge this study is the first…