Ydev anchors!

Youth Development Anchors 

Leading with:

Over the course of the semester we have done a lot of work on leading with youth. I believe this is one of the most important anchors of youth development because whenever I am explaining ydev to anyone I always use that term, leading with. In order for me to practice this I have to believe in it and I have to take chances within a youth space when leading with. At times I find it hard because I sometimes put by teacher hat on and try to make sure everything is structured and organized. In my internship I am trying my hardest to lead with the youth in the space but there are a lot of kids and it gets overwhelming sometimes. I have been working on giving them more of a voice and having choices on the different things we do within the space. When we went to YIA as a class and when they came to us I understand the concept of leading with very well because they are older and I am struggling with leading with within a younger age group. 

Purposeful Play: 
Everything we do in life serves a purpose and gives a deeper meaning to the things we do everyday. Play begins from a young age and whether we know it or not we carry play throughout our adult lives. Picture having two kindergarten aged children playing with blocks side by side. One child is carefully placing each block and taking their time to build something while the other child quickly builds something and tears it down in seconds. You might believe that the child who is taking their time is playing blocks the correct way, but there is no correct way. Everything aspect of play in a child's life they are learning from. As we get older we find interest in may things and may times I believe they can be categorized by play. For example, I love to bake, it's fun for me and I am learning a skill that I enjoy! To me that is play and everything I do from day to day has meaning and a purpose fom growing and learning. 

YDev Ideology Inventory

Positive Youth Development

After completing the youth development ideology inventory, I learned a lot about my role as a youth worker. Last fall in ydev we did a similar activity and it turned out that I closely related with positive youth development and a year later I received the same result. This demonstrates to me that I am on the right career path within the youth development field. 

Some of the values of positive youth development that I align with are care, equality, responsibility and strengths.  In a youth space I believe in caring for one another and looking out for each other. Everyone in a ydev space (youth and adults) are equal, no matter  age, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender. Promoting that equality within a youth space and in the community is empowering for not only the youth worker but the youth themselves. I also believe that each person in a youth space should be treated as an individual and be responsible for their words, actions and bodies. In the many social work classes I have taken I have always gravitated towards strengths based practice. I believe in focusing on what youth are capable of and what each member of a youth space can bring to the group as a whole. By focusing on "what they can't do" sets a negative vibe for the youth and the space when we are promoting positive youth development.

I enjoyed reading and learning about the external and internal assets of positive youth development. Those two factors can influence youth in many ways and both positively and negatively. My role as a youth worker is to figure out what assets each youth in my space possesses. I think I would do this by sharing some of my assets hoping that the youth in my space could relate to me and some of my experiences. This would create a safe and positive space for everyone to share.