Participation in a combination of adult-led and peer-led activities appears to lead to favourable outcomes in sport (Côté, Erickson, & Abernethy, 2013). However, very little is known regarding the potential differences in how youth experience these distinct activities. Thus, the purpose of this project was to investigate the subjective and objective experiences of the same individuals across adult-led and peer-led sport activities. Recreational male soccer players (n = 27; Mean Age = 10.11) were examined using direct observation and experience rating scales in an effort to shed light on the impact that adult-led and peer-led sport activities have on the same athletes. The results clearly illustrated that the experiences of youth across these two activities are very different. In the adult-led activities, youth experienced high levels of effort and concentration, and spent more time being physically or mentally engaged. However, antisocial behaviours were also more frequent in the adult-led activities. Meanwhile, youth experienced high rates of prosocial behaviours, sport-related communication, as well as general communication during the peer-led activities. These findings suggest that rather than one approach being comparatively superior to the other, both adult-led and peer-led sport activities have the potential to yield unique benefits towards children’s experiences in sport. The results from the present study may have important practical implications if sport programs can utilize the benefits of both adult-led and peer-led activities to offer youth a sport experience which combines the best of both worlds. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-22 17:29:14.363

Outside Looking In (OLI) is a youth development through recreation program for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews, fieldnotes, and archival documents, in this thesis I examine OLI staff and Board members’ description of OLI’s creation and implementation processes. This thesis is written in the stand alone format and is comprised of two papers. The first paper shows that OLI staff and Board members describe OLI’s creation and implementation as relatively predetermined. At the same time, however, OLI incorporates collaborative approaches to various aspects of program design. While OLI facilitates collaborative processes that can contribute to Aboriginal self-determination, Eurocentric influences and broader colonial forces make efforts to achieve Aboriginal self-determination challenging. The second paper illustrates that OLI’s approach to Aboriginal youth development through recreation creates a hybrid third space that challenges colonial discourses. Together, this thesis not only describes the creation and implementation processes of a youth development through recreation program for Aboriginal peoples, but also how the tensions associated with Aboriginal self-determination and colonial relations of power can permeate such programs.

In 2001 the South African government established the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) as a national youth development initiative to promote employment opportunities for young people and enhance entrepreneurship amongst them for sustainable livelihoods. The UYF focused on three areas: contact, information and counselling; skills development and transfer, and youth entrepreneurship. This study aimed to explore the relationship between job creation and the UYF's skills development and transfer programme. It investigated the impact of the UYF training programmes in helping youth establish business enterprises and the creation of jobs. Using a nonexperimental approach, qualitative and quantitative data was collected from purposively selected UYF personnel and a sample of UYF beneficiaries. The data was thematically and statistically analysed to determine the programme's role on new firm formation, job creation, and the quality of life of beneficiaries and their families. The study found a positive impact of UYF's entrepreneurship education and training programme on new firm formation (self-employment), disposable income and the quality of life of the beneficiaries and their families. At the same time, there was a negative impact towards reducing unemployment and creating jobs. Also, the entrepreneurship education programme did not attract adequate participation by beneficiaries and its curriculum content did not cover critical entrepreneurship skills. The findings show that more interventions are required to enable to the Umsobomvu Youth Fund to deliver on its skills development and job creation mandate better. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, 2011.

Concepts such as positive youth development, leadership self-efficacy, and social intelligence are salient to understanding how transformational leadership behaviors manifest in adolescents. The Youth Transformational Model exhibited in the current study establishes the positive relationship that leadership exposure (leadership experience and/or having a formal leadership role), leadership self-efficacy, and social intelligence have with transformational leadership skills (i.e. inspirational motivation and individualized consideration). High school-aged members of a youth leadership organization (N = 142) completed a survey on leadership factors and social intelligence. Leadership self-efficacy was the central component to the relationship between leadership exposure and behaviors. While having a formal leadership role was positively associated with leadership experience and self-efficacy, only leadership experience was related to leadership self-efficacy, social intelligence, and transformational leadership skills. Leadership self-efficacy and social intelligence partially mediated leadership experience and transformational leadership skills’ relationship. These findings suggest that acquiring formal titles and power do not automatically translate to being a considerate and motivational leader. Female participants possessed more positive leadership experiences and higher transformational leadership skills compared to males, yet the literature does not reflect the current findings. Transformational leadership encourages young people not to lead forcibly or from a distance, but to lead by example, care about others’ needs, be motivational, and bring out the best in people. Results highlight the importance of leadership training programs and opportunities for adolescents.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Background: Health risk behaviours can directly affect health outcomes. Healthy behaviours such as exercising and eating sensibly can lower the risk of conditions like heart disease and diabetes, while unhealthy behaviours such as smoking and excessive drinking raise the risk of conditions like lung cancer and liver disease. In a study using two large national data sets, the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey (YRBS) and Add Health, the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that teenagers who consume alcohol or take illicit drugs are more likely to engage in sex, to do so at a younger age, and to have several partners. For adolescents who are 14 years old and younger, consuming alcohol or using drugs doubles and quadruples, respectively, the likelihood that sexual intercourse has ever been experienced compared to adolescents who have never used these substances. A study reported that early onset of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, school problems, delinquency, and physical aggression are significantly associated with early onset of sexual behaviour. Alcohol use in adolescence has also been found to be related to more frequent sexual activity and less frequent use of condoms. Aim: To investigate and explore the effect of a youth development programme (YDP) of combatting health risk behaviours amongst 250 Grade 8 learners in a selected high school in the Paarl area.

Research Report submitted in accordance with the requirements For the degree of Master of Management (MM) in the subject Public and Development Management at University of Witwatersrand MARCH 2015 / This study evaluated the management and implementation of the National Youth Service (NYS) Programme launched in July 1997 by the Department of Public Works (DoPW) in Mpumalanga Province. It explored the implementation challenges affecting the NYS over three year period. In order to respond to the above the research applied different qualitative data collection and analytical methods. The research found implementation challenges including, a lack of NYS Implementing structure in the responsible Department, poor planning and allocation of requisite financial resources leading to delayed payment of stipend for learners plus procurement challenges. Further, the study went on evaluate outcomes of the NYS in relation to both its objectives and to the specific objectives of the implementing agent i.e., DoPW in order to thereby draw lessons learnt and best practices for management and implementation of youth development programmes. The researcher concludes by observing that the NYS programme has great potential for employment creation and skill development for the intended beneficiaries. However, the NYS implementation requires intensive planning, resource allocation, training of implementing staff and timeous payments of beneficiaries as key success factors to the programme

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, University of the Witwatersrand in partial (50%) fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Management (in the field of Public Sector Monitoring and Evaluation) August 2016 / This qualitative research study investigated implementation of the skills development programmes in the education, training and development sector using the ETDPSETA as a case study. Our investigation focused on implementation of the youth development programme outlined in the ETDPSETA five-year strategic plan for fiscal years 2011/12 to 2015/16. We chose this programme as our focus because it consumes more than sixty per cent of discretionary grant funding of the SETA. Through in-depth one on one and group interviews, we sought to understand what the programme was intended to achieve, what was delivered in reality, were there gaps between programme planning and actual implementation, and what were the challenges experienced by implementers in their implementation of this programme. To triangulate our findings from the interviews, we conducted an in-depth document analysis looking at various planning documents, implementation and reporting evidence. We further used the Programme theory model, the Quality Implementation Framework (QIF) and the Ecological Framework for understanding implementation to interpret and discuss our research findings. We found that there were major gabs in the manner the ETDPSETA implements its youth development programme, which could negatively affect realisation of programme outcomes and impacts. This is in spite of the fact that the ETDPSETA consistently met its programme implementation targets. / GR2018

Thesis advisor: Jacqueline V. Lerner / This dissertation considered character development in adolescence from a relational developmental systems (RDS) perspective through the estimation of trajectories of five character attributes and the associations of these trajectories with the contextual factors of intentional self-regulation (ISR) and prosocial socialization from role models whom adolescents reported knowing personally. Character attributes considered were honesty, humility, diligence, future mindedness, and purpose. Data were taken from the Connecting Adolescents' Beliefs and Behaviors longitudinal study of character development in adolescents from the Northeastern United States. Results demonstrated that multiple trajectories can be estimated for each character attribute, supporting the RDS principles of plasticity and individual differences. Associations were also found among all character attributes considered at every time point. Contextual factors had more nuanced relationships with character attribute trajectories than was expected, with high levels of ISR associated with high start points for all character attributes and for overall character attribute patterns, but not necessarily with sustained high levels of character attributes. Prosocial socialization did not demonstrate a stable association with high levels or increasing levels of any character attribute examined. This pattern of findings suggests that additional contextual aspects should be considered as important aspects of character development. Limitations and future directions are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Jane Regan / This dissertation argues that adults need to develop a potential ecclesiology of youth such that adults envision, anticipate, and empower adolescent contribution to the faith community. A potential ecclesiology begins when adults see adolescents for what he or she may contribute and invite them to join the church's work in the world for the reign of God. Relationships are understood as the primary location for Christ's transforming activity among people and communities. Christianity is an ecclesial faith, and the mark of maturity includes learning to move from being with others to being for others, a shift from me to we. Therefore, belonging to a community where adolescents can learn to live as Christians with others, cultivating both knowledge and competence, is vital to a maturing faith in Christ. In light of this, a potential ecclesiology compels adults to invite adolescents into the unfolding drama as growing contributors to God's redeeming work in the world. A potential ecclesiology is somewhat antithetical to a service-based youth ministry, which is a dominant model among contemporary Protestant churches characterized by adults providing a service (both content and experiences of faith) for adolescents to passively receive. Individual faith formation is the primary objective. Research verifies a disparity between increased efforts and resources allocated to support adolescent faith formation and the high attrition of post-high school participation in faith communities. When reconciled, this assumed problem of retention is actually a problem of integration, revealing that the service-based model resists inviting adolescents to join with a local community of faith as contributors to God's redemptive purposes in the world. Built on a biblical and theological foundation, this dissertation argues that fostering a maturing Christian faith is bound to the vital relationship between the person and the community where maturity is both personal and communal. Positive Youth Development literature affirms the central role of others in adolescent development broadly, which includes changes in knowing who I am (independence) alongside who I am with others (interdependence). Adolescents who are "thriving" are those who contribute to the larger purposes of the community. Additionally, a social theory of learning takes seriously doing the faith with others as a means of learning, which includes exposure to and engagement with the larger purpose of the faith community. Faith communities support a maturing faith by contextually enacting five values: communal memory, responsible mutuality, burgeoning maturity, generative relationships, and imaginative contribution. Attending to the adolescent's experience with the community and creating avenues for authentic contribution should guide a church's vision and practices and thus enact a potential ecclesiology of youth. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.

<p>Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) are at the forefront of conversations in education, not only in Indiana, but across the country. This conversation is crossing boundaries from primary and secondary education, to academia, to government agencies, to industry. The inherent focus on STEM comes from an understanding of the impending job shortage in STEM jobs in the next decades. In the discipline of fluid power, the gap between education and industry with jobs is not easy to see because while the gap is known by industry experts there is a lack of literature documenting the gap. Most education is focused on the university level and preparation, and little effort is focused on gaining the interest of students in a K-12 education. </p> <p> Through a partnership between Indiana 4-H, Purdue Polytechnic and the National Fluid Power Association, the creation of the 4-H NFPA Fluid Power Challenge was created to bridge the gap not only in STEM education through 4-H STEM programming, but to also give youth an opportunity to learn more about STEM and fluid power careers through this eight-week opportunity. The program focuses on collecting data on career interest, STEM attitudes, and fluid power interest. The focus of this dissertation is on the relationships between students participating in the 4-H NFPA fluid power challenge, years of participation, gender with career, STEM attitudes, and fluid power interest. </p> Gender and participation were two areas in which significant relationships were found in the data set. The relationship between the two as long as the relationship between before and after participation and career interest creates a picture that both answers the research questions posed in this dissertation, but also links to other research in this area on the matters of gender and STEM interest and careers. This study also highlights the importance of a focus on fluid power, and the impact that is seen specifically in sustained experiences in females who participate in Fluid Power programs. <br>