Positive Youth Development
Being a teacher is not only about the educating of young minds, developing the students is also another role as an educator. The Positive Youth Development theory is the idea that by enforcing and establishing the positive traits and paths of youth, that they will in turn follow those leads that you give them. The idea of PYD has been especially moved forward by Jacqueline Lerner and her compatriots, who have added on a descriptor of PYD called “The Five C’s”; Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character and Caring/Compassion (Lerner, Roeser & Phelps, 2009)). Each of these outliers describes a point of focus that should be in PYD. Developing competence is all about bringing up a positive view of their actions in specific areas such as their academic, physical, social, career aspirations and accomplishments. Confidence, although similar to competence, is more of a broadband concept. It focuses on bringing up that same pride in themselves that competence encourages but in their over all being. Connection is encouraging more positivity, but in relationships with those around them. Character is all about developing a respect for the rules in which society dictates we live by i.e. the rights and wrongs of life. The final C of the Five C’s revolves around Caring/Compassion. This final piece of Positive Youth Development is focused around showing concern for those around them. In this way, you are working on encouraging your students to have a caring disposition for their peers, namely in times of distress.
In my classroom, I will have to find ways that I can apply these to my students to encourage their growth as decent human beings while encouraging their growth in education. If I notice a student is maybe falling behind in their class work, I will have to look at which of the Five C’s I am not addressing and which I will have to tend to more closely. Say a student, Alex, seems to be downtrodden on his performance in class and shows little to no confidence in his own abilities. The two C’s I will focus on most would have to be both Competence and Confidence. I could first tend to his competence by showing him the positives in his academic performance in my classroom. Next, I would notice that he has a strong interest in computers and I could suggest to him that he join the after school robotics team. This would both help him develop his social competence and also fall into his over all confidence if he would be successful. To develop PYD in the classroom, I will have to be aware of my students needs outside of a strictly academic realm. In doing that, I would be applying sub-standard 1.3 in my classroom.
In my classroom, I will have to find ways that I can apply these to my students to encourage their growth as decent human beings while encouraging their growth in education. If I notice a student is maybe falling behind in their class work, I will have to look at which of the Five C’s I am not addressing and which I will have to tend to more closely. Say a student, Alex, seems to be downtrodden on his performance in class and shows little to no confidence in his own abilities. The two C’s I will focus on most would have to be both Competence and Confidence. I could first tend to his competence by showing him the positives in his academic performance in my classroom. Next, I would notice that he has a strong interest in computers and I could suggest to him that he join the after school robotics team. This would both help him develop his social competence and also fall into his over all confidence if he would be successful. To develop PYD in the classroom, I will have to be aware of my students needs outside of a strictly academic realm. In doing that, I would be applying sub-standard 1.3 in my classroom.
- Sub-standard 1.3- typical developmental challenges for students in grades 5–12 (e.g., in relation to peer interactions, identity formation, self-esteem, risk taking, and educational decision making), and the ability to help students address these challenges.