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Building youth leadership skills and community awareness: Engagement of rural youth with a community‐based leadership program
Author(s) -
Puxley Shane,
Chapin Laurie A.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22501
Subject(s) - transformative learning , psychology , leadership development , positive youth development , educational leadership , perspective (graphical) , leadership style , social skills , medical education , developmental psychology , pedagogy , social psychology , public relations , medicine , political science , artificial intelligence , computer science
Abstract Aims Community leadership programs have the potential to positively impact many aspects of young people's development, as well as the community. This study, therefore, aims to understand the experiences of the young people, particularly rural youth, involved with the Western Bulldogs Youth Leadership Project (WBYLP), a 7‐month program for Year‐9 and Year‐10 students, and if the developmental assets are a good framework to inform future program development. Method A transformative mixed‐methods design was used and included surveys with 96 participants at two time points, and semistructured interviews with eight participants. Results Quantitatively leadership significantly increased, particularly due to increases in the domains of understanding self and decision‐making skills. Social competencies increased, though total developmental assets did not. Interviews identified four primary themes: Perspective taking, self‐efficacy, community awareness, and decreased isolation. Conclusions These results indicate that participants developed both individual skills relating to leadership and social skills. The participants also developed their awareness of the issues in their community.