Theory of Change: Youth Development: The Wandering Scholar
Theory of Change: Youth Development Youth Development The Wandering Scholar approaches the concept of development and change through a focus on youth development.
As Hamilton, Hamilton and Pittman (2004) assert in their
handbook on youth development practitioners youth development is important for the future of each individual youth participant as well as society at large because, “Optimal development in youth enables individuals to lead a healthy, satisfying and productive life, as youth and later as adults, because they gain the competence to earn a living, to engage in civic activities, to nurture others, and to participate in social relations and cultural activities� (p. 3). Adolescents have multiple, varied and ever-changing emotions, at one moment, in the classroom, distracted or inquisitive; the next, on the field, focused leaders or clumsy teammates; and in conversation, naive or deeply concerned citizens. Likewise, the concept of youth development covers a wide array of contexts, goals and challenges.
As with other forms of development, youth
development is best considered a process rather than a singular event or outcome and in the tradition of participatory development, as part of this process the youth, themselves, give direction and input to the development program in question (Delgado 2002; Hamilton, Hamilton and Pittman 2004). An attempt to find a general definition for youth development yields numerous results. In "New Frontiers For Youth Development in the 21st Century", Delgado (2002) compiled a vast variety of definitions created by youth development agencies, practitioners and youth themselves.
Youth development agencies typically stressed the role of the community or, as
in the case of the National Youth Development Information Center, the importance of
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