The Pathways Project
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Youth Character Development in Outward Bound Study (YCDOB)
This new study is examining how young people learn basic life skills (responsibility, strategic thinking, emotional management, motivation, and teamwork) in youth programs, and how these skills transfer to other parts of their lives. We are interested in how these skills develop over time, how program leaders foster them, and how culture comes into play. The goal is to understand the processes and pathways of youth development in ways that are helpful to youth programs and their staff.
We followed youth (ages 14-19; 40% Latino), staff, and youth’s parents over a full program cycle. Participants completed repeated questionnaires; subsamples were interviewed; and observations conducted. The 14 programs in the research are in Chicago, Minneapolis, and Central Illinois.
The Pathways Project (Proyecto Caminos): Youth, Programs, & Parents is part of the Family Resiliency Center