To help celebrate our 20th birthday, Mouse has asked a dozen leaders in learning, technology, youth development and design to share their thoughts.  Our next post is from Dr. Kim Sabo Flores, Co-Founder and Chief of Products and Services at Algorhythm. 

What factors do you believe will be the key drivers of what's coming in terms of learning theory and what learners actually experience in the decades ahead?

In the early 1980s, Positive Youth Development (PYD) was first identified as a promising approach to develop adolescents. The adoption of PYD began a new generation of youth programming that moved beyond “fixing” single problems (such as teen pregnancy, drug use, school drop-out rates, etc.) towards promoting solutions that focused on developing the whole child, especially by focusing on building the positive assets of youth and considering young people to be resources in their own development.  While PYD has been practiced in a wide variety of settings worldwide for more than 30 years, there is now a resurgence in the field. 

Why, what is driving this new appreciation for this youth-centered practice?

For years, youth serving organizations, like Mouse, have known “what works” to ignite youth curiosity, appetite for learning, and development.  They understand the value of PYD and have integrated the practice, approach and core values into the fabric of their programming. Indeed, Mouse has been thinking deeply about the value of PYD for years and their team has had an unshakable commitment to relating to youth as experts, discovering and building upon youth passion and interests, giving youth a voice, etc. 

However, like all youth serving organizations, Mouse understand that the outcomes of PYD have been extremely difficult to measure.  Overall, the field has lacked a “north star,” or a way to prove its effectiveness, and has grappled with questions like: What is success? How do we measure PYD’s ability to help youth meet the complex challenges of young adulthood? How do we test whether youth are prepared for meaningful, productive futures? With no distinguishable outcomes of their own, PYD programs have been pulled into a tight embrace with schools and required to illustrate their direct impact on grades and test scores.  In many ways, thrusting the practice of PYD backwards -- into more deficit based programming focused on fixing a single problem -- academic achievement.  Mouse has resisted this temptation but not without deep struggle and commitment.

 However, there has been a resurgence of interest in PYD due to mounting research in the area of social emotional learning (SEL) and associated outcomes such as “21st century learning skills,” “critical thinking,” “life skills,” “grit,” and “growth mindset.” This research has begun to shape a new conversation about “success,” broadening our understanding to include: a young person’s ability to fulfill his or her goals in life; a strong connections and ability to understand and work with others; and having the agency and competencies to influence the world around them.  New research has shown that when youth develop these types of social emotional competencies, they are more likely to: do well in school (graduate have better test scores), be better prepared for the workforce, and have the types of lives that they want in the future (thriving). These findings have given PYD a way to understand, and speak, about their outcomes.

Never before has the field had a “north star” that so clearly represents the effort taken to develop a “whole child.” The SEL opportunity allows the field to tell a unique story that is deeply connected to longer term gains in academic success, job and career readiness and thriving. The relationship between specific positive youth development practices and SEL outcomes is becoming clearer and even more convincing. A recent movement, ignited by Algorhythm and their partners who are part of an ongoing national impact study through the Youth Development Impact Learning System (YDiLs) shows exactly how positive youth development approaches are driving SEL outcomes gains for their youth. SEL gives us the language, tools and authority to do what we always knew we should. More and more youth serving organizations, like Mouse, finally feel their voices are being heard and they are doubling down on their positive youth development approaches.