If you already have significant experience as a youth development worker, you will have spent a lot of time working with individuals and groups. During the course of your work, you will probably have had doubts about your performance and may have wondered how you could improve on what you were doing. Improvement is partly a matter of experience, but it is much the best to have a carefully directed experience, shaped by what research has shown to be effective.

In this program, you will explore what is currently understood about the most appropriate knowledge and skills required for working successfully with young people in groups.

• You will study how other people have worked in communities and their theories about their work.
• You will explore the theory and practice of community development.
• You will learn about community development work plans, and how to make and implement them.
• You will examine the characteristics of an effective group leader.

Program Benefits

When you successfully complete this program, you should be able to:

• Work effectively as a member of a group
• Take on a variety of roles in a group, including leadership and advocacy
• Know how to develop your own skills in facilitating a group
• Use the techniques of community development
• Be familiar with key concepts in community development
• Promote the participation of young women and men in community activities
• Create effective planning strategies and develop community profiles, social community plans, and personal plans
• Recognize several useful models for analyzing human behavior and individual differences