Youth Voice & Reflection

1. Youth Voice & Reflection

2. Session Outcomes: • At the completion of this session, participants will be able to identify the components of the cycle of youth voice • At the completion of this session, participants will be able to note areas of success and improvements for their projects related to youth voice and reflection

3. Take the Youth Voice Challenge! • You will have 3 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

4. How did you do? Question #1 a=1, b=2, c=4, d=3 Question #2 a=1, b=2, c=3, d=4 Question #3 a=2, b=4, c=1, d=3 Question #4 a=4, b=3, c=1, d=2

5. Dan Miller • Berlin Brothersvalley FFA • Facilitating Strong Youth Voice: an Advisors perspective

6. Dan Miller – Youth Voice • Take Pride! • Take interest in what your students do! • Have a goal in mind • Make sure you see an outcome • Challenge them • Listen to their ideas • Think outside the box • Millers 5 P’s : Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance • Give students a chance – remember they are just kids!

7. Cycle of Youth Voice

8. Listen to Youth Voice. • means actively listening, not just hearing youth • Validate Youth Voice. • means disagreeing – or agreeing – as we honestly believe, and respecting young people enough to explain why and search for alternatives • AuthorizeYouth Voice. • means to provide practical steps towards actual empowerment, instead of just words

9. Act on Youth Voice. • means taking action; action is the most important step and often seen as the hardest • Reflect on Youth Voice. • means that you must plan to critically assess and analyze the project; learning becomes a more vibrant, intricate, and powerful tool for change

10. Authentic Youth Engagement is… • CollectiveActivities are led by youth and adults together – not individually • Connected Activities embody interdependence and model it among youth and adults • Empowering Youth voice is a driving force throughout activities • Equitable Adults recognize young people have differing backgrounds that require different approaches • Focused Activities are appropriately outcome-driven • Healthy Respectful disagreement, speaking up, and other avenues that equalize disparities between youth and adults are at the core of the activity • Learning Young people gain skills, knowledge and tools to be effect agents of change • Mutually Beneficial Young people and adults acknowledge each other’s dreams, actions, outcomes and reflections • Relevant Activities are responsive to the lives of young people • Responsible Adults and youth develop and sustain their capacity to be “response-able” • Substantive Activity design and outcomes are designed to impact individuals, organizations, communities and society • Self-Motivated Young people feel driven to participate

11. Alice Dubois • Ponchatoula FFA • Creative and meaningful ways to reflect

12. Cycle of Reflection

13. What? Pre-reflection Design reflective activities that help students prepare for the service experience. Pre-reflective activities are designed to: • Help students gather the needed knowledge for successful service experience. • Provide opportunities to practice application of knowledge prior to service. • Help students develop the problem-solving skills required to address community concerns. • Help students develop an understanding of community needs and organizations. • Help students develop information gathering skills for collecting information required for service activities

14. So What? Field Reflection • When challenges arise in the field, this is the time where student’s problem solving and critical thinking skills are being put to the test. • Communicating with students throughout the service project is critical to ensure students are performing project tasks competently, and for helping students refine and develop their initial ideas.

15. Now What? Post Reflection • Use reflection to connect service experience back to disciplinary knowledge and explore future applications. • Challenge students to think critically about their service experiences and the responsible application of knowledge and public problem solving.