# Presentation: 753471

## Essential Elements of 4-H Youth Development Cathann KressDirector, Youth DevelopmentNational 4-H HeadquartersCSREES, USDA

**Notes:**
4-H and Cooperative Extension were founded as a way to create educational opportunity, at a time when few had access to education.
4-H is a program for young people who learn by doing, lead by example and apply the latest scientific ideas to many projects as they search for better ways to do things in their homes and communities.

The pioneers who began 4-H as junior naturalist clubs or corn clubs began them with not just the intention of changing youth, but because they believed that changing youth would change the nation.

What they discovered along the way was not only that the 4-H model of experiential education, “Learning by Doing” was very effective to develop mastery of skills and knowledge but that youth were highly effective community change agents- who led by example and were themselves transformed by the experience.

The 4-H and Cooperative Extension enterprise is based on the concept that some things cannot be taught didactically but must be experienced.  4-H evolved around those transformative experiences that are important to an engaged citizenry and that now form the Essential Elements of our program.

## 4-H:  The American Idea

*Creating Greater Opportunity for Youth*
- Learning By Doing
- Leading By Example
- Access to 105 State Land-Grant Universities
- 7 Million Youth partnering with 3,500 professional educators and 640,000 volunteer leaders
- Over 100 Years of Reaching Youth

**Notes:**
And so, 4-H The American Idea was launched with its focus on practical education relevant to daily life and creating greater opportunity for youth.

Learning by Doing - To teach knowledge and life skills which enhance quality of life
Leading by Example -  Early adoption of technology and research 

With its base in the Land Grant Universities, 4-H:  became the first class at the Land-Grant University for many

To engage young people in the work of the Land-Grant University and USDA

To create opportunities which promote positive youth development

## Approaches to 4-H Youth Development 

- Focus:  Risks

- Focus:  Skills & Knowledge

- Focus: Developmental Needs

- Target:  Social Norms

- Target:  Individual Learners

- Target:  Opportunities for Youth

- Goal:  Fewer Problems

- Goal: Competency in knowledge or skill

- Goal:  Maturity

**Notes:**
Over the years, our 4-H Educators have used many approaches in their work with youth.  Understanding these approaches and how they differ is critical in our effectiveness.

Prevention
Education
Youth Development

## Understanding the Different Approaches

- Developed by Cathann A. Kress, Ph.D.

- EDUCATION

- YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

- FOCUS

**Notes:**
Understanding the different approaches is a little easier –

[House Model]

It’s that first floor that is the focus of youth development work, the concern with developmental needs of youth and what opportunities productively respond to those needs.  It should be no surprise that it also forms the Essential Elements of 4-H...

## Essential Elements of 4-H

| Belonging
1.  Positive Relationship with a caring adult
2.  An inclusive environment
3.  A safe environment | Mastery
4.  Engagement in Learning
5.  Opportunity for Mastery |
| --- | --- |
| Independence
6.  Opportunity to see oneself as an active participant in the future
7. Opportunity for self-determination | Generosity
8.  Opportunity to value and practice service for others |

**Notes:**
In 1999, a team of evaluators from the National 4-H Impact Design Implementation Team was given the charge of determining the “critical elements in a 4-H experience.”  

Those elements revolve around four central concepts which form the Essential Elements of our program and are woven through all we do-

BELONGING
MASTERY
INDEPENDENCE
GENEROSITY

Joining with friends for work, fun and fellowship
Developing talents
Learning to live in a changing world
Producing something of value
Creating better homes and communities
Conserving nature’s resources
Building health
Choosing a way to earn a living
Sharing responsibility for community improvement
Serving as citizens in maintaining world peace

## All Youth will find ways to:

- 1) Meet their basic needs
- 2)  Build skills and values
- 3)  Use their skills, talents, energies and time in ways that make them feel good and powerful.

## I pledge my head to clearer thinking...

- Youth need to know that they are able to
- Influence people and events through
- decision-making and action.

*INDEPENDENCE*

**Notes:**
By exercising independence through 4-H leadership opportunities, youth mature in self-discipline and responsibility, learn to better understand themselves and become independent thinkers.

##  I pledge my heart to greater loyalty...

- Current research emphasizes the
- importance for youth to have opportunities for
*long-term consistent relationships* with adults
- other than parents.
- This research suggests that belonging may be
- the single most powerful positive ingredient we
- can add into the lives of youth.

*BELONGING*

**Notes:**
Youth need to know they are cared about by others and feel a sense of connection to others in the group.  This “fellowship” has always been an important part of a 4-H experience.  4-H gives youth the opportunity to feel physically and emotionally safe while actively participating in a group.  

##  I pledge my hands to larger service...

- Youth need to feel their lives have meaning and
- purpose.
- By participating in 4-H community service and citizenship activities, youth can connect to communities and learn to give back to others.

*GENEROSITY*

**Notes:**
It’s clear that these experiences provide the foundation that helps us understand the "big picture" of life and find purpose and meaning.

##  I pledge my health to better living...

- In order to develop self-confidence youth
- need to feel and believe they are capable
- and they must experience success at
- solving problems and meeting challenges.

*MASTERY*

**Notes:**
By exploring 4-H projects and activities, youth master skills to make positive career and life choices.  
Additionally, youth need to have a safe environment for making mistakes and getting feedback, not just through competition but also as an ongoing element of participation.  
Finally, youth need the breadth and depth of topics that allow them to pursue their own interests.

## Why is Meeting Youth Needs so Important?

## If you were to design a youth development program intended to assist young people to become healthy, problem-solving constructive adults – 

*what would it look like?*

**Notes:**
If no youth development programs existed today, and you went out armed with the latest research and sufficient funding and attempted to create a program today- what would it look like?

## What would it look like?

- It would offer opportunities for *belonging*
- It would offer opportunities to experience a *“hands-on”* laboratory
- It would offer opportunities for young people to *choose *
- It would offer opportunities to experience what it means to be a *citizen*

**Notes:**
It would offer opportunities for belonging 
It would offer opportunities to experience a “hands-on” laboratory for Mastery
It would offer opportunities for young people to choose 
It would offer opportunities to experience what it means to be a citizen

## It would look a lot like 4-H

## Essential Elements of 4-H Youth Development Cathann KressDirector, Youth DevelopmentNational 4-H HeadquartersCSREES, USDA