Positive connections

Positive connectionsThomas Akiva, PhD

University of Pittsburgh, Psychology in Educationtomakiva@pitt.edu

November 28, 2012

Positive connectionsWhat are ?

Youth

Peers

Parents

Teachers

Youth

Program

adults

YouthPeers

Parents

Program

adultsTeachers

YouthPeers

Parents

Program

adultsTeachers

Agenda• Opening activity• Part 1: How do we know that youth-adult

relationships matter and what can they do for kids?

• Part 2: Research on strategies– direct practice– Program leadership

• Conclusion

Part 1How do we know that

youth-adult relationships matter and what can they do for kids?

Youth-adult relationships have been called…

• “the critical ingredient” in after-school (Rhodes, 2004)

• “the heart and soul” of youth programs (Hirsch et al., 2011)

• “the active ingredient” of effective interventions

(Li & Julian, 2012)

Youth-adult relationships are a key part of every OST

framework…• NRC: “Supportive Relationships”

Youth-adult relationships are a key part of every OST

framework…• NRC: “Supportive Relationships”• America’s Promise:

“Caring adults”

• NRC: “Supportive Relationships”• America’s Promise:

“Caring adults”• Developmental Assets:

“Support”

Youth-adult relationships are a key part of every OST

framework…

Youth-adult relationships are a key part of every OST

framework…• NRC: “Supportive Relationships”• America’s Promise:

“Caring adults”• Developmental Assets:

“Support”• EVERY quality

assessment tool

Youth-adult relationships are a key part of every OST

framework…• The BIG THREE (Lerner, 2005)

Participation & leadership Skill building

Sustained and caring adult-youth

relationships

Wizards

• Wizards reach, motivate, and promote young people whom many dismiss as unreachable, irredeemable, or hopeless

How do we know that youth-adult relationship matter?

How do we know that youth-adult relationship matter?

• Evolutionary thinking• Experience• Qualitative research• Quantitative research

How do we know that youth-adult relationship matter?

• Evolutionary thinking• Experience• Qualitative research• Quantitative research

What can positive youth-adult relationships do for kids?

What can positive youth-adult relationships do for kids?

• In school: A recent meta-analysis of 99 studies of teacher-student relationships (Roorda et al., 2011) found…

Positive teacher-student

relationshipsEngagement

.34

Positive teacher-student

relationshipsAchievemen

t.16

What can positive youth-adult relationships do for kids?

• Help them do better in the program (safety, belonging, engagement)

• Help them do better outside the program (e.g., in school)

• Help build life skills and content skills

• Provide social capital• Navigate the tumult of

adolescence (and all the years before)

What can positive youth-adult relationships do for kids?

• Help them do better in the program (safety, belonging, engagement)

• Help them do better outside the program (e.g., in school)

• Help build life skills and content skills

• Provide social capital• Navigate the tumult of

adolescence (and all the years before)

Emotional support

and

Instrumental

support

Why us?Teachers• Curricular demands• Large number of

students (particular in high school)

• Grades/evaluation

Parents/Caregivers

• May be busy• “Just don’t

understand”• In it for the long haul

Why us?Teachers Parents/Caregivers

• Curricular demands• Large number of

students (particular in high school)

• Grades/evaluation

• May be busy• “Just don’t

understand”• In it for the long haul

YOUTH WORKERSCan be both ‘cool’

and significant.

In an excellent position to provide both

emotional and instrumental support.

Emotional support

and

Instrumental support

A.How does your program provide each of these?

B.How could you do each better?

Part 2Research on strategies

Part 2Research on strategiesA.PRACTICE: How do you build

youth-adult relationships?

B.LEADERSHIP: How do you support the development of youth-adult relationships

A. How do you build youth-adult relationships? Findings

from research1. Relationships develop (Li & Julian)2. Little things matter (Akiva)3. Relational strategies (Jones &

Deutsch)4. Structure & brokering (Sullivan &

Larson)

1. Attachment2. Reciprocity

1. Relationships develop(Li & Julian, 2012)

3. Progressive complexity4. Shifting balance of

power

1176 youths

123 program offerings

66 sites

2. Little things matter (Akiva, Cortina, Eccles, & Smith, under review)

Sample: Diverse mix of afterschool programs. Youth avg age 12 (8-19),54% female, 41% parents college

Hypothesis: Staff practices will differentially predict:

WelcomingChoiceActive skill-buildingPlanning,

Leadership

Belonging

Cognitive engagement

+

+

BelongingCognitive

EngagementWelcoming (d) .28*** .13Choice -.01 .00Active skill-

building.01 .31**

Active skill-building2

--- .35**

Planning (d) .06 -.05Leadership (d) .12 .13

Belonging model explains: 5% - level 1; 19% - level 2; 37% - level 3Engagement model explains: 6% - level 1; 3% - level 2; 65% - level 3

* p < .05, ** p < .01

2. Little things matter (Akiva, Cortina, Eccles, & Smith, under review)

Welcoming practices:• Staff use a warm tone of voice and respectful

language• Staff smile, use friendly gestures, and make eye

contact• Staff appear to like the youth they’re working with.

Each scored 1, 2, or 3, then averaged, then dichotomized.

2. Little things matter (Akiva, Cortina, Eccles, & Smith, under review)

Sample: 17 youth at urban boys & girls club. Age 12-18, balanced gender, majority African American. Observations & interviews for a year.Background: 2008 study found bidirectional respect was critical for youth in this sample.Research question: What staff strategies build youth-adult relationships?

3. Relational strategies(Jones & Deutsch, 2010)

1. Minimizing relational distanceAge differences, teen language & idioms, mutual interests

2. Active inclusionGet kids involved, promote positive culture

3. Attention to proximal relational tiesBridge developmental contexts

3. Relational strategies(Jones & Deutsch, 2010)

Sample: 71 ethnically diverse youth (mean age 16.5) from 7 programs with reputations as high quality. Interviewed biweekly over 4 months. Activities focused on connecting youth to high-resource adults. Research question: How do effective leaders address obstacles to youth-adult interactions?

4. Structure & brokering(Sullivan & Larson, 2010)

1. Activities that structure youth interactions with high-resource adultsPresentations by experts, soliciting donations, collaborative activities around shared project, lobbying institutions

2. Staff broker interactionsBefore, during, and after activities: -- Coach youth on strategies -- Help adults adapt to youth

4. Structure & brokering(Sullivan & Larson, 2010)

B. How do you support the development of youth-adult

relationships? 1. Intentionality (Walker et al.)

2. Continuous quality improvement (Smith, Akiva, et al.)

Developmental Intentionality = “Deliberate, strategic decisions to create opportunities that maximize developmental outcomes”

Areas: relationships, activities, subject matter content, the environment, the pedagogical method, contextual connections

1. Intentionality(Walker, Marczak, Blyth, & Borden, 2005)

Big randomized field trial (87 sites) found that through a low-cost process of assessment, planning, and staff training, programs systematically improved their quality. See www.cypq.org for more info.

2. Continuous quality improvement

(Smith, Akiva, et al., 2012)

Putting it all together• Developmental relationships:

Attachment, reciprocity, progressive complexity, shifting balance of power

• Welcoming belonging: Warm tone, respectful language, be nice

• Relational practices: minimize distance, active inclusion, proximal ties

• Structure & brokering• Developmental intentionality

Thank you!

tomakiva@pitt.edu