Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T08:13:41.642Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Youth Development Programs

Supporting Self-Motivation in Project-Based Learning

from Part I - The Self and Its Impact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2019

K. Ann Renninger  and
Suzanne E. Hidi
By
Reed W. Larson ,
Gina McGovern  and
Carolyn Orson
K. Ann Renninger
Affiliation:
Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania
Suzanne E. Hidi
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Get access

Summary

Afterschool youth development programs (including, arts, leadership, and STEM programs) are significant learning contexts for adolescents. Participation in high-quality programs is related to the acquisition of cognitive, social-emotional, and occupational skills. It is notable that youth in programs report high motivation, markedly higher than in school. Furthermore, motivation increases over time and becomes more self-sustained. This chapter draws on our extensive qualitative interview research with youth and staff to examine questions about how programs – using a project-based learning model – facilitate high and sustained motivation. We find, first, that effective programs create an interpersonal environment of belonging and safety that allows youth to engage in high-functioning relationships, and that projects facilitate motivation because youth experience agency, increasing competency and comradery in their work. Second, although projects periodically confront youth with difficult challenges, which are sometimes overwhelming and can disrupt motivation, youth are typically resilient, and experienced leaders have well-developed strategies for helping youth navigate and learn from these experiences. Third, youth develop sustained motivation because they develop personal connections to program goals and learn techniques to regulate and preempt situations that disrupt motivation. Some youth report learning strategies to help them sustain motivation in the complex, open-ended work of projects.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Motivation and Learning , pp. 111 - 138
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akiva, T. & Horner, C. G. (2016). Adolescent motivation to attend youth programs: A mixed-methods investigation. Applied Developmental Science, 20(4), 278–93. doi: 10.1080/10888691.2015.1127162.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1991a). Anticipatory and self-reactive mechanisms. In Dienstbier, R. A. (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Perspectives on Motivation (Vol. 38). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1991b). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 248–87. doi: 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90022-L.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164–80. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00011.x.Google Scholar
Barron, B., Schwartz, D., Vye, N., Moore, A., Petrosino, A., Zech, L., & Brandsford, J. (1998). Doing with understanding: Lessons from research on problem and project-based learning. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 7(3), 271–311. doi: 10.1207/s15327809jls0703&4_2.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497.Google Scholar
Bevan, B. & Michalchik, V. (2013). Where it gets interesting: Competing models of STEM learning after school. Afterschool Matters, 17, 1–8.Google Scholar
Blumenfeld, P. C., Soloway, E., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A., (1991). Motivating project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning. Educational Psychologist, 26(3–4), 369–98. doi: 10.1080/00461520.1991.9653139.Google Scholar
Blyth, D., Olson, B., & Walker, K. (2015). Ways of being: A model for social & emotional learning. University of Minnesota Extension: Youth Development Issue Brief. Retrieved from www.ostrc.org/newsletter/documents/WaysofBeing_000.pdf.Google Scholar
Carver, C. S. & Scheier, M. F. (2007). Feedback processes in the simultaneous regulation of action and affect. In Shah, J. Y. & Gardner, W. L. (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science (1st ed., pp. 308–24). New York, NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Catalano, R. F., Toumbourou, J. W., & Hawkins, J. D. (2014). Positive youth development in the United States: History, efficacy, and links to moral and character education. In Nucci, L., Narvaez, D., & Krettenauer, T. (Eds.), Handbook of moral and character education (2nd ed., pp. 423–40). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Cohen, G. L. & Steele, C. M. (2002). A barrier of mistrust: How negative stereotypes affect cross-race mentoring. In Aronson, J. (Ed.), Improving academic achievement (pp. 303–27). New York, NY: Emerald. doi: 10.1016/B978-012064455-1/50018-X.Google Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.Google Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K., & Whalen, S. (1993). Talented teenagers: A longitudinal study of their development. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose: Helping our children find their calling in life. New York, NY: Free Press.Google Scholar
Dawes, N. P. & Larson, R. W. (2011). How youth get engaged: Grounded-theory research on motivational development in organized youth programs. Developmental Psychology, 47(1), 259–69. doi: 10.1037/a0020729.Google Scholar
Deutsch, N. L. & Jones, J. N. (2008). “Show me an ounce of respect”: Respect and authority in adult-youth relationships in after-school programs. Journal of Adolescent Research, 23(6), 667–88. doi: 10.1177/0743558408322250.Google Scholar
Diaz, L., Larson, R. W., Armstrong, J., & Perry, S. C. (2015). A case study of youth learning to lead: The power of iterative cycles of situated learning. Paper presented at Annual Meetings of AERA, Chicago.Google Scholar
Donovan, M. S. (2013). Generating improvement through research and development in education systems. Science, 340(6130), 317–19. doi: 10.1126/science.1236180.Google Scholar
Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. New York, NY: Scribner.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S. (2005). Studying gender and ethnic differences in participation in math, physical science, and information technology. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2005(110), 7–14. doi: 10.1002/cd.146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. S. & Roeser, R. W. (2009). Schools, academic motivation, and stage-environment fit. In Lerner, R. M. & Steinberg, L. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (3rd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 404–34). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9780470479193.adlpsy001013.Google Scholar
Fisher, L. J. (2013). Motivational spiral models (MSM): Common and distinct motivations in context. SpringerPlus, 2(1), 565. doi: 10.1186/2193-1801-2-565.Google Scholar
Griffith, A. N. & Larson, R. W. (2016). Why trust matters: How confidence in leaders transforms what adolescents gain from youth programs. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26(4), 790–804. doi: 10.1111/jora.12230.Google Scholar
Griffith, A. N., Larson, R. W., & Johnson, H. E. (2017). How trust grows: Teenagers’ accounts of forming trust in youth program staff. Qualitative Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/qup0000090.Google Scholar
Halpern, R. (2009). The means to grow up: Reinventing apprenticeship as a developmental support in adolescence. New York, NY: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203885970.Google Scholar
Hardy, J. (2006). Speaking clearly: A critical review of the self-talk literature. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7(1), 81–97. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2005.04.002.Google Scholar
Heath, S. B. (1999). Dimensions of language development: Lessons from older children. In Masten, A. S. (Ed.), Cultural processes in child development: The Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 29, pp. 59–75). Mahwah, NY: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Johnson, E. L., Munro, S. E., & Bunge, S. A. (2014). Development of neural networks supporting goal-directed behavior. In Zelazo, P. D. & Sera, M. D. (Eds.), Developing cognitive control processes: Mechanisms, implications, and interventions: Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 37, pp. 21–54). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781118732373.Google Scholar
Kaplan, A., Katz, I., & Flum, H. (2012). Motivation theory in educational practice: Knowledge claims, challenges, and future directions. In Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Urdan, T. (Eds.), APA educational psychology handbook (pp. 165–94). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Kaplan, A. & Maehr, M. L. (2007). The contributions and prospects of goal orientation theory. Educational Psychology Review, 19(2), 141–84. doi: 10.1007/s10648-006-9012-5.Google Scholar
Kirshner, B., Pozzoboni, K., & Jones, H. (2011). Learning how to manage bias: A case study of youth participatory action research. Applied Developmental Science, 15(3), 140–55. doi: 10.1080/10888691.2011.587720.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55(1), 170–83. doi: 10.1037//0003-066X.55.1.170.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. (2011). Positive development in a disorderly world. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21(2), 317–34. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00707.x.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. & Angus, R. M. (2011). Adolescents’ development of skills for agency in youth programs: Learning to think strategically. Child Development, 82(1), 277–94. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01555.x.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. & Brown, J. R. (2007). Emotional development in adolescence: What can be learned from a high school theater program? Child Development, 78(4), 1083–99. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01054.x.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. & Dawes, N. P. (2015). How to cultivate adolescents’ motivation: Effective strategies employed by the professional staff of American youth programs. In Joseph, S. (Ed.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 313–26). New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Larson, R., Raffaelli, M., Guzman, S., Salusky, I., Orson, C., & Kenzer, A., (in press). The important (but neglected) developmental value of roles: Findings from youth programs. Developmental Psychology.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. & Hansen, D. (2005). The development of strategic thinking: Learning to impact human systems in a youth activism program. Human Development, 48, 327–49. doi: 10.1159/000088251.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W., Izenstark, D., Rodriguez, G., & Perry, S. C. (2016). The art of restraint: How experienced program leaders use their authority to support youth agency. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26(4), 845–63. doi: 10.1111/jora.12234.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W., Jensen, L., Kang, H., Griffith, A. N., & Rompala, V. (2012). Peer groups as a crucible of positive value development in a global world. In Trommsdorff, G. & Chen, X. (Eds.), Values, religion, and culture in adolescent development (pp. 164–87). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. & Richards, M. H. (1991). Boredom in the middle school years: Blaming schools versus blaming students. American Journal of Education, 99(4), 418–43. doi: 10.1086/443992.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. & Rusk, N. (2011). Intrinsic motivation and positive development. In Lerner, R. M., Lerner, J. V., & Benson, J. B. (Eds.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 41, pp. 89–130). Oxford: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-386492-5.00005-1.Google Scholar
Larson, R. W. & Walker, K. C. (2006). Learning about the “real world” in an urban arts youth program. Journal of Adolescent Research, 21(3), 244–68. doi: 10.1177/0743558405285824.Google Scholar
Masten, A. S. (2013). Risk and resilience in development. In Zelazo, P. D. (Ed.), Oxford handbook of developmental psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 579–607). New York, NY: Oxford Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199958474.013.0023.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, M. W., Irby, M. A., & Langman, J. (1994). Urban sanctuaries: Neighborhood organizations in the lives and futures of inner-city youth. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Nurmi, J. E. (2004). Socialization and self-development: Channeling, selection, adjustment, and reflection. In Lerner, R. M. & Steinberg, L. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed., pp. 85–124). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9780471726746.ch4.Google Scholar
Orson, C. (2018). Reframing: How staff help youth overcome episodes of anxiety in youth programs. Masters Thesis. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois.Google Scholar
Pekrun, R., Frenzel, A. C., Goetz, T., & Perry, R. P. (2007). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: An integrative approach to emotions in education. In Schutz, P. A. & Pekrun, R. (Eds.), Emotion in education (pp. 13–36). Amsterdam: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Priest, S. & Gass, M. A. (2005). Effective leadership in adventure programming (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.Google Scholar
Renninger, K. A. & Hidi, S. E. (2016). The power of interest for motivation and engagement. New York, NY: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315771045.Google Scholar
Rickman, A. N. (2009). A challenge to the notion of youth passivity: Adolescents’ development of career direction through youth programs. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois.Google Scholar
Roth, J. L. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003a). What exactly is a youth development program? Answers from research and practice. Applied Developmental Science, 7(2), 94–111. doi: 10.1207/S1532480XADS0702.Google Scholar
Roth, J. L. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003b). Youth development programs and healthy development: A review and next steps. In Romer, D. (Ed.), Reducing adolescent risk: Toward an integrated approach (pp. 355–65). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Rusk, N., Larson, R. W., Raffaelli, M., Walker, K., Washington, L., Gutierrez, V., ... Cole Perry, S. (2013). Positive youth development in organized programs: How teens learn to manage emotions. In Proctor, C. & Linley, P. A. (Eds.), Research, applications, and interventions for children and adolescents: A positive psychology perspective (pp. 247–61). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-6398-2_15.Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salusky, I., Larson, R. W., Griffith, A. N., Wu, J., Raffaelli, M., Sugimura, N., & Guzman, M. (2014). How adolescents develop responsibility: What can be learned from youth programs. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24(3), 417–30. doi: 10.1111/jora.12118.Google Scholar
Shweder, R. A., Goodnow, J. J., Hatano, G., LeVine, R. A., Markus, H. R., & Miller, P. J. (2006). The cultural psychology of development: One mind, many mentalities. In Damon, W. & Lerner, R. (Gen. Eds.) & Lerner, R. (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 716–792). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0113.Google Scholar
Smith, C., McGovern, G., Larson, R. W., Hillaker, B., & Peck, S. C. (2016a). Preparing youth to thrive: Promising practices for social and emotional learning. Washington, DC: David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality at the Forum for Youth Investment. Retrieved from http://selpractices.org.Google Scholar
Smith, C., McGovern, G., Peck, S. C., Larson, R. W., & Roy, L. (2016b). Preparing youth to thrive: Methodology and findings from the Social and Emotional Learning Challenge. Washington, DC: David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality at the Forum for Youth Investment. Retrieved from http://selpractices.org.Google Scholar
Steinberg, L. (2014). Age of opportunity: Lessons from the new science of adolescence. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. L. & Corbin, J. (2008). Basics of qualitative research. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Vandell, D. L., Larson, R. W., Mahoney, J. L., & Watts, T. W. (2015). Children's organized activities. In Bornstein, M. H., Leventhal, T., & Lerner, R. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (pp. 1–40). New York, NY: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy408.Google Scholar
Vandell, D. L., Reisner, E. R., Pierce, K. M., Brown, B. B., Lee, D., Bolt, D., & Pechman, E. M., (2006). The study of promising after-school programs: Examination of longer term outcomes after two years of program experiences. Retrieved from http://gseweb.oit.uci.edu/childcare/pdf/afterschool/PP Examination in Year 3.pdf.Google Scholar
Walker, J., Marczak, M., Blyth, D., & Borden, L. (2005). Designing youth development programs: Toward a theory of developmental intentionality. In Mahoney, J. L., Larson, R. W., & Eccles, J. S. (Eds.), Organized activities as contexts of development: Extracurricular activities, after-school and community programs (pp. 399–418). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Wood, D., Larson, R. W., & Brown, J. R. (2009). How adolescents come to see themselves as more responsible through participation in youth programs. Child Development, 80(1), 295–309. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01260.x.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, B. J. & Campillo, M. (2003). Motivating self-regulated problem solvers. In Davidson, J. E. & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.), The psychology of problem solving. (pp. 233–62) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×