Friday, November 30, 2007

Lens of Lack: The Identification of Children through the Adult Perspective

An issue that has come up through lots of the research I have done as well as the work I have done in the non-profit sector has been the identification of the needs of children through the eyes of adults.

One of the biggest problems that leads to the ineffectiveness of after-school programs is it tends to be more adult-centered than youth-centered. Adults and society are the ones defining what children need and the behaviors they need to exude. Constructing youth as deficient leads to youth demonstrating education and social downfalls and exhibit negative behaviors. Adults assume the needs of children, and thus define the support that is provided to the youth. Adults, society, and schools define what it means to be an educated child by stating what type of knowledge is valued and how it can be measured to be deemed as successful. Childhood is constructed by those involved in after-school programs through policies where adults control time, place and experience. Adults define the social capital that are accessible to kids and equate “good children” with those who academically achieve, as shown in grades and standardized test scores.

Childhood is portrayed as an empty space to be filled by adult visions and state parameters for experiences in education, some appropriate and some not. In this regard, children do not participate in the narrating of their own experiences. We understand childhood through a fragmented construction-visual image and test scores. Childhood is organized into a division of work, school, and play, where their need for safety and vulnerability to high risk behaviors leads to the necessity of adult and state regulations.

Many times, youth development, as emphasized by after-school programs is to help children become what they’re not, for them to develop in contradiction to their values, beliefs, and skills of their own communities. Good children are academically successful, and education is defined in terms of performance objectives measured by performance indicators. Value is placed on school-based goals and behaviors not to those seen as resistant to normative expectations of learning.


This is more detrimental for children who live in high poverty communities. Children and families in high poverty areas and who attend low performing schools are constructed as lacking and in need of additional schooling intervention.

How can this be resolved in after-school programs so children are truly at the center of the program while gaining ownership over it?

Monday, November 26, 2007

Technological Advances: How should we Integrate Technology in After-School programs?


With the current advances of techonology it is difficult to get ahead in this world without grasping basic skills involving technology and computers. To what capacity should technology be integrated into the curriculum of after school programs? Also, how do areas with limited resources gain access to such important technological resources?


Technology enables students to develop self-expression and creativity in numerous ways. It also enables youth to gather and share information in an internet-reliant modern world. Access to technology also enables youth to find and solve problems using a variety of different methods. Through collaboration on projects using technology, youth are able to learn within virtual spaces and build skills and understanding. The major benefit of technology is its emphasis on project learning.


Many times, the idea of computers sparks enthusiasm among youth. Gaining competence in computers reinforces skills in other academic subjects and assists in homework completion. Also, may parents state access to computers and technology as a high priority for thier kids. Access to technology is an important learning tool that can increase motivation and lead to more positive attitudes amongst youth.


However, many areas, specifically underprivileged areas, have limited access to technological resources. These resources, specifically computers, tend to be expensive. So there is a threat that this can perpetuate already existing inequalities. How can this be addressed?

Sunday, November 25, 2007

How much Should we Focus on Academics?

You would think that it would make the most sense of focus predominantly on raising academic achievement in after school programs. Most after school programs seek to ameliorate the educational inequalities that are prevalent in schools through their programs. By providing homework assistance and one-on-one tutoring and attention, many programs seek to raise the academic achievement of the youth they serve.

But how much should an after school program focus on academics? Also, who defines the objectives and the goals of the after school program? Is it the school district? The youth? The families?

In an article entitled "All work and no play?" researchers asked community members what exactly they want from after school programs. If the program is meant to address the needs of a community, shouldn't the members be the ones identifying what the needs are? According to this study, many parents want an opportunity for kids to develop hobbies and interests while keeping out of trouble while participating in after-school programs. Parents also hope that programs reinforce good values and behavior such as hard work and comitment. Many community members showed a limited interest in focusing primarily on academics.

This one example is just a reflection of how we, as community activists, need to listen more to the people we represent and hope to positively effect. By making parents and children an integral part of constructing the curriculum and defining what the program is, this can lead to increased participation and feelings of ownership. It is essential that the voices of community members is implemented in every step of the process in order to trule address the injustices that silence their voices every day.

Question to Payment: Should Students Pay for Extracurricular Activities?


What we tend to forget in the sector of after school programs is that it costs money. Even if run out of schools, the costs of salaries, curricular demands, and running facilities increases the costs of running a school district, where administrators seek to cut spending and increase revenues. This is even more costly when after school programs are run out of community centers, where facilities and resources are not necessarily accessible. Recently, schools have shifted the financial burden onto students and parents, by having a fee to participate in a variety of after school activities and extracurriculars.


The problem with this is that it automatically cuts off certain students from participation, specifically students from underprivileged families. Fees can serve as an automatic barrier to a large portion of the students population.


Some schools believe that waivers can solve this problem. However, what exactly fits under the umbrella of a free and public education? Can after school programs and extracurriculars be considered an extension of school curriculum, governed and supported by schools?


Ulitmately, in both scenarios, those from underprivileged backgrounds and low-income areas lose out. Many times, even minor fees are out of reach of students who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. However, in admitting need for waiver, this may lead to identifying oneself based on negative social stimgas. It is again another situation where this student would have to identify himself or herself as lacking in order to gain access to resources.

Friday, November 23, 2007

The integration of Art: Expanding means of Expression


With the focus on meeting national standards in the forefront of education, many low-income schools have reallocated resources away from art programs. Many US schools don't have full time art teachers, and the focus on standards has lead to the elimination of art in many urban schools.


After school programs is a perfect avenue in which to implement art into the experience of youth. Arts has the ability to retain older youth, who normally diminish in the participation as they get older, so they feel more satisfied and competent in their work. The arts value and nurture knowledge and skills that are often ignored in the formal sector of education. These skills include intuitive, critical, culturally specific, entrepreneurial, cooperative, kinesthic, and transformative skills. Art requires long term collaboration including planning, managing, strategizing, and evaluating.


A problem that some after school programs face in implementing an artistic component is conflicting values of teachers and artists. Many teachers emphasize the need to increase educational attainment and have a safe yet structured environment. Many artists emphasize the need to have free experimentation and flexibility for youth to freely express themselves artistically.


However, art has numerous benefits. Arts develop the youth mind by giving them the opportunity to learn and think in special ways. Art also serves a social function, by giving youth the opportunity to express themselves and their culture in the past and present. Art also enables students to build self-confidence, while building skills that are transferrable to other life areas.


Through art, students are able to know themselves, their community, and their culture better. Personally, I work with a small non profit organization that focuses on art as a means to have youth gain leadership skills. Through the production of murals, youth are able to identify positive place in their community.

Assessment: How to Measure if a Program is Successful


One of the biggest challenges faced by after school programs is that it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Many times, positive social and academic changes can occur amongst the youth that participate, but it is hard to isolate the factors of the program that results in those positive changes. It is important for after school programs to measure the affects they have on youth because this enables them to show results to those they seek funding and resources from. Without this evaluation and evidence, why would people and funding foundations put money towards the initiative?


Most quality programs combine academic, recreational, physical, and artistic elements in the curriculum to engage youth in somewhat structured activities. Good after school programs should provice youth with a safe environment to nurture social, physical, and emotional development. Again, these terms seem somewhat ambiguous, hard to evaluate, and measure.


Zhang, Lam, Smith, Fleming, Connaughton address assessing effectiveness in afterschool programs in their 2006 article, "Development of the Scale for Program Facilities to Assess the Effectiveness of After School Achievement Programs". In this article, they identify 4 steps to assess effectiveness of afterschool programs. The four aspects of after school programs that determine their effectiveness include scholastic development, social behavior, caring environment, and personal inspiration. Scholastic Development includes homework assistance, academic remediation, career awareness, learning of technology, enriching activities (sports, fitness, recreation, music, and arts) and can be measured in increased grades and standardized test scores. Social behavior includes behavioral issues, character building, youth development, increased prosocial behavior, cope with behavioral problems, obtain new social skills to meet increased demands school and society, postively affect student attitudes and behaviors in school and ability to achieve learning goals, stay out of trouble, resolution to decrease fighting, and are less likely to drink and skip school. A caring environment is a safe haven, less parental stress with safe and motivating environment and increased children's behavior and rate of homework completion, decreased worry about safety, increased apprecaitive of child's talents, and at ease to concentrate on vocation. Personal inspiration involves an increased sense of personal competence and confidence, feelings of self worth, increased self-concept, increased self esteem leading to increased efficacy.


After school programs need to establish ways to monitor the progress of the program to achieve objectives. Programs need to seek ways to evaluate their programs to increase their effectiveness and accountability to ensure parent and children satisfaction. Through the process of evaluation, program facilitators can adjust curriculum, reallocate funding, increase facilities, develop staff, make decisions, and increase accountability.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Homework Assistance: Why it's important and how to make it effective


The focus of many after school programs is to provide youth with opportunities for one on one tutoring to help youth complete their homework. Many youth who attend after school programs have difficulty completing work in the classroom, so after school programs provide youth with the assistance with which to successfully complete the work assigned to them.


The purpose of homework is to take the academic work assigned in school and extend the practice of academic skills into other environments during non-school hours. Homework is designed to have students drill and gain mastery of skills, expand the concepts they learn in class, increase individual student responsibility, and give parents insight into their childrens' curriculum. Recently there has been an increase in homework demands because of the competition present in college admission. This causes a lot of conflict for students from low-income urban backgrounds, because a large number of the students are unable to complete their homework because of the competing demands of time with taking care of their families or working to support their household. This ultimately leads to lower academic achievement of this population of students.


Many kids spend after school hours in some sort of unstructured activity with low correlation to school achievement. Most of the time, programs that offer homework assistance provide structured time and setting for homework completion, as well as instructional support for students. This allows students to report an increased sense of confidence in regards to their academic performance.


It is very difficult, when researching this topic, to see how positive outcomes are linked specifically to the idea of homework completion in after school programs. However, it has been proposed that homework completion is the mediator of positive non academic outcomes such as self esteem and confidence, increased academic self concept, commitment to school, personal responsibility, reinforcement of school attachment, increased study skills, cognitive strategies and motivation. Also, there has been reported to be a development of resilience in social problem solving, decision making, personal responsibility, social awareness, and maintain student bonding to school.


However, in regards to future research, there needs to be more studies that isolate the affects of homework assitance in after school programs. As of currently, there is little evidence to support that homework assistance in after school programs leads conclusively to positive results.

More of the Same: How structured should After-School Programs Be?


One of the major reasons that after-school programs are needed is because many youth, because of lack of parental presence during after-school hours, are in unstructured environments during the hours of 3-6pm. These are the hours that many youth participate in dangerous activities such as drugs, violence, and sexual activity. However, if the role of an after-school program is to ameliorate that lack of structure, how structured should the program actually be? Should after school programs include structured academic components and be an extension of the school day? Or should the programs be less structured and more relaxing?


I believe that after-school programs should be less structured to give youth the opportunity to learn in a different setting and under different guidelines. I feel if we make after school programs an extension of the normal school day, this will turn kids off from the idea of the program and will debilitate their participation. Most youth have taken in as much as they possibly can by the end of the day when it comes to classroom learning.


After school programs need to focus on informal learning. In this way after school programs can extend what the students perceive education to be. The point is to engage students, and through this engagement, students will learn. Many times providing an opportunity to learn informally can lead to success in the formal sector of learning. The goal of after-school programs should be to implement programs that enrich and educate, but are so fun that students don't strongly connect them with the negative perceptions they have of school.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Encouraging Bicultural Identity: Differing Cultures of Mentors and Youth


While it is important for youth to feel as though they can connect their culture with education, in the form of having administration, teachers, and mentors who come from their community, how do those who don't share the culture of the youth serve positive roles? Many college students, who have come from high income backgrounds or who identify differently culturally and racially from the youth they hope to work with, tend to feel hesitant when working in low income communities. This breakdown in communication and automatic barrier can lead to ineffectiveness in a mentor's relationship with youth. So how can this be addressed?


The goal of many after school programs is to form relationships of empowerment for youth who feel dis-empowered in the school setting. The worst thing that can happen in the relationships between a student and a mentor is this idea of "social mirroring". In this scenario, it invalidates the sense of self of the student, by expecting inferior students to suppress their culture under the stereotypesd notions of acculturating oneself to the values and ways of the dominant.


When one is faced with cultural differences, both adult and child should use this as an opportunity to engage in honest dialogue and gentle acculturation of each other's worldviews. In this way, each serving as teacher and learner simultaneously, youth and adults can move towards a bicultural identity. This involves the active incorporation of mentor and youth of what is learned from the other into their own personal identity and experience.

Service Learning and After School Programs


There are numerous questions surrounding after school programs that address whether a service learning component is beneficial to have in after school programs. The questions have been raised about whether students who participate in service-learing components of programs have more improvements in GPA and show more improvements in behaviors. The purpose of service learning is to integrate academic curriculum with community service. Studies have show that service learning does impact academic achievement by increasing critical thinking and writing skills amongst youth. Also, with social behavior, students become more confident in their ability to identify issues, work with others, organize and take action, and build commitment to participation in the long term. Also, it helps youth change their attitudes towards social justice, equality of opportunity, and civic responsibility.


Students who learn and practice responsible decision-making skills through service learning are more likely to make more responsible choices in other aspects of their lives than those who are not learning these skills. The curriculum of service learning should include personal and social responsibility, academic achievement, tolerance, good citizenship, respect for others, respect for diversity, leadership, and conflict resolution skills. In doing this, students are able to learn in different ways than how they are taught in school. Service learning prompts students to learn through discussion, experiential exercises, cooperative learning, and reflection.


What I feel is the most important gain of service learning is that it connects academic achievement with their community. Many times, in low income communities, education is not equated with the culture or identity of the community. By taking ownership over a project, that benefits their community as well as addresses a prevalent issue of inequality, youth are able to become active leaders in their community.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Forming Relationships with Adults: Mentors, Volunteers, and Facilitators

One of the most important aspects of After School programs is the opportunity for youth to form meaningful and stable relationships with adults. Many times, schools do not provide youth with enough opportunities to form meaningful relationships with adults. Many kids feel as though their teachers do not understand them. Also, the high turnover rate in many low-income schools debilitates youth from being able to form sustainable relationships with adults. After school programs enable youth to gain one on one interractions with adults in ways that enable them to trust adults but also gain important social skills. However, where do these adults come from? What makes mentors ineffective when working with kids? Many people argue that the mentors need to be representative of the culture of the youth participating in the program. There is a movement towards involving community members as integral parts of after school programs. Also, many times after school programs use surrounding universities to provide a strong volunteer base for mentors and tutors in after school programs. This enables students in college to share the education they gain in college with a low income community and share knowledge that will help youth move towards the communities they envision for themselves.
The major problem in regards to mentors, many times is the lack of adequate training. For example, college students may go into an afterschool background without any historical knowledge or background of the community in which they are situated. This automatically puts a barrier on productive conversations and relationships. Also, if community members have had their own negative experiences with education, this may add onto the negative perceptions youth will have of their educational setting.
A very effective method used in after school programs is to train peer leaders, so older youth can serve as positive role models to the younger peers in their community. Not only does this enable youth to gain meaningful relationships with eachother, but it strengthens the social fabric of the community.

Monday, October 29, 2007

The Location Debate


Through my work I hope to address the unequal access to educational opportunities that confront many young people in low-income communities. One of the biggest debates that I have confronted in my work and through my research on after school programs is the question of location. What are the benefits and downfalls of having the program set in the school setting verses in a community center/church/etc? Many people argue that after school programs located in schools enable youth to gain access to a safe and structured setting during after school hours, which show the greatest incidents of at-risk behaviors. When located at schools, teachers most of the time take on the roles of assisting youth with homework and providing extracurricular activities. In this way, students are able to form more meaningful relationships with adults and identify more of a positive academic identity at school. The downfalls include the idea that many young people correlate the school environment with oppression and inequalities. Many times, in after school programs located at the schools, youth are still under the guidance of teachers that focus on structure, rather than young people taking ownership over the program. Also, many teachers tend to be worn out after the school day, and can commit limited time and energy to hours outside of school hours. Some people argue that having after school programs situatively set in the community is a better way to go about things. The reasons behind this include the fact that children will be able to connect education and their community, which many times in low income communities is lacking. Also, by placing the program in the community, community members can participate in a way where kids can connect more with the adults that are part of the program because they see their culture represented in a respectful way. Also, in these situations, there is more flexibility in regards to structure that enables youth to be more creative. The downfall of placing programs in community centers involves the lack of sustainable funding as well as lack of educational professionals that see kids in the classroom. I pose the following questions:


  1. How is it possible to implement the structure of a classroom in a community, meanwhile allowing youth to gain ownership over the program?

  2. Where is the happy medium between creativity and educational structure and expectations?

  3. How can community members be more involved in after school programs located in schools?

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Implementing the Voice of Parents

One of the major debates regarding after-school programs is how to implement parental involvement in an effective way. I have found that establishing trusting relationships with the parents of the youth that you work with is essential in building stronger social networks as well as making larger positive gains. One concern in regards to after-school programs is that placing youth in after school homework assistance would decrease parental involvment in school and homework assistance. On one side, many of the parents of youth in low-income areas have been poorly educated, and have had their own negative experiences with education so that they find it difficult to assist children in schoolwork. However, parental involvment in a child's school experience is essential in forming positive attitudes and study skills. Also, many times, in making parents a part of the learning process, this also enables adults to gain skills that can counter their own negative experiences with school. However, how do we make parents part of after-school programs when one of the reasons why these programs are so needed is because many youth are left unsupervised in after-school hours due to parents work schedules and other responsibilities? So I am left with the question:
  1. How can after school programs involve parents in a positive way that empowers them and their children?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Allocating Resources: Issues Surrounding Funding


This past summer I worked as a grant writer for a small youth-centered after school program. As a grant writer I was able to see how external influences in the form of funding foundations influence how non-profit organizations are run and the way projects are carried out. One of the major challenges that after school programs have to face, particularly those situated in low income areas, is filling in financial gaps and finding monetary resources. Many times, this is done by applying for grants. The problem I personally find in this is that many times the foundation, that is external from the community, defines need, resources, and objectives of a community organization from which they are external. Through this process, many times, this further debilitates youth from feeling empowered in their own communities. Also, many times, due to the restructuring of numerous funding organizations as well as numerous re-prioritizing initiatives from the state, money you get one year may not necessarily be there the next. That being said,
  1. What can be some alternatives means for gaining funds for after school programs that fully reflects the interests of the youth and citizens of the community?
  2. What resources are needed in order to make an after-school program fully effective?

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Building the Framework: After-School Program Paradigm for Ameliorating Inequalities

After numerous years working in youth-centered non-profit programs, I have realized that there are numerous areas in which the informal sector of education can improve. The objectives of after school programs are admirable. In order to ameliorate the the inequalities that many youth face in school, specifically those from low-income areas, after-school programs provides a safe environment where many youth can flourish. I myself am graduating this year after working extensively at my college to form partnerships between my college and the surrounding communities. I pose a couple questions that I seek answers to before I continue on my path to addressing present in our education system:
  1. What are some requirements for a successful after-school program?
  2. What are some things that prohibit the effectiveness of after-school programs?
  3. What inequalities do after-school programs seek to address?