Showing papers by "Reed W. Larson published in 2011"

How Youth Get Engaged: Grounded-Theory Research on Motivational Development in Organized Youth Programs

Abstract: For youth to benefit from many of the developmental opportunities provided by organized programs, they need to not only attend but become psychologically engaged in program activities. This research was aimed at formulating empirically based grounded theory on the processes through which this engagement develops. Longitudinal interviews were conducted with 100 ethnically diverse youth (ages 14–21) in 10 urban and rural arts and leadership programs. Qualitative analysis focused on narrative accounts from the 44 youth who reported experiencing a positive turning point in their motivation or engagement. For 38 of these youth, this change process involved forming a personal connection. Similar to processes suggested by self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), forming a personal connection involved youth’s progressive integration of personal goals with the goals of program activities. Youth reported developing a connection to 3 personal goals that linked the self with the activity: learning for the future, developing competence, and pursuing a purpose. The role of purpose for many youth suggests that motivational change can be driven by goals that transcend self-needs. These findings suggest that youth need not enter programs intrinsically engaged—motivation can be fostered—and that programs should be creative in helping youth explore ways to form authentic connections to program activities.

Positive Development in a Disorderly World

Abstract: Adolescents need to develop competencies to navigate an adult world that is complex and disorderly: a world of heterogeneous macro- to microecological systems containing contradictions and catch-22s. This exploratory essay examines adolescents' conscious processes of developing pertinent competencies for pursuing goals (agency) in these kinds of “real-world” settings. It draws on qualitative longitudinal research on youth's experiences working on arts and community projects in which they encounter the irregular dynamics of complex human systems. I describe how youth develop “strategic thinking”: executive skills for formulating strategies based on forecasting dynamics in navigating these systems. I also describe how youth learn to manage emotions (in self and others) that arise in these real-world transactions and how they develop motivation that sustains their work toward goals. Even as we learn more about the biological hardware of development, I argue that we must study youth's conscious, proactive processes in developing their own “software” to navigate complex and disorderly human worlds.

Adolescents' Development of Skills for Agency in Youth Programs: Learning to Think Strategically

Abstract: This research examines how youth in arts and leadership programs develop skills for organizing actions over time to achieve goals. Ethnically diverse youth (ages 13–21) in 11 high-quality urban and rural programs were interviewed as they carried out projects. Qualitative analyses of 712 interviews with 108 youth yielded preliminary grounded theory about youth’s development of strategic thinking, defined as use of dynamic systems reasoning to anticipate real-word scenarios and plan work. Strategic thinking appeared to develop through youth’s creative engagement with tactical challenges in the work and feedback from the work’s outcomes. Program advisors supported this development by giving youth control and by providing nondirective assistance when needed.

Intrinsic motivation and positive development

Abstract: Decades of scientific research shows that intrinsic motivation (IM) is a powerful "engine" of learning and positive development. This chapter synthesizes the research, first showing how the psychological state of IM is associated not only with enhanced engagement and perseverance in an activity, but also with greater use of meta-cognitive strategies and deeper processing of information. These features likely account for evidence that IM is related to greater and more effective learning. Second, we examine the determinants of this beneficial state. Evidence suggests that it results from the convergence of factors at multiple levels--from immediate conditions in the activity to longer-term personal goals, cultural values, and human dispositions. Drawing on these findings, we show that there is considerable potential for young people to develop their abilities to experience and regulate their IM within activities. In the third and final section, we then discuss how youth professionals can work with youth to help them cultivate the capacity for intrinsically motivated learning. We present ten guiding principles for cultivating IM derived from the research. We give particular attention to adolescence, because it is a period when youth become more able to engage in this deliberate cultivation--to be producers of their own development.

Adolescents' conscious processes of developing regulation: learning to appraise challenges.

Abstract: To understand regulation and agency, it important to consider the nature of the regulatory challenges that adolescents must deal with. These include emotional, motivation, interpersonal, and other obstacles and problems. In this chapter, the author discusses the challenges reported by youth working on arts, technology, and social justice projects in organized programs and how they learn to address them. Adolescents' new higher-order cognitive capacities allow them to better understand the irregularities and complexity of real-world challenges. They also use these capacities to consciously develop skills to navigate these challenges.

New Horizons: Understanding the Processes and Practices of Youth Development

Abstract: This article presents new horizons for research on youth development by focusing on the challenges youth face in learning teamwork and in coming to terms with diversity. These are both essential competencies for navigating the “real world” of the 21st century. We examine how youth experience these challenges within programs; also how they present second-order challenges to practitioners. The underlying message of this article is that it is essential for researchers to see programs from the point of view of the people in them. Researchers have learned quite a bit of what can be learned from arm’s length: that programs can make a difference in youths’ lives and that certain features of settings are associated with these changes. To go further, researchers need to work side-by-side with practitioners and youth to understand their complex worlds as they experience them.