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Orchestra Outreach | | |
 What about resilience?
Social Support and Initiative
In this area, there is a fast growing body of research. Instead of focusing on the situations
or incidents that negatively impact
a child’s development, many studies are discussing what allows some children to meet adversity and still
grow to achieve
social productivity (Benson and Saito, 2000; Eccles, 1999; Eccles and Appleton Gootman, 2002; Larson,
2000; Noam, 1999;
Roth and Brooks-Gunn, 2000; Seligman, 2000; Werner, 1990). One of the main issues in the development
of adolescents is
the need to feel like they belong to a social group for the security of their identity (Noam, 1999). They do seek belonging
among their peers, and they are also seeking positive relationships with adults who can both be nurturing
and provide a
sense of structure (Eccles, 1999; Eccles and Appleton Gootman, 2002; Noam, 1999; Roth and Brooks-Gunn,
2000; Werner,
1990). One might ask more specifically—what kind of structure supports positive development? Common
themes within
the research sited above are that it is important that the young people feel included, respected, and
supported in the process
of learning their skills. Furthermore, these kinds of feelings correspond to the same kinds of
things that adults need in order
to experience well-being and be internally motivated. After all, the aim of a successful adolescent
development is a socially
functioning adult.
Two professors from the University of Rochester, Richard Ryan and Edward Deci,
have published an article that
describes the three components necessary to adult well-being and intrinsic motivation—“the needs for
competence, …
relatedness, … and autonomy” (Ryan and Deci, 2000, p. 68). Competence is having or developing
functional skills.
Relatedness has its roots in the feeling that one’s work or skills have some kind of meaning or significance. Autonomy is
based on the individual having some recognized ability to act on his or her own will. In order
to possess all three of these
qualities, there are fundamental conditions of skill acquisition, social support, and some sense of
usefulness or significance
related to those skills. Ryan and Deci comment, “Perhaps no single phenomenon reflects the positive
potential of human
nature as much as intrinsic motivation, the inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to
extend and exercise
one’s capacities, to explore, and to learn” (p.70).
Reed Larson, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
writes about how to help young people develop initiative (2000). He extensively credits Ryan and
Deci’s research in his
discussion of how adolescents might be encouraged to self-motivate, remarking that the first of three
“elements of initiative”
(p. 172) is “intrinsic motivation, the experience of wanting to be doing and activity and being
invested in it.” There is no way
to manufacture or fake this condition, though with the right emphasis and planning, it can be kindled. The second part is
“concerted engagement in the environment, with exertion of constructive attention in a field
of action involving the types of
constraints, rules, challenge, and complexity that characterize external reality.” An appropriate
challenge is necessary and
good for skill development. Making an environment that is realistically difficult is also exciting. Thirdly, it takes time to
nurture real growth or to become secure in one’s own progress. Larson continues, “Initiative involves
a temporal arc of
effort directed toward a goal, an arc that might include setbacks, re-evaluations, and adjustment of
strategies.” Throughout
the process, young people need support and encouragement to meet the trials they face.
As a resource that combines the issues of youth development and partnerships
between schools and afterschool
programs
Afterschool Education: Approaches to an Emerging Field
, by Gil Noam, Gina Biancarosa, and Nadine Dechausay
(2003) is quite interesting. This reference describes emerging practices for reaching youth in
positive ways during out of
school time, and the possibility of “bridging” those emergent practices with schools. The authors
are experienced field
practitioners as well as researchers and consultants. They present an excellent overview and many
recommendations for
afterschool programs, a series of articles by other authors commenting on other issues in the field,
and an emphasis on how
community organizations and schools might have a better collaboration.
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