POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AOTEAROA
At WFCT, we are strong advocates for the practice of Positive Youth Development (PYD).
We like the description that talks about PYD as: an "approach that guides communities in the way they organise programmes, people and supports so that young people can develop to their full potential" (Pittman).
In May 2021, WFCT and The Collaborative Trust released the second iteration of our resource, Positive Youth Development Aotearoa (PYDA) and at the same time launched The Youth Development Champions Project (YDC).
Like the organisations and individuals who created them, the PYDA document and the YDC Project work hand in hand- the document sets out a framework for Positive Youth Development and the Youth Development Champions Project delivers training according to this framework but to fit with individual contexts of people from a range of professions, engaging in training. The training is for anyone who works with or for young people- if this sounds like you, email your interest to hello@championsproject.nz or checkout the website www.championsproject.nz
About the PYDA.
In 2011 we released a document called Positive Youth Development Aotearoa (PYDA) – this was a seriously collaborative creation by researchers, youth sector experts and rangatahi themselves, exploring the confluence between the various approaches to PYD documented in local and international literature, with the grass roots experiences of young people and organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Positive Youth Development framework aids those of us whose work impacts rangatahi to really get what it means to support them. Essentially, the framework suggests that both informal and formal initiatives, activities and programmes intentionally weave connections by integrating two key outcomes and adopting three key approaches;
KEY OUTCOMES
1. Developing the whole person
2. Developing connected communities
KEY APPROACHES
1. Strength-based
2. Respectful relationships
3. Building ownership and empowerment
In 2020 we decided it was time to update the original resource to better reflect the current practices in PYD including the cultural models and ideas that are imperative to supporting the development of young people in Aotearoa.