Russian youth specialists know that getting adults to embrace principles of youth empowerment doesn’t come easily. The traditional Russian approach to working with youth focuses on preventing negative behaviors, rather than building on positive abilities or working with young people as partners.
Youth empowerment, in other words, is a major ideological shift. IREX is playing a part in this shift by providing adults with hands-on experience in applying the principles of Positive Youth Development theory (PYD) in three regions in Russia, the latest new phase of its Youth Development Competencies Program (YDCP) [8].
Under the PYD approach, youth, who range in ages from 14-23 in YDCP, are partners and a resource to be developed, rather than a problem to be solved. Once youth find a positive environment where they feel secure, they can flourish and develop competencies needed to become successful adults and engaged citizens. After three years of working directly with youth and youth-serving adults through YDCP, IREX is sharing its knowledge with influential adults in order to effect broad change for youth across Russia.
The PYD approach is popular and effective in the United States: city planners may involve youth in assessing the needs of young people and crafting a youth policy, or in designing and implementing youth projects, as in the Youth Coalition of Hampton, VA [9]. In Russia, however, PYD is just gaining traction, and for many of the adult participants, the PYD course will be their first experience with this theory.
The course seeks to change the day-to-day approach of those who work with youth on the front lines, such as NGO workers, teachers, coaches, and local policymakers, in order to create an atmosphere where young people form and express their own opinions and develop necessary skills and abilities to become active citizens.
The three-part course challenges adult practitioners to critically examine their existing work with young people, while also introducing basic tenets of effective project management. In the intervals between sessions, participants will practice applying the PYD concepts covered in their own unique professional contexts. Trainees will also be coached to advocate the practice of PYD within their institutions and communities.
IREX has started a dialogue with youth practitioners to ensure that the new course will indeed work in the Russian context. By soliciting Russian trainers and experts to develop training materials, staff are encouraged adults will embrace PYD principles. Even after YDCP ends, the course participants will serve as role models and mentors for other specialists interested in utilizing a PYD approach. By bringing together adults and youth as partners, YDCP is looking to the next phase of youth development, where Russian youth are seen as the engaged and proactive leaders that they have always been.
The Youth Development Competencies Program [8] is funded by USAID [10] and developed and implemented by IREX.