BLOG #4

I am glad that we went through past capstone projects. For some reason I had a misconception that a capstone should be a specific research project that follows a linear path of abstract, literature review, data collection/ methods, data analysis, implications and then conclusion. Seeing the different varieties of projects from past cohorts, I now have a better idea of what capstone projects can be.

My ideas at the moment...................................... Before this program, I did not know much about youth work. I had many questions like, what can I do with this degree? Where can I work? And a plethora of other questions about the field. Thanks to YDEV 501, I am getting introduced to what Youth work is, the history, the evolution and where we currently are. I think one of the highlights from what I have learned so far is that the field is highly under-professionalized. Now my interest definitely lies with the matter of professionalization, but it is too broad for a capstone project. However, as a result of underprofessionalization, there is an excessive heterogeneity in the sets of requirements for jobs within the field (Baldridge, 2019). For example, different organizations ask for different sets of requirements, there is no consistent training, a lack of uniformity in the practice, and only little understanding of youth work. This can place people looking to get into the field in a confused state of mind. To address this, my question is “what knowledge, skills, attributes and other characteristics are required in youth development roles/ jobs?” My goal is to do a comprehensive work analysis and synthesize findings into a manual for new professionals. I think this may help establish clarity in roles and competencies required/ necessary in this field. Hopefully, this data can help provide a roadmap and foundational guidance for new professionals in the field, or even veterans as they make lateral transitions within the field.

BLOG #3

 

ORGANIZATION
TITLE OF RESEARCH/ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION	Breakfast for Banter (Bogad, 2002)
CRUST (type of research)	Qualitative
SAUCE (ideology/underlying beliefs)	Constructivist The following quote makes it clear as day that this is purely constructivist, and that you as a researcher claim no objectivity. "I am a researcher. They are the subjects I study. But I am always trying to position myself with them, rather than against them, to be a part of the inside rather than on the outside."
TOPPINGS (methods and tools)	Observation
UTENSILS: (how is it cut up and served AKA: analyzed?)	Data synthesized by author
BOX (how is it delivered?)	Data presented in the form of an article.
NOTES:	Loved reading this article. I admire how the youth took ownership of the space, how they interacted with adults, and one another. It is 2025 now, I wonder where they are, what they are doing, and how they carried the lessons from Banter for Breakfast into adulthood.

BLOG POST #2

I think constructivism aligns more with my learning journey so far and what I want to do in the future. My goal is to work with refugees. Often, I ponder on whether I will be able to do them justice in terms of providing them the necessary resources they need to excel in their new environments. After extensive research over the weekend on the different approaches to research, I think a constructivist approach may help me in that future role and with one of the questions I had last week, "How can I support refugee youths, when I do not understand the impact of their experience?"

 

Constructivism is a paradigm that emphasizes that reality is apprehensible by people in social ways, and knowledge is co-constructed between people as they engage (Guba &Lincoln, 1994). With this approach, instead of wondering how I can help refugees in the future, to answer my question, I can simply be intentional in the way I engage with refugees, learn from them, and understand their needs. In a more practical way, I can create safe spaces where I encourage refugee youths to share their lived experiences, to create and reflect. This gives them a sense of agency, and allows us to build an understanding together. 

A German philosopher Ernest Glasersfeld, who was a radical constructivist pushed the idea that knowledge  is only judged by how viable or useful it is for the knower. I mention this because I truly believe that we are better able to help youths as youth work professionals when we know more about them. I acknowledge that I can never fully understand the experiences of refugee youths or refugees in general, what matters is creating ways of knowing and relating that are viable for understanding their needs, and supporting their growth and well-being.

References

https://ankara.lti.cs.cmu.edu/11780/sites/default/files/10-guba_lincoln_94.pdf

https://www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html

Outlier AI

BLOG POST #1

 What does it take to work with youths?

What soft skills do I need to succeed in this filed? 

Can being a teacher (professional) researcher help me better understand youths?

How much do youths suffer from massification based on only age?

How can I help youths that are in the midst of war?

Can case studies be insensitive to specific groups of students?

what if I do not have a question in mind but still want to engage in research?

Why do most research in psychology always compare African Americans to White people? 

Can youths be part of research that involves them, instead of having only adults do the research?

How can I support refugee youths, when I do not understand the impact of their experience?

How do I keep on keeping on when there are children starving and dying?

How do I help more undergraduate students to get over their fear and engage in research?

How can I push for data collection to be part of undergraduate studies and not just graduate studies?

How do I push for all undergraduate students to learn to read and critique research studies?

How can youth workers do their jobs while resisting government infiltration and disruption form external political constraints and policies that do not align with their mission/ goals/ values?

Has youth work been professionalized?

Are there unified systems of training/ certifications for youth work?

How can we make people more aware of adultism?

why does it feel like research is gatekept for graduate students?

Can I come up with a brilliant capstone idea?