My brother-in-law is a potter. Not as a hobby. That is actually his job, and he is very good at it. Over the years he has explained a fair amount about his craft. One of the things that he explained has always stuck with me:...
Gratitude is often treated as a polite habit, a personal virtue or a wellness practice. Simple and straightforward. Young people are encouraged to say thank you, write gratitude lists or focus on what they have. Developmental psychology tells a story that’s a bit more complicated. In...
We often talk about “systems change” in youth work, but we rarely slow down to ask what real change actually looks like. One of the most helpful thinkers on this topic is historian and philosopher Thomas Kuhn, who argued that progress doesn’t usually unfold gradually....
At first glance, Positive Youth Development and the Native Tongues might seem to live in different worlds — one grounded in research and youth policy, the other born from hip-hop’s playful, inventive spirit. Look closer and you see the same heartbeat: Young people thrive when...
I doubt Urie Bronfenbrenner ever listened to Biggie Smalls. But if he had, I imagine he would have nodded along — not just to the rhythm, but to the deeper truths hidden in Biggie’s stories. Biggie’s lyrics painted a vivid picture of complexity — family...