The quantitative, non-experimental descriptive study reported here sought to measure how being alumni of the Texas 4-H and Youth Development Program influenced their decisions toward community involvement and leadership positions within communities. Former Texas 4-H alumni at least 18 years of age were the assessable population. The study confirms former 4-Hers are using what they learned in the 4-H program by staying involved in their community organizations and holding leadership positions. Organizations listed at the top by most volunteers included: 4-H Volunteer, Church Organization, and Fair Board/Livestock Association/Group. Leadership positions most frequently held include president and secretary.
We examined effects of preflection, action, and reflection sessions on youth experiences during a 4‑H travel camp. The travel camp was one component of GLOBE, a 2-year Texas 4-H program with intentional goals of advancing understanding of agriculture, poverty, and world cultures. In morning preflection sessions, the 28 youth participants were instructed to take photographs during their day according to themes aligned with 1 of 2 of the program’s goals: building global citizenship and understanding poverty. Each day ended with a reflection session. Youth viewed a slideshow of their themed photographs. After the slideshows, youth completed questionnaires measuring elements of the quality of their subjective experiences during the slideshow: meaningfulness, perceived value of time spent, engagement, absorption, self-affirmation, and provocation. The affirmation preflection, action, and reflection sequence yielded significantly greater meaningfulness and perceived value of time spent. Effects were mediated by immediate subjective experiences of provocation, self-affirmation, absorption, and engagement.
Abstract:Several studies have shown that life skill development is positively related to 4-H club participation. However, this study indicates that even though the 4-H club program is available to all youth, fewer minorities choose to participate and, thus, lose the opportunity to benefit from the positive outcomes.
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