The job of youth development professionals is to provide
opportunities for young people to develop the competencies they
need to become successful contributing members of their
communities (Pittman & Wright, 1991). Empowerment can be one of
the most effective strategies for providing young people with opportunities to develop competence.
Over the past decade
"empowerment" has become the buzzword in business, evaluation and
youth development. Because of its wide use, the word
"empowerment" has many different meanings to people.
According to Webster (1998. Empower means (1) "to give
official authority or legal power to; (2) enable; (3) to promote
the self actualization or influence."
The strategy proscribed by
the first definition can be quite effective provided that the
party being empowered (that is, the "empoweree") already has the
competencies needed to achieve the desired outcome. The strategy
does not work well when it is plugged into a framework of youth
development in which empowerment itself is being used as a
strategy for developing competencies in youth. For youth
development, the third definition is more suitable.
Too often youth workers assume that "empowering" is a
synonym for relinquishing all guidance, control, and
responsibility for a project to the young people with whom they
work. Typically, this approach is met with failure on the part of
the youth, frustration on the part of the youth development
professional, and more evidence that the notion of "empowerment"
is a concept that looks good on paper but does not work in the
real world of youth work.
"Empowering teens" refers to a Process through which adults
begin to share responsibility and power with young people. It is
the same idea as teaching young people the rules of the game.
Youth development professionals such as (REYNET), is helping young people develop
non-academic competencies that will help them to participate in
the game of life. Because it is a process, empowerment is
something that is achieved over time, not overnight.
Empowering teens is important because empowerment leads to
competence and competence is linked to self-esteem. Additionally, teens with increased competence grow to become
great resource for Reynet, because they will assume increasing
responsibility within the day to day activities and in running
the overall program. In a study conducted by DiBenedetto (1992),
teens identified nine factors influencing their feelings of
empowerment:
- Non-authoritarian adult leadership.
- Being able to experience and exercise power.
- Receiving education and training.
- Participating in critical analysis of issues.
- Experiencing an environment of safety, closeness and appreciation.
- Being able to honestly express opinions and emotions.
- Accepting diversity.
- Developing a voice.
- Being able to take action.
The Process of Empowerment
How can youths in Reynet programs be empowered? According
to Blanchard, Carlos, & Randolph (1996), there are three major
keys:
- Share information.
Sharing information with young people about all the aspects
of the program, from budgets to organizational policies, is the
first step to fostering empowerment. Such sharing ensures that
teens clearly understand the parameters within which the program
has to operate. It also conveys a message of trust. Withholding
information sends the message that adults do not think teens can
understand or that they will not act responsibly with the
information they receive. Sharing information encourages teens to
act like "owners" or shareholders of the program.
If sharing information is difficult, the youth trainer may
want to examine his or her assumptions about teens. Are youths
viewed as being able to make useful contributions? Do adults
always know what is best for youths? Several authors have
developed useful self-assessment surveys (e.g., Carter & Betts,
1996; Lofquist, 1989)
- Create autonomy through boundaries.
Community highlight:. Many people assume that empowering means giving
teens carte blanche to set up whatever, however they
want. Actually, it means just the opposite. Creating autonomy
through boundaries means teaching youths the rules or boundaries
within which they can operate (such as budgets, policies). Each
event, activity, or program must operate within certain
parameters, be they financial or policy requirements.
Youth based bodies must outline those outer limits to youths.
Blanchard, Carlos, and Randolph (1996) suggest thinking of the
limits as the banks of a river. The banks are what give the river
its direction and momentum. Without the banks there would be no
movement. The riverbed itself may be several miles wide, but the
banks still exist.
Empowerment also means teaching young people specific
"plays" within the game. People have to learn new ways of
thinking and working. It does not come automatically. Let's take
the fashion review as an example. In setting up a fashion review,
teens need to know all the steps involved, that is the "plays" of
the game. These could include finding a location, how much can be
spent on rent, negotiating and signing a contract, charging
admission, selling tickets, contracting for lighting, getting
stores to donate clothes, getting teens to model, selecting
music, insurance/liability issues, snacks, and so forth. Often
teens do not follow through because they don't know what to do.
- Examine the role of the youth development professional.
When the actual steps in the empowerment process are
reviewed, the role of a youth development professional begins to
sound much like that of a facilitator, a very different role for
many people. Adults frequently get caught up in making every
decision for young people and feeling responsible for making sure
every event turns out "picture perfect." The role of youth development body is to help young
people develop competencies and feel empowered. Remember that
empowerment, like development, is a process.
Adopting an Empowerment Approach
Incorporating empowerment into program planning includes the
following steps:
- Meeting with interested youths:-
Get some indication of how many young people are interested
in the project or program. If few youths show up, it indicate that
the topic is not one of interest to them. If this is the case, it
is unlikely the project would provide opportunities for
competency development. If youths are excited about the project,
proceed.
- Showing youths the budget and policies within which they
have to work:-
Just as there are laws in our community, there are rules
within which organizations must operate. These are the "rules of
the game." For organizations, these rules are typically embodied
in policies, mission statements, and budgetary constraints. It is
critical that young people understand the rules because they
dictate the outer limits of what can be accomplished. Too often,
adults make the mistake of asking young people what they want to
do without first delineating the outer boundaries of what can be
done. Rather than limiting creativity, such an approach limits
the frustration young people feel when their ideas are met with
an immediate "we can't do that" response from adults.
- Facilitating a brainstorming session about all the issues
that need to be considered to make the event a reality:-
This step involves delineating the "plays" in the game. Ask youths to list all the things that have to be done before the
program or project can happen. Give them an opportunity to list
all their ideas first, then bring up issues or tasks they might
not have thought about. Keep in mind that the goal of this
process is to teach youths, how to achieve what they thought impossible
before. They need to learn the process of what goes into making
any event happen. Instead of telling them what they need to do,
ask questions.
- Facilitating a task outlining session and prioritization
of tasks in a timeline.
Revisit the list generated in the previous step. Conduct
another "mini" brainstorming session around how to complete each
task.
- Figuring out who wants to take responsibility for each
task:-
Once tasks have been outlined and the timeline is in place,
ask participants to volunteer to take responsibility for specific
steps. This is the step in which youths become "hands-on" involved
in the process. This becomes their responsibility to the team.
- Setting up several interim meetings to check on progress
prior to the actual event.
Steps six and seven are the most critical in the process. It
is imperative that the youth development bodies provides
support and guidance for young people as they attempt to
fulfill their tasks. Many times young people are afraid or
embarrassed to admit in front of their peers that they do not
know how to do something. The youth development bodies need to check in with each young person to see how they are
doing. Give them some lead time--don't wait until the day their
task is "due."
- Being available to offer guidance and support:-
The youth development professional body is the coach who needs to
be available to support the young people. Role play with them so they can
practice their communication skills.
Remember, do not do the job for them, but support them in their
doing for themselves.
- Revisiting the process upon completion.
Once the program or project is completed, get back together
with the group to celebrate success and to examine what the group
learned as well as what they would change for the next time
around. As part of a true experiential learning process, it is
important to help youths recognize the skills they gained during
the process and how those skills can be applied to other
situations.
Summary
Stay focused on empowerment as a process. There may be some
programs and events that are required to be "perfect."
Youth development bodies may be surprised, however, to
find that when the supervisor, county board, parents, and
community members are educated about the empowerment process,
they'll be incredibly supportive. They'll begin to see the youth
development body's role as that of a youth developer
rather than as an event coordinator. More importantly, young
people are provided opportunities to develop the competencies
they need to become successful adults in their endeavors.
Blessing Oyanimigha for (REYNET)
