Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development
As tomorrow’s leaders, adolescents are navigating coming-of-age tasks in the context of both the fast-growing promises of technology and the burdens of overwhelming global challenges. The Climate Leaders Fellowship (CLF) is an extracurricular program that supports adolescents interested in environme...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Adolescents |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/4/1/7 |
| _version_ | 1827307480530550784 |
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| author | Brenna Lincoln Kira N. Patel Molly Binder Terese J. Lund Belle Liang |
| author_facet | Brenna Lincoln Kira N. Patel Molly Binder Terese J. Lund Belle Liang |
| author_sort | Brenna Lincoln |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As tomorrow’s leaders, adolescents are navigating coming-of-age tasks in the context of both the fast-growing promises of technology and the burdens of overwhelming global challenges. The Climate Leaders Fellowship (CLF) is an extracurricular program that supports adolescents interested in environmental sustainability. Program participants are connected with like-minded peers and mentors across the globe who help them develop and implement community-based volunteer projects (CLF, 2022). This study focuses on whether and how participation in CLF shaped adolescents’ development. A directed content analysis approach was utilized to conduct and analyze semi-structured interviews with adolescent CLF participants (<i>n</i> = 9, 89% female). Results indicate that engagement in the program is associated with civic purpose development. Specifically, participants reported experiencing civic reflection, motivation, and action through their CLF involvement. Findings offer supporting evidence that the development of civic purpose may be associated with burgeoning critical consciousness. Recommendations for future programming, study limitations, and implications are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:39:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4fa3089bca094c3783472a1e903f4edc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-7051 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:39:44Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Adolescents |
| spelling | doaj.art-4fa3089bca094c3783472a1e903f4edc2024-03-27T13:15:32ZengMDPI AGAdolescents2673-70512024-02-01419010610.3390/adolescents4010007Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose DevelopmentBrenna Lincoln0Kira N. Patel1Molly Binder2Terese J. Lund3Belle Liang4Department of Counseling Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USADepartment of Counseling Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USADepartment of Counseling Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USAPsychology Department, Wingate University, Wingate, NC 28174, USADepartment of Counseling Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USAAs tomorrow’s leaders, adolescents are navigating coming-of-age tasks in the context of both the fast-growing promises of technology and the burdens of overwhelming global challenges. The Climate Leaders Fellowship (CLF) is an extracurricular program that supports adolescents interested in environmental sustainability. Program participants are connected with like-minded peers and mentors across the globe who help them develop and implement community-based volunteer projects (CLF, 2022). This study focuses on whether and how participation in CLF shaped adolescents’ development. A directed content analysis approach was utilized to conduct and analyze semi-structured interviews with adolescent CLF participants (<i>n</i> = 9, 89% female). Results indicate that engagement in the program is associated with civic purpose development. Specifically, participants reported experiencing civic reflection, motivation, and action through their CLF involvement. Findings offer supporting evidence that the development of civic purpose may be associated with burgeoning critical consciousness. Recommendations for future programming, study limitations, and implications are discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/4/1/7civic engagementpurposeadolescencepositive youth developmentqualitative methods |
| spellingShingle | Brenna Lincoln Kira N. Patel Molly Binder Terese J. Lund Belle Liang Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development Adolescents civic engagement purpose adolescence positive youth development qualitative methods |
| title | Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development |
| title_full | Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development |
| title_fullStr | Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development |
| title_short | Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development |
| title_sort | transforming service into civic purpose a qualitative study of adolescent civic engagement and purpose development |
| topic | civic engagement purpose adolescence positive youth development qualitative methods |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/4/1/7 |
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