Creating Community Through Cohort Learning: A Training Model for Youth Development Professionals

Authors

  • Amber Shanahan University of Minnesota Extension, Center for Youth Development https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8423-9830
  • Trisha Sheehan University of Minnesota Extension, Center for Youth Development

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2020.827

Keywords:

cohorts, action learning, onboarding, staff development

Abstract

University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development (CYD) initiated a learning cohort for their local youth development professionals, 4-H Extension educators (EEs) to fulfill a need to better support staff beyond onboarding. The Youth Development Learn and Lead (YDLL) cohort is grounded in integrative leadership that influences professional relationship building through the sharing of applicable skills and theory across hierarchical boundaries while providing a community of practice to discuss ideas and share resources. The cohort has positively impacted employee engagement and has shown impressive results around networking, relationship building, and learning objectives. The YDLL cohort has been deemed an essential training by CYD, and has been replicated internally to encompass a larger audience with unique staff development needs.

Author Biography

Amber Shanahan, University of Minnesota Extension, Center for Youth Development

Extension Center for Youth Developemtn; Assistant Extension Professor

Amber Shanahan has been with Extension Youth Development since 2012. Her research is focused on staff development within a youth development context through the development, delivery and evaluation of cohort training models that support staff. She shares YD supervisory and leadership research and best practices through the Leadership Matters course. She also leads the 4-H Youth Teaching Youth program, developing cross-age teaching programs and curricula that support social and emotional learning. 

References

Barnett, B. G., Basom, M. R., Yerkes, D. M., & Norris, C. J. (2000). Cohorts in educational leadership programs: Benefits, difficulties, and the potential for developing school leaders. Educational Administration Quarterly, 36(2), 255–282.

Beder, H., & Medina, P. (2001). Classroom dynamics in adult literacy education (Report No. 18). Boston, MA: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.

Brooks, P. A. (1998). Cohort communities in higher education: The best example of adult education. Adult Education Research Conference. http://newprairiepress.org/aerc/1998/papers/12

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1999). Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in community. Review of Research in Education, 24(1), 249-305. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X024001249

Finley, S., Marble, S., Copeland, G., Ferguson, C., & Alderete, K. (2000). Professional development and teachers’ construction of coherent instructional practices: A synthesis of experiences at five sites. Promoting Instructional Coherence, 19(2), 74-86. http://www.sedl.org/pubs/pic04/welcome.html

Garet, M. S., Porter, A. C., Desimone, L., Birman, B. F., & Yoon, K. S. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915-945. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038004915

Hartje, J., Evans, W., Killian, E., & Brown, R. (2008). Youth worker characteristics and self-reported competency as predictors of intent to continue working with youth. Child and Youth Care Forum, 37(1), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-007-9048-9

Hill, S., Connolly, J., Akiva, T., & McNamara, A. (2018). Taking it to a new level: inquiry-based professional development as a field-building enterprise. In H. J. Malone & T. Donahue (Eds.), The growing out-of-school time field: Past, present, and future (pp. 115-117). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.

Kerno, S. & Mace, S. (2010). Communities of practice; beyond the team. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 12(1), 78-92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422310365341

Kinsey, S. (2011). Action learning—An experiential tool for solving organizational issues. Journal of Extension, 49(4), Article 4TOT2. https://www.joe.org/joe/2011august/tt2.php

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kress, C. (2004). Essential elements of 4-H youth development. https://4-h.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/TheEssentialElementsof4HYouthDevelopment.pdf

Moir, E. (1990). Phases of first-year teaching. https://www.aliefisd.net/cms/lib011/TX01917308/Centricity/Domain/140/First%20Year%20Teacher%20Phases%20Article.pdf

Norman, M. (2013). Using a hybrid approach for a leadership cohort program. Journal of Extension, 51(5). https://www.joe.org/joe/2013october/iw2.php

Peel, H. A., Wallace, C., Buckner, K. G., Wrenn, S. L., & Evans, R. (1998). Improving leadership preparation programs through a school, university, and professional organization partnership. NASSP Bulletin, 82(602), 26–34.

Reynolds, K. C., & Hebert, F. T. (1998). Learning achievements of students in cohort groups. Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 46(3), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/07377366.1998.10400354

Shanahan, A. (2018). Take action with action learning: A valuable practice for navigating change. Journal of Extension, 56(4). https://joe.org/joe/2018august/tt6.php

Skuza, J., Grant, S., Harrington, R., Haugen, H., & Pokorney, N. (2016). Minnesota 4-H youth development logic model. Saint Paul: University of Minnesota Extension.

Wenger, E. (2011). Communities of practice: A brief introduction. STEP Leadership Workshop. University of Oregon. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11736

Wiedow, J. (2018). Supporting effective youth work: Job-embedded professional development in OST. Afterschool Matters. https://www.niost.org/images/afterschoolmatters/asm_2018_fall/ASM_Fall18_YouthWork.pdf

Downloads

Published

2020-03-11

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2020): Special Issue on the Youth Development Workforce

Section

Special Issue Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
    1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
    with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
  4. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  5. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
  6. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
  7. The Author represents and warrants that:
    1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
    2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
    3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
    4. the Work has not previously been published;
    5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
    6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
  8. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.

Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link.