Cultivating True Leaders: A Social Justice Curriculum for Youth Development Programs
Abstract
In recent years, there have been increasing calls to intentionally center diversity, equity, and inclusion within positive youth development programs. True Leaders: Culture, Power and Justice is a 4-H curriculum designed to engage young people in understanding and applying social justice concepts with the ultimate aim of nurturing their sense of self-efficacy as they work to find solutions to pressing social issues. The True Leaders curriculum is shaped by the Five Cs of positive youth development—confidence, competence, connection, caring, and character—and a social justice youth development framework. Each lesson is grounded in the critical experiential learning model, which seeks to move participants through a process of hands-on learning about social justice concepts, critical reflection, and, ultimately, collective action. The True Leaders curriculum is intended for use with middle and high school-aged youth.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2021.1189
Copyright (c) 2021 Kamaria C. Massey, Alexander E. Chan, Edwin Green, Jr., Maru Gonzalez

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