Community Leadership Development: Youth Leadership Development in Pennsylvanian High Schools with Agriculture Programs
Open Access
- Author:
- Osmane, Sarah
- Graduate Program:
- Agricultural and Extension Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 13, 2015
- Committee Members:
- Mark A Brennan Jr., Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Mark A Brennan Jr., Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Connie Devine Baggett, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
John Ewing, Committee Member
Edgar Paul Yoder, Committee Member
Linda L Caldwell, Committee Member - Keywords:
- youth leadership
community development
social support
civic engagement
social interaction - Abstract:
- In order to build sustainable communities it is critical to understand the connection between youth leadership development and community development. Youth leadership is vital to develop, maintain, and sustain communities. Thus, it is critical to provide youth with leadership experiences that allow them to act collectively for the betterment of their communities. Alternatively, while a wide array of programs claim contributions towards community development, they focus on providing youth with individual leadership skills, and do not provide them with opportunities for practice. This study is designed to understand the factors contributing to the development of youth leaders. A descriptive correlational study was conducted to reach this goal, and a mixed method approach was used. Four public high schools with agriculture program were selected from southeastern Pennsylvania to participate in this study. A total of 421 questionnaires were completed leading to a response rate of 86%. This was coupled with ninetneen interviews with teachers and students. The findings of this research indicate that social support was the most important predictor of leadership skills. This was followed by civic engagement and social interaction variables. Participation in leadership programs was also related to leadership skills. Additionaly, gender differences existed in leadeship skills, with females showing higher levels. Much of the leadership skills are formed through support, engagement and interaction. This occurred at schools and in communities. Implications of these findings were presented and served to integrate the processes of youth leadership development and community development.