20 wonderings About youth, their development, and myself.

1. How should teachers/youth workers support the learning/development of youth in crisis–youth who are grieving, experiencing abuse, not sleeping enough, not eating enough, etc?

2. Can assigning responsibilities to youth be an avenue towards their development? What responsibilities are meaningful, and what’s busywork? Are they both valuable?

3. In settings like boarding schools, summer camps, and other spaces where facilitators and teachers are responsible for youth–how can teachers and facilitators ensure the wellbeing of youth while also prioritizing their autonomy? 

4. Why are the bodies of youth controlled in educational settings? How is this control relevant (if at all) for the growth and development of youth (if at all)? 

5. What social, political, and class implications do bodily control carry?

6. What is the impact of cultural relevance within learning and youth development spaces?

7. In diverse youth spaces, how can teachers and/or youth development workers employ culturally relevant practices en masse? Is this even possible?

8. What challenges do newly arrived, immigrant youth face at their new schools?

9. Do different age ranges experience life transitions differently? Are transitions easier for younger students as opposed to older students, or vice versa? If so, why?

10. How can/should teachers or youth development workers support the integration of newcomer immigrant youth?

11. How does my own journey as a young person impact the way I operate in the youth development field?

12. How can youth development workers transform liberatory education theory into tangible practice?

13. In legacy youth development organizations, like the YMCA, to what extent do outdated youth development practices bleed into today?

14. What is the impact of sport-based youth development practices, both negative and positive?

15. How do students with limited mobility experience sport-based youth development practices?

16. What impacts do poor walkability and public transportation have on the social lives of youth? 

17. What factors contributed to the rise of online friendships?

18. How do online friendships compare to traditional, in-person friendships?

19. Are digital classroom tools more beneficial for student learning than traditional paper/physical tools? What do teachers prefer

20. For youth development workers who work with youth who experienced forced displacement, are there any YDEV frameworks that are specially designed for displaced youth?