(written by Barbara Schneider)
From the Adventure room of the lower level of the Captain Cook Hotel, Thomas Azzarella, of the Anchorage Youth Development Coalition shared techniques and strategies to engage teens through positive, purposeful interaction. These practices included the Ask-Listen-Encourage Youth Worker Method, understanding the Pyramid of Youth Quality Program and a brief interactive discussion on scenarios that we face everyday..
The Ask-Listen-Encourage Youth Worker Method is an operative way to communicate with youth that makes them feel supported and heard, by asking effective questions, actively listening to the student and offering encouragement, rather than praise.
Mr. Azzarella illustrated the idea of asking questions that are productive to students – questions of a convergent (open ended) nature opposed to those more divergent (headed in specific direction). I found the encouragement vs. praise point particularly interesting in that we often praise students as an automatic response – automatic responses are typically overused rhetoric (my words, not his) and less intimate. Encouraging praise often causes us to take pause and evaluate the individual situation and the effort that was required. Showing that we genuinely care and can validate their progress is so much more personal – and helpful in development.
The discussion on the *Pyramid of Youth illustrated the essential basics for providing a positive experience for youth, beginning with a solid bottom – a safe environment (including healthy nourishment to the mind and body). Moving up the pyramid is the important element of a supportive environment (ask-listen-encourage), followed by interaction (help with homework) and finally engagement (planning with student). Because we are busy people and are frequently consumed by what needs immediate attention, our responses to life are regularly unstructured. Taking the time to think about our real effect on others, especially those whose lives we can genuinely influence, is an important, reflective exercise. This pyramid helps remind us of those vital foundations.
Our wrap-up conversation came with a little game of but vs. and – emphasizing the fact that statements beginning with the word but are often negative, whereas beginning with the word and puts a more positive spin on the same assertion. But, you shouldn’t just take my word for it… give it a try yourself. And, if this article has piqued your interest, you can find many more resources (even training information) located on the Anchorage Youth Development Coalition web page (http://aydc.org).
