National 4-H Council
From Service-Learning Wiki
| This program was profiled in Growing to Greatness 2005. |
Contents |
Service-Learning in The National 4-H Council
Don Floyd, National 4-H Council President and CEO, explains that in its simplest form, the 4-H is a “community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills.” Part of being community-focused, Floyd explains, is encouraging local programs’ autonomy. Together with the National 4-H Headquarters, the National 4-H Council provides leadership for 4-H programs, but each state, county, and local 4-H club implements its own curriculum and goals. Although individual 4-H programs design activities and curricula that match their groups’ developmental needs and their local communities’ issues, several commonalities exist across programs. All 4-H programs have youths and adults working together; all focus on experiential learning; and all programs are connected to land grant universities. In addition, all 4-H programs use the 4-H emblem, which symbolizes a “whole person” approach — head, heart, hands, and health — to serving and learning.
While many 4-H programs incorporate elements of service-learning, service-learning objectives are perhaps most obvious in National 4-H Council’s Youth in Governance initiative, in which young people receive training to “become equal partners in leadership and authentic decision-making” in their communities. “I love it when young people and adults can sit at the table together,” Floyd says. “That’s when magic happens.”
4-H in Minnesota
Every year at the Minnesota state fair, 7,000 to 8,000 4-H participants present their work, and are recognized for their efforts. At the state level, Minnesota 4-H has developed best practices, essential elements, and model curriculum for 4-H clubs. The state has also conducted extensive survey research, showing that 4-H participants exhibit fewer risk behaviors and more pro-social behavior than their peers.
Scope of Service-Learning
Participation in 4-H clubs has grown over time. Today, more than 7 million young people in every county in the United States participate in 4-H programs. To date, 4-H programs have developed more than 1,400 different curricula, which are available for all 4-H groups to use.
Intended Outcomes
4-H programs’ primary goal is community-youth or positive youth development. In 1999-2000, 4-H implemented the first national evaluation of 4-H programs, the National 4-H Impact Assessment Project. The Project’s final report presents findings from surveys of 2,467 young people and 471 adults. It concludes that both youths and adults positively reflected all critical elements of positive youth development. National 4-H Council has also conducted control group studies in various states and has found that 4-H participants have higher perceptions of their competence and life skills than non-participants, and that involvement in 4-H is positively associated with higher scores on communication, leadership, and other skills.
