Graduate Development
Program
(Pitching Proposal)
Goals and Outcomes of Graduate
Development Programs
 Providing young people with the opportunities and supports that foster broad,
holistic development is the primary purpose of Graduate development activity
 by helping participants aspire to a life that includes positive and full economic
and social participation
 by helping participants identify what their particular path to positive and full
economic and social participation may look like, and the steps towards those
goals
 by helping participants form enduring connections with positive people and
settings that will help them to achieve positive and full economic and social
participation beyond the duration of the program
 by helping to instill the knowledge and basic practices necessary for them to
successfully carry out their next steps
 by increasing young people’s motivation, confidence and self efficacy
sufficiently in order for them to carry out their next steps.
Characteristics of Effective Graduate
Development Programs
1. The use of a strengths-based approach.
 The use of a competence- rather than a deficit-based paradigm:
 Taking a holistic view of young people
 Taking an ecological view: recognizing the influence of the different
environments or settings that young people exist in.
 Taking a dual focus of enhancing young people’s protective factors and
building their capacity to resist risk factors.
Characteristics of Effective Graduate
Development Programs (Cont.)
2. Choice of Activities. young people need a range of opportunities including
opportunities to:
 Experience supportive adult relationships.
 Learn how to form close, durable human relationships with peers that support and
reinforce healthy behaviors.
 Feel a sense of belonging and being valued.
 Develop a sense of mattering.
 Develop positive social values and norms.
 Build and master skills.
 Develop confidence in one’s abilities to master one’s environment (a sense of
personal efficacy)
 Make a contribution to one’s community.
Characteristics of Effective Graduate
Development Programs (Cont.)
3. How Activities are Conducted
4. Have high aspirations for, and expectations of, young people.
5. are well planned, with activities deliberately designed to progressively build
on existing skills and competencies.
6. have high quality activities delivered by a skilled and confident workforce.
7. have skilled and empathetic staff who stay long enough to build trusting
relationships with young people.
8. have a ‘deliberate learning environment’
9. have staff who interact with young people in a way that maximizes
opportunities for learning and growth.
Characteristics of Effective Graduate
Development Programs (Cont.)
10. meaningfully involve young people in choosing and designing activities.
11. have increasing opportunities for young people to make decisions and to
take on leadership roles as they mature and gain more expertise.
12. structure that is developmentally, culturally and environmentally
appropriate.
13. have clear expectations for behavior.
14. provide emotional and moral support.
15. provide physical and psychological safety.
16. have strong links between families, schools, and broader community
resources.
Characteristics of Effective Graduate
Development Programs (Cont.)
17. There are a number of other programmatic elements likely to influence a
program’s effectiveness including program duration, intensity and course size,
as well as the inclusion and conduct of activities like assessment, goal setting
and personal planning.
18. Optimal course size seems to be influenced by a number of factors
including program type, participant age and needs, staff ability, and program
resources; providers may well be best placed to determine what group size
would be optimal for a given program.
 Ultimately, successful Graduate development means that young people
are engaged in positive settings and activities over the long term, not just
the short term, and programs have a contribution to make beyond simply
an initial post programs placement.
Personal and Social Assets for Positive
Graduate Development