Voices from the Field: Pay and Professionalism, Part 1

By Stacey Daraio

Rick Rood

Rick Rood has been on the front lines of Out-of-School-Time (OST) programs for over 25 years, working directly with children and front-line staff. (Note: OST programs are also referred to as afterschool or expanded learning programs.) Rick is an OST trainer, an author, and co-creator of the Beyond School Time Conference, and a bold thinker in the OST arena. He also serves on the Leadership Team of the California AfterSchool Network.

Below are some of Rick’s responses to our interview questions. This blog post will be broken into two posts and Rick’s bio will be presented in the second post.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your background.

A: I studied Computer Science and Applied Mathematics as an undergraduate, but my real passion was (is) music. During this time I got a part-time gig at a Montessori preschool there in Santa Fe, as their music teacher. I remember being amazed that they were paying me for this! After college, I came back to California to look for a job. I eventually accepted a position with a brand new afterschool program in Palo Alto, remembering how much I loved working with the kids in Santa Fe.

Q: How did your previous work inspire your passion for professional development?

A: First off, I had the amazing fortune of having a set of directors and mentors early on who really role modeled best practices in working with children and youth and molded my thinking of what quality afterschool programming looks like.

Around the same time, I attended what would be a life-changing event. I signed up for Anthony Robbins’ weekend conference – “Unleash the Power Within”. So, with Robbins, and a succession of other mentors like Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, and Jack Canfield, I really dove into the realm of personal development. I kept asking myself, why isn’t this kind of information available to the education community?  I started wanting to see the application of Positive Psychology principles for afterschool professionals. I couldn’t find this information available, so I started synthesizing them myself. 

Fast forward five years, and all this led to my applying to present a workshop at CalSAC’s State Conference in 1999. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had a lot of passion and I wanted to share some higher-level concepts with others who were working with kids during out-of-school time. I was beyond excited as these ideas were received with enthusiasm. After that, I was privileged to join the CalSAC Trainer Network and help them develop their Afterschool Development curriculum and serve as a Trainer of the Trainers for their first Trainer Network kickoff.

Q: After all of these years, what keeps you in this work? 

A: As a practitioner in the field, I have always been passionate about creating the very best in Out-of-School programming for children and youth. Serving as a trainer allows me to be out there with other professionals around California and sharing that passion and rallying front line staff to up their potential. One of the best things about being a trainer is when in a workshop or during a keynote, front-line staff and site coordinators really come face to face and connect with the impact that they have on the day to day lives of youth and families.

I still believe that the powerful principles of Youth Development and Positive Psychology are under-utilized in the field today. As a trainer, I love being a voice for this unique way of inspiring, motivating, and educating those that work in the OST Profession.

We’re starting to see some movement with the recent advent of Dweck’s work on Mindset, the GRIT philosophy, the reappearance of Youth Development Philosophy, and the resurgence of Social-Emotional Development. I think it’s a good time to espouse these Positive Psychology principles. In concert, I think it could mean a huge lift to the public’s perception of the importance of the OST Profession.

Source: CASEL

Q: What are you seeing as the greatest needs for educators in the non-school hours?

A: Two things: Pay and Professionalism. And they’re related. I feel like I have a bit of a reputation as being the “angry young man” around these issues.  And I have to admit, I do harbor a bit of angst around some of the policies of the leaders of the field.

OST programs have the potential to change lives and to open up new possibilities for children, youth, and families that wouldn’t be available otherwise. OST workers value continuing education and many have college degrees. Yet we treat these same workers as disposable – low wages, few hours, very few getting health insurance – while expecting them to be extraordinary in how they show up at work each day.

As a director, I can’t tell you how disheartening it is to lose fantastic employees to In-and-Out, Target, and other entry-level jobs where the pay is higher, hours are longer, and health insurance is available. Study after study has shown that staff turnover has a pronounced negative effect on OST program participants. Yet, we continue to think of our high rate of turnover as an “acceptable loss”. We all understand by now that having stable staff – significant adults – in the lives of children and youth has a profound positive effect on youth outcomes in the long run. I get very frustrated at how some administrators treat OST workers as disposable. 

I was at a workshop earlier this year on Afterschool Leadership Strategies, and the workshop leader, who was the CEO of a community-based organization that provided afterschool programs, said (paraphrasing), “… you don’t want kids coming back to the program after they graduate high school and see the same staff working there… what kind of example is that?”  I was irate at his comments because they demeaned not only the position of that teacher in the afterschool program, but they devalued the possibility of professionalism for any frontline staff in the workshop. The implicit message was that frontline positions aren’t “real jobs” – they should only be thought of as stepping stones to somewhere else.

The question of how to fund OST programs – which means funding the salaries of the OST Professionals staffing those programs – is a tough nut of a question.  I do think we need to look at some sort of compromise between the government-funded solutions of ASES and 21st CCLC and fee-for-service models. I think what we’ve seen is that you can’t balance the entire cost on the backs of either government or parents. The daily rates available to government-funded programs will always keep program staff turning over, and the fee-for-service model locks out 70% of families from having the resources to participate, and it becomes an equity issue.

Thinking About Equity: Nature and Afterschool

By Sam Piha

When I managed afterschool programs in the SF Bay area, we learned that many of the kids we served had never been on the bay, seen the ocean, planted a seed and experienced it grow into a real plant, walked in a forest or camped outside overnight. Many had never been beyond their neighborhood, owned a swimsuit or knew how to swim. Was this an equity issue? Yes. 

In response, we conducted nature outings, camping trips, and swimming lessons. We even purchased swimsuits for those that didn’t have them. Because one of our lead agencies was the YMCA, we had resources for this. But every afterschool program can contribute by incorporating nature into their program. 

Recent studies focus not so much on what is lost when nature experience fades, but on what is gained through more exposure to natural settings, including nearby nature in urban places. - Richard Louv

Richard Louv

In two previous blog posts, we reviewed the power of nature in afterschool programs. Richard Louv, author and Co-Founder of the Children & Nature Network, has written a lot about the intersection between access to nature and development. He was recently interviewed by the Greater Good Science Center. We share an excerpt and link to the full interview below. 

Q: How will this trend impact pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors in kids?

RL: If nature experiences continue to fade from the current generation of young people, and the next, and the ones to follow, where will future stewards of the earth come from?

Past research has shown that adults who identify themselves as environmentalists or conservationists almost always had some transcendent experiences in the natural world. What happens if that personal experience virtually disappears?

Q: Are there particular kinds of experiences in nature that seem to have the most impact on kids?

RL: The quality of the nature experience depends on how direct the experience with nature is. Are kids getting their hands wet and their feet muddy? These types of activities can help kids learn to have confidence in themselves and power to make independent decisions. 

One reason for this is the risk-taking inherent in outdoor play, which plays an important role in child development. Without independent play, the critical cognitive skill called executive function is at risk. Executive function is a complex process, but at its core is the ability to exert self-control, to control and direct emotion and behavior. Children develop executive function in large part through make-believe play. The function is aptly named: When you make up your own world, you’re the executive. A child’s executive function, as it turns out, is a better predictor of success in school than IQ.

See full interview here. 

Richard also gave us permission to share some of his interview with youth development guru, Karen Pittman. 

RL: Did you have experiences in nature that helped form who you are today? As a child or an adult?

Karen Pittman

KP: I grew up in a working class, urban neighborhood in a family that emphasized the value of sending children outdoors to play. We did not, however, do any organized outdoor activities beyond family picnics. So it wasn’t until I was in high school that I realized that you could walk the length of Washington D.C. through Rock Creek Park, or stand on the waterfront of the Potomac River. Learning this was liberating. To this day, I seek nature to calm, inspire, reflect, and marvel at the intricacy of life.

RL: How does a lack of access to nature factor into the challenges that youth face?

KP: The Chicago Consortium for School Research defines successful young adults as those who have an integrated identity, a sense of agency, and a range of competencies. Getting to these end states requires young people to have access to safe, supportive, relationship-rich opportunities to act and reflect while being challenged to learn and master new things. 

Nature is an ideal setting for young people to learn new content, try new things, apply their skills in different ways and fail safely. Nature is a new environment for many young people – one that they haven’t explored. One of the challenges many young people face is that they don’t have comfortable opportunities to be in a group of young people in which they won’t be immediately judged for what they don’t know. 

We learned, at High Scope Camp, the importance of challenging groups to learn and do things that none, or few, youth had done (e.g. folk dancing). These are “clean slate” learning opportunities in which some will shine, some will struggle, but it is not clear who will fall into which camp. Beyond exploration, nature also provides young people with ample opportunities to have a sense of agency, to achieve mastery and to flesh out and expand their sense of identity.

RL: Can you share any stories about the benefits of nature for opportunity youth?

KP: I believe that there are studies on the importance of programs like the Fresh Air Fund. But I’ll quickly share a High Scope story. The camp was billed as an educational camp for teenagers. Their jobs, for about 4 hours a day, were to participate in one or two short exploratory classes and longer workshop experience that culminated in a product or presentation. The setting for all of this learning, however, was several hundred acres that included trails, a small lake, and a working farm. In addition, all youth participated in overnight camping or canoeing trips. These were powerful experiences for all of the young people.

But for young people from more distressed communities or stressful situations, the main impact was that they had the experience of learning that nature can be a safe place. One that, unlike their communities, has challenges that you can predict and prepare for. Then, as noted, the second important learning for these young people is that they could become leaders in a broader learning setting in which academics is not the main measure of success.

See full interview here.

RESOURCES
There are many resources and articles on development and nature as well as program ideas. Many can be found by doing a web search of “nature and children”. There are also resources listed in the full interviews cited above. We also urge readers to take a look at the Children & Nature website. 

--------
Richard Louv is Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Children & Nature Network, an organization supporting the international movement to connect children, their families and their communities to the natural world. He is the author of ten books, including "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder," "The Nature Principle," and "Vitamin N." His newest book, "Our Wild Calling: How Connecting to Animals Can Transform Our Lives — and Save Theirs." In 2008, he was awarded the Audubon Medal. He speaks frequently around the country and internationally.

Karen J. Pittman is president and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan “action tank” that combines thought leadership on youth development, youth policy, cross-system/cross-sector partnerships and developmental youth practice with on-the-ground training, technical assistance and support. Karen is a respected sociologist and leader in youth development. Prior to co-founding the Forum in 1998, she launched adolescent pregnancy prevention initiatives at the Children’s Defense Fund, started the Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, and served as senior vice president at the International Youth Foundation. Karen was involved in the founding of America’s Promise and directed the President’s Crime Prevention Council during the William Clinton administration. 

One More Thing

By Sam Piha

We are committed to speaking out on the youth impacts of immigration policies, sustained funding for afterschool, access to mindfulness training and playful learning opportunities afterschool. Below, we offer some additional resources on these topics.

IMMIGRATION AND TERROR

Source: Denver Public Schools

“In the wake of the horrible tragedy in El Paso, Texas, and the ICE raids in Mississippi that have come crashing down on a nation already awash in rising racial tension and vilification of immigrant families, we…are now more than ever focused on being a safe harbor for all of our children and families.” -Denver School Superintendent Susana Cordova (Cordova’s full statement is available in several languages.)

We do know that some school districts have addressed these issues regarding immigrant youth. But what about afterschool programs? According to the Afterschool Alliance, “In communities across the country, anxiety and concern are growing among immigrant children and families in response to new immigration policies and efforts currently underway. Afterschool programs can play an important role in creating a safe and welcoming environment for immigrant students and families and cultivating a sense of belonging and overall wellbeing.” The Afterschool Alliance hosted a webinar with speakers from the National Immigration Law Center and Legal Services for Children. 

The Alliance is also in conversations with the American Constitutional Society for Law & Policy on hosting another webinar next month on the topic of the ICE raids. We will share more information once we know more.

FUTURE SUPPORT FOR AFTERSCHOOL 
We know that funding for afterschool is not guaranteed. Thus, it is important that we advocate every year. One way is participation in the yearly Lights On Afterschool events. 

“Join more than 8,000 communities and 1 million Americans in celebrating afterschool programs for this year's Lights On Afterschool! This nationwide event, organized by the Afterschool Alliance, calls attention to the importance of afterschool programs and the resources required to keep the lights on and the doors open. To learn more about Lights On Afterschool, register an event, access event planning tools, or to find out what’s going on in your area, visit afterschoolalliance.org.” -Youth Service America

Why not invite a policymaker to visit your program? By engaging them, you begin to build a relationship and educate them about the importance of your program and the issues that matter to you.

Check out Youth Service America’s site on GYSD Advocacy / Public Official Engagement Tools. This page will help you engage public leaders. Voices for National Service has tips for Hosting a Successful Site Visit. The Afterschool Alliance outlines five simple steps to set up a site visit and also provides these three case studies. 

PLAYFUL LEARNING
Too often we have avoided the “F” word, FUN, in afterschool programs.  The National Afterschool Association (NAA) dedicated an issue of Afterschool Today to playful learning. In 2019, The Genius of Play spread its message to afterschool professionals and parents through a new partnership with NAA.  

MINDFULNESS

Source: Laurie Grossman

For years we have been promoting the value of teaching mindfulness. We thought you might enjoy this brief radio interview with a school volunteer that teaches mindfulness to young people in an Oakland school.