Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programs

Traditionally, Out-of-School Time (OST) programs sought to provide childminding facilities and supplementary academic support to youth. However, they have evolved to deliver programs that support positive youth development with hands-on inquiry to not only support children and adolescents through ke...

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Main Authors: Erica D’Souza, Amabel Hunting, Ricardo Sosa, Cheryl Ware, Loïc Le Dé, Andrew Gibbons
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773233925000348
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author Erica D’Souza
Amabel Hunting
Ricardo Sosa
Cheryl Ware
Loïc Le Dé
Andrew Gibbons
author_facet Erica D’Souza
Amabel Hunting
Ricardo Sosa
Cheryl Ware
Loïc Le Dé
Andrew Gibbons
author_sort Erica D’Souza
collection DOAJ
description Traditionally, Out-of-School Time (OST) programs sought to provide childminding facilities and supplementary academic support to youth. However, they have evolved to deliver programs that support positive youth development with hands-on inquiry to not only support children and adolescents through key developmental stages but to also navigate socio-political challenges. This scoping review investigates creative and experiential OST programs, their design practices and subsequent outcomes. Results from 40 articles highlight the varied, strengths-based practices which centre around increasing participant involvement in decision-making by emphasising flexibility and choice, while staff work collaboratively alongside them. However, for most, rigorous evaluation was lacking and most studies failed to substantiate their claims of fulfilling the development of voice and agentic identity in youth. Future evaluations must ensure they provide evidence of correlating program design with observed outcomes.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
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series Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy
spelling doaj-art-dfd6c20d822e4c4c858d7f8414ef1d6c2025-08-20T03:14:09ZengElsevierSocial and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy2773-23392025-06-01510011010.1016/j.sel.2025.100110Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programsErica D’Souza0Amabel Hunting1Ricardo Sosa2Cheryl Ware3Loïc Le Dé4Andrew Gibbons5Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; Corresponding author.Auckland University of Technology, New ZealandUniversity of Sydney, AustraliaAuckland University of Technology, New ZealandAuckland University of Technology, New ZealandAuckland University of Technology, New ZealandTraditionally, Out-of-School Time (OST) programs sought to provide childminding facilities and supplementary academic support to youth. However, they have evolved to deliver programs that support positive youth development with hands-on inquiry to not only support children and adolescents through key developmental stages but to also navigate socio-political challenges. This scoping review investigates creative and experiential OST programs, their design practices and subsequent outcomes. Results from 40 articles highlight the varied, strengths-based practices which centre around increasing participant involvement in decision-making by emphasising flexibility and choice, while staff work collaboratively alongside them. However, for most, rigorous evaluation was lacking and most studies failed to substantiate their claims of fulfilling the development of voice and agentic identity in youth. Future evaluations must ensure they provide evidence of correlating program design with observed outcomes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773233925000348Out-of-schoolCreativityAgencyExperientialVoiceYouth program design
spellingShingle Erica D’Souza
Amabel Hunting
Ricardo Sosa
Cheryl Ware
Loïc Le Dé
Andrew Gibbons
Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programs
Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy
Out-of-school
Creativity
Agency
Experiential
Voice
Youth program design
title Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programs
title_full Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programs
title_fullStr Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programs
title_full_unstemmed Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programs
title_short Designing for agency and voice: A review of creative and experiential out-of-school programs
title_sort designing for agency and voice a review of creative and experiential out of school programs
topic Out-of-school
Creativity
Agency
Experiential
Voice
Youth program design
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773233925000348
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