scholarly journals Development of a New Curriculum in a Positive Youth Development Program: The Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 2207-2218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Hing Keung Ma ◽  
Rachel C. F. Sun

The design of a new curriculum in a positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) in Hong Kong is outlined. The Tier 1 Program of the original phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. is a universal positive youth development program for students in Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 with the curricula developed by a research team comprising scholars in different disciplines (e.g., social work, psychology, and education). The 120 teaching units are designed with reference to 15 positive youth development constructs identified in the successful positive youth development programs. In the extension phase of the project, a new curriculum with 60 teaching units is developed in accordance with these 15 constructs with specific reference to five major adolescent developmental issues. These issues include substance abuse, sexuality issue, Internet addiction, bullying, and money and success issues. The principles underlying the program development and implementation strategies are outlined.

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 388-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Britta M. Lee

The Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs) is a positive youth development program that attempts to promote holistic development in adolescents in Hong Kong. In the Tier 2 Program of this project, social workers are expected to develop positive youth development programs for adolescents having greater psychosocial needs. They are required to submit proposals that will be evaluated in terms of whether the proposals are evidence based, and appropriate evaluation mechanisms are included. With reference to the literature on parental control processes that Chinese parents may be loose in their behavioral control and they tend to overemphasize academic excellence, it is argued that improvement of the parenting skills of parents of Chinese adolescents is an important area to be addressed. To facilitate social workers to prepare the related proposals, a sample proposal on how to improve the parenting skills of Chinese parents is described, including its conceptual framework, proposed program, and evaluation plan. It is argued that this supportive approach (i.e., preparation of a sample proposal) can help social workers to develop quality proposals on positive youth development programs in Hong Kong.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 808-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. S. Ma ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Hildie Leung

Objectives:In this study, we used the one-group pretest–posttest design to examine changes in students after joining a positive youth development program (Project PATHS) in Hong Kong, with 9,226 successfully matched junior high school students joining the Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 program(s).Method:Program participants completed the validated outcome measures on positive youth development, life satisfaction, and thriving before and after joining the program(s).Results:Students showed positive changes after joining the Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 program(s). The present findings replicated and converged with the findings of the previous two studies.Conclusion:The present study illustrates the role of positive youth development programs in promoting adolescent development and highlights the importance of replication in intervention research in positive youth development programs in youth services. The contributions and limitations of this series of studies are discussed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 2101-2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C.F. Sun

The Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) is a positive youth development program in Hong Kong. After completion of the program, program implementers were required to draw five conclusions based on the subjective outcome evaluation findings collected from the program participants and implementers as reported in the evaluation report. Secondary analyses of the data collected from 48 schools that had joined the Secondary 3 program showed that most of the conclusions concerning perceptions of the program, instructors, and effectiveness of the program were positive in nature. There were also conclusions indicating strengths and possible improvement of the program. The present findings are consistent with the previous findings that suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is well received by the stakeholders and the program is beneficial to the development of Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.


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