163: Evaluating a Creative Youth Development Program in Rural Chinese Settings with Cross-Cultural and Community Participatory Perspectives

Youth-adult partnerships (Y-AP) are viewed as a driver of positive youth development (Zeldin et al., 2013). Y-AP has been adopted in youth interventions globally (To et al., 2021), yet systematic investigations into its influence on youth outcomes across cultures remain scarce. Cross-cultural program evaluations specifying Y-APs in their theories of change can provide opportunities for identifying culturally responsive evaluation methods across settings and bridging the gap between research and practice. This poster contributes to the evaluation field by discussing the multi-methods processes and community participatory approaches from a process evaluation of a school-based creative youth development program in rural China. We employ on-site observations, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups to capture facilitating or impeding factors for quality implementation and document innovation and meaning making by the program team in response to evolving contexts. We also conduct creative workshops with stakeholders to ensure the community’s participation in the decision-making. 

Jiaxun Du – Ph.D. student, Department of Human and Organizational Development, Vanderbilt University