The Quest for Mastery ― Positive Youth Development Through Out-of-school Programs

In The Quest for Mastery, Sam M. Intrator and Don Siegel investigate an emerging trend: the growth of out-of-school programs dedicated to helping underserved youth develop the personal qualities and capacities that will help them succeed in school, college, and beyond.

Intensive programs from rowing to youth radio, from lacrosse to studio art, aim to create “communities of practice” that capture young people’s interest and support them as they strive to excel. Through richly detailed accounts, the authors describe the unconventional ways these programs have evolved and articulate the formidable challenges they face in operationalizing their aspirations.

By documenting the powerful effect out-of-school programs like these can have in transforming lives, the authors show how young people can become engaged in meaningful and productive learning experiences and highlight the poignant contrast between what these students experience inside and outside of school.

Sam M. Intrator is a professor of education and child study and is the director of the Urban Education Initiative at Smith College. Don Siegel is a professor of exercise and sport studies at Smith College. Intrator and Siegel are codirectors of Project Coach, an afterschool youth program in Springfield, Massachusetts.