Benefits of a positive youth development program for students in mainland China : Tin Ka Ping P.A.T.H.S. Project

Abstract

The Tin Ka Ping P.A.T.H.S. Project is a large-scale curricula-based positive youth development (PYD) program aiming to promote holistic development among adolescents in mainland China. In view of the great success in the full implementation phase between the academic year of 2015 and 2018, a new phase of “Building the ‘Tin’ Homeland Together” has been embarked afterward. The present paper evaluated the effectiveness of the Tin Ka Ping P.A.T.H.S. Project on the program participants through the perspectives of program implementers in individual interviews. The results showed that the implementers in general perceived the program as useful and practical for students in terms of their developments in intrapersonal (e.g., self-confidence), interpersonal (e.g., bonding) and academic (e.g., promoted engagement and motivation) fields. The implications of present findings to the future development of PYD in mainland China are discussed.