Enhancing agency and empowering young people: The transformative impact of social and emotional learning programmes

• Developing programmes that focus on supporting young people to develop SEL, make informed choices about their futures, re-engage with their education and improve their grades is of critical importance. • Programmes should be run by well-qualified and experienced staff (i.e., ex-teachers or youth workers), and follow guidance on ‘what works’. • Delivering SEL-focused programmes through a mixture of classroom based and external sessions, develops capabilities and increases engagement at school and employment prospects • Academics should explore more deeply the links between SEL and the CA, whilst policymakers and practitioners should ensure that they build SEL-focused approaches into future programmes of support. • Programmes should promote engagement between employers and young people to ensure young people are given an opportunity to realise their widest possible capability sets. Over thirteen million people in the UK are currently living in poverty, and over four million are children (Department for Work and Pensions, 2022; Child Poverty Action Group, 2023). The Youth Futures Foundation (2021) argue that many young people do not have access to support or appropriate information to find employment or apply to further or higher education. The purpose of this paper is to analyse young people’s experiences in a youth programme, adopting a Capabilities Approach (CA), to showcase how developing social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and competencies translates to tangible and powerful change in young people’s agency in their decisions. Participants and Setting. The research adopts a structured methodology focusing on the experiences of young people engaged in the programme in addition to parents, stakeholders and teachers. It investigated the benefits of the youth programmes, delivered across England and Wales in partnerships with other reputable organisations, for young people participating in the programme. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data collected from semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 66 individual participants. This analysis led to the development of two themes: ‘ improving young people’s confidence and aspiration’ and ‘preparing young people for the future’ . Empowering young people through a programme developing SEL contributes to enhancing their capabilities, which is essential in preparing young people for transition from education to work. Adopting this type of approach requires innovation and flexibility to ensure challenges (for example, COVID-19) do not derail progress and, instead, contribute to the development of safe environments and secure relationships. Organisations who create a safe space and offer long-term SEL support, give young people the confidence to interact, access opportunities outside of the classroom and put forward their views and set aspirations for their future. This promotes a capability approach, which illustrates the importance of providing young people with opportunities for repeated active involvement in activities (or interventions) in creating active citizens who understand/recognise their aspirations and worth.