This article explores civic learning, civic participation, and the development of civic agency within the Council of Youth Research (the Council), a program that engages high school students in youth participatory action research projects... more
This article explores civic learning, civic participation, and the development of civic agency within the Council of Youth Research (the Council), a program that engages high school students in youth participatory action research projects that challenge school inequalities and mobilize others in pursuit of educational justice. We critique the neoliberal view of democracy that dominates in the existing research, policy, and practice around urban school reform and civic education and instead turn to evidence from social movements and critical social theory as a foundation for a reimagined, more robust vision of critical democracy. Through our analysis of the activities that the Council students engaged in during and after a five-week summer seminar, we offer findings about the kinds of learning and pedagogy that characterize a critical democratic space. We discuss how students and teachers learn through dialogue that characterizes them as public intellectuals; we explore how students develop new forms of civic participation through their engagement with digital, participatory media and interactive presentations to community stakeholders; and we document the developing sense of agency that students experience as a result of these authentic civic learning opportunities. We conclude by highlighting the impacts of this program and its potential to create a new paradigm for civic life and civic education.
Working in research teams, public school students in New York approached questions about gender identities and sexualities and then, based on their findings, advocated for institutional reforms.
This article discusses ethical issues involved in facilitating the research of young people on controversial issues. This article considers the potential ethical dilemmas of teachers facilitating a particular form of activism—Youth... more
This article discusses ethical issues involved in facilitating the research of young people on controversial issues. This article considers the potential ethical dilemmas of teachers facilitating a particular form of activism—Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). We consider how teachers foster school-wide conversations on difficult issues and to support students who wish to take a critical stand on issues of race, class and gender. The article also discusses how to scaffold the exploration of topics that require emotional maturity and might lead to shifts in beliefs that run counter to the values of one’s family.
Without students’ own voices and perspectives, educational reform will continue to miss the mark—it is crucial for students to be invited to participate in the development of their own education. Grounded in a Youth Participatory Action... more
Without students’ own voices and perspectives, educational reform will continue to miss the mark—it is crucial for students to be invited to participate in the development of their own education. Grounded in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) framework, this project privileges the first-hand experiences and knowledges of students, teachers, and communities, positioning them as agents of social change (Fine et al., 2004; Morrell, 2008). The project is designed to create opportunities for research collaborations with high school youth and undergraduate education students. The TC-IUME and CUNY-Queens College project is part of a qualitative examination of the experiences of high school students and pre-service teachers in the context of a co-curricular youth participatory action research (YPAR) seminar in two culturally and socioeconomically diverse urban schools. The purposes of the project are to:
1- engage students and undergraduate pre-service teachers in critical participatory action research (PAR) projects that recognize and develop their multiple literacies to enact social change; and
2- examine how the students and pre-service teachers’ YPAR experiences inform their perceptions about identities, literacies, curriculum, and achievement.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how youth from varied cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds came together to collaboratively analyze data they collected across two research projects in a community-based Youth... more
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how youth from varied cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds came together to collaboratively analyze data they collected across two research projects in a community-based Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) initiative, a less understood aspect of YPAR. Specifically, this study discusses how youth enacted collaborative data analysis to foreground lived experience and experiential knowledge while enacting critical literacy practices and building toward an open and reflective form of relationality. Design/methodology/approach The examination of youths’ data analysis practices is situated in a larger qualitative research study of the Central City Youth Participatory Action Research initiative, a six-month, community-based, out-of-school program. This study discusses the relational and humanizing practices of youth through collaborative data analysis practices. Findings This study focuses on two small-group research teams, examining...
This article discusses ethical issues involved in facilitating the research of young people on controversial issues. This article considers the potential ethical dilemmas of teachers facilitating a particular form of activism—Youth... more
This article discusses ethical issues involved in facilitating the research of young people on controversial issues. This article considers the potential ethical dilemmas of teachers facilitating a particular form of activism—Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). We consider how teachers foster school-wide conversations on difficult issues and to support students who wish to take a critical stand on issues of race, class and gender. The article also discusses how to scaffold the exploration of topics that require emotional maturity and might lead to shifts in beliefs that run counter to the values of one’s family.
