Early Adolescent Critical Consciousness Development in the Age of Trump

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-308
Author(s):  
Heather Kennedy ◽  
Savahanna Matyasic ◽  
Lynn Schofield Clark ◽  
Corey Engle ◽  
Yolanda Anyon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
After School ◽  
Youth Of Color ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Consciousness Development ◽  
Political Events ◽  
After School Program ◽  
Critical Action

Political elections have been shown to influence youth civic development. The election of Donald Trump is historic and has elevated precarity for people of color and immigrants, yet we know little about how young people with these identities experienced this potentially catalytic event. Using ethnographic methods, we examined youth and adult discussions that occurred during youth participatory action research in four sites of one after-school program between October 2016 and May 2017, to investigate how the development of critical consciousness occurs among early adolescent youth of color in the context of catalyzing political events. We identified emergent patterns in how young people (a) engaged in critical reflection, (b) weighed political efficacy, and (c) considered engagement in critical action in the wake of Trump’s election. The data revealed that young people’s critical consciousness development ranged from basic to advanced levels. This research highlights the ways that politically catalytic events shape critical consciousness development among early adolescents of color.

scholarly journals Science Education for Sustainability: Strengthening Children’s Science Engagement through Climate Change Learning and Action

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlie D. Trott ◽  
Andrea E. Weinberg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
School Science ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
After School ◽  
Youth Of Color ◽  
Science Engagement ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
After School Program

Scientists and sustainability scholars continue to make urgent calls for rapid societal transformation to sustainability. Science education is a key venue for this transformation. In this manuscript, we argue that by positioning children as critical actors for sustainability in science education contexts, they may begin to reimagine what science means to them and to society. This multi-site, mixed-methods study examined how children’s climate change learning and action influenced their science engagement along cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. For fifteen weeks, ten- to twelve-year-olds participated in an after-school program that combined on-site interactive educational activities (e.g., greenhouse gas tag) with off-site digital photography (i.e., photovoice process), and culminated in youth-led climate action in family and community settings. Participants were 55 children (M = 11.1 years), the majority from groups underrepresented in science (52.7% girls; 43.6% youth of color; 61.8% low-income). Combined survey and focus group analyses showed that, after the program, science became more relevant to children’s lives, and their attitudes towards science (i.e., in school, careers, and in society) improved significantly. Children explained that understanding the scientific and social dimensions of climate change expanded their views of science: Who does it, how, and why—that it is more than scientists inside laboratories. Perhaps most notably, the urgency of climate change solutions made science more interesting and important to children, and many reported greater confidence, participation, and achievement in school science. The vast majority of the children (88.5%) reported that the program helped them to like science more, and following the program, more than half (52.7%) aspired to a STEM career. Lastly, more than a third (37%) reported improved grades in school science, which many attributed to their program participation. Towards strengthening children’s science engagement, the importance of climate change learning and action—particularly place-based, participatory, and action-focused pedagogies—are discussed.

“Why Don’t They Just Move Closer?”: Adolescent Critical Consciousness Development in YPAR About Food Security

2021 ◽  
pp. 074355842110653
Author(s):  
Amy J. Anderson ◽  
Hannah Carson Baggett ◽  
Carey E. Andrzejewski ◽  
Sean A. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
School Students ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Consciousness Development ◽  
Project Outcomes ◽  
Classroom Dialogue ◽  
Structural Inequities

The aim of this paper is to explore high school students’ critical consciousness development in the context of youth participatory action research (YPAR) focused on food security at an alternative school in Alabama. The YPAR project took place in an elective agriscience class with 10 students (Seven Black, two white, one Latino) who were in the 10th to 12th grades. Utilizing data from researcher notes, classroom observations, and archival classroom documents, we present students’ YPAR project outcomes to share their research-driven solutions to food insecurity in their community. Vignettes of classroom dialogue are also constructed to illustrate moments of reflection in the YPAR context about food security. We present three “critical moments,” or instances of social analysis, to illustrate how students’ individual-level attributions occurred alongside teacher dialogue and student-led investigation of structural inequities in the community. Findings illustrate how students’ nonlinear critical consciousness development consisted of reliance on individual-level attributions in classroom dialogue co-occurring with systems-thinking activities and other YPAR project outcomes. This paper has implications for research on the imperfect and wavering nature of adolescent critical consciousness development in YPAR.

Critical Consciousness Development

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatma Aydin ◽  
Kristen Adams ◽  
Laura Barsigian ◽  
John Bruner ◽  
Chih-Ting Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Consciousness Development

PAR Method

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Billies
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Context Analysis ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender

The work of the Welfare Warriors Research Collaborative (WWRC), a participatory action research (PAR) project that looks at how low income lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming (LG-BTGNC) people survive and resist violence and discrimination in New York City, raises the question of what it means to make conscientization, or critical consciousness, a core feature of PAR. Guishard's (2009) reconceptualization of conscientization as “moments of consciousness” provides a new way of looking at what seemed to be missing from WWRC's process and analysis. According to Guishard, rather than a singular awakening, critical consciousness emerges continually through interactions with others and the social context. Analysis of the WWRC's process demonstrates that PAR researchers doing “PAR deep” (Fine, 2008)—research in which community members share in all aspects of design, method, analysis and product development—should have an agenda for developing critical consciousness, just as they would have agendas for participation, for action, and for research.

scholarly journals Reflective insights from developing a palliative care children and young people’s advisory group

2021 ◽  
pp. 026921632097603
Author(s):  
Anna Roach ◽  
Debbie Braybrook ◽  
Steve Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Research ◽  
School Health ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
After School ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Care Research

Background: The importance of actively involving patient and public members throughout the different stages of palliative care and health research projects is widely acknowledged, however patient and public involvement work rarely considers insight from children and young people. Although this is becoming increasingly recognised in other areas of research, there is currently no structured guidance on how to best involve children and young people in palliative care research. Aim: To plan and deliver a Young People’s Advisory Group in palliative care and health research at a secondary school. Findings: Attending an after-school ‘Health and Social Research Methods Club’ for 11 weeks benefitted children and researchers. Children were taught about data collection methods, data analysis and ethics in health research and used these skills to provide valuable feedback which has been implemented in current palliative care research projects. Children took part in considered discussions around palliative care topics and enjoyed attending the group. Conclusion: This project has equipped researchers with skills and provided a structured template for future Young People’s Advisory Groups, ensuring the unique voices of children and young people are considered and valued in future palliative care research.

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