"And School Won't Teach Me That!" Urban Youth Organizing Programs as Transformative Learning Sites

• In Event: Critical Conversations: Social Justice Practices for Overcoming Psychological Barriers in K–12 Settings

Abstract

Youth organizing is an increasingly prevalent approach to supporting elements of youth development by urging youth to become more socio-politically minded, and thereby contributing to furthering social democratic processes. However, much remains to be learned about how learning occurs in these settings. This proposed paper draws from a study of seven youth organizing sites serving 92 youth, within one city. Particularly, we drew from focus group data with youth at each site (seven focus groups) to unpack what youth learned as they built critical consciousness, as evidenced in their increased self-, social-, and even global-awareness in addition to developing other transferable skills the skills required to analyze and then act on oppressive social phenomena.

Authors

• Thomas Akiva, University of Pittsburgh

• Roderick L. Carey, University of Delaware