“It’s Bigger Than Us ... We Can Only Take on Certain Small Pieces”: Democratic Engagements and Youth Decision Making in Social Justice Projects

• In Event: Participatory Practices and Pedagogies: Reimagining the Curriculum for Communities of Learning

Abstract

In “‘It’s bigger than us…we can only take on certain small pieces’: Democratic Engagements and Youth Decision-Making in Social Justice Projects”, presenter #3 highlights the significance of inter- and intra-generational dialogue and reflection in developing high school capstone projects that explore forms of social injustice (i.e., human sex trafficking, homelessness, LGBTQ bullying, etc). The title emerges from a group interview where three students reflected upon what they learned as a result of investigating human sex trafficking locally, nationally, and globally. Like the students’ capstone project, the presentation will build upon tenets of critical multiculturalism, critical literacy, and social justice education.

Theoretical framework
Social justice education (Ayers, Quinn & Stovall, 2009; Bell, 2010; Adams, Bell & Griffin, 2007) and critical multiculturalism (Sleeter & McLaren, 1995; May & Sleeter, 2010) scholarship often focuses on theoretical frameworks and educational reform that makes education more responsible to the lives and experiences of marginalized people (e.g., students of color, students from working-class and low-income communities, and multilingual speakers). Consequently, the emerging research emphasizes culturally responsive curricular and pedagogical approaches in teacher education programs (Raible & Iziarry, 2007) or post-secondary classrooms (McIntyre, 2002). This presentation will consider the ways in which ninth grade students (and their teachers) come to understand social justice through “democratic engagements” (Kinloch, 2009) and create projects that raise awareness and demand community action. Presenter 3 will explore how democratic engagements of urban youth can expand the research and reform agendas of both critical multiculturalism and social justice to include youth decision-making.

Methods and Data sources
Through a nine-month qualitative study, the researcher focused on how ninth grade students attending a large, urban Midwestern high school learned about social justice and youth activism in developing their World Humanities capstone projects. The presentation will highlight one group’s dialogues and disputes as they researched human sex trafficking. In relying upon critical literacy methodologies (Kinloch, 2010; Mahiri, 2004; Paris, 2010) that focus on student voice and that refine concepts of power, democracy and identity, the researcher collected student artifacts (i.e., powerpoint presentations, written assignments) as well as video and audio recordings of: classroom presentations, afterschool project development sessions, in-class group discussions, and semi-structured interviews with participating students.

Conclusions
Throughout the research project, students expressed ownership and empowerment as they discussed their capstones. Students engaged in reflexive cross-generational dialogues about their issue in multiple venues, demonstrating their commitment to challenging social injustice beyond their projects.

Significance
Since this presentation seeks to create more spaces for social justice in literacy education, the following questions will guide this work: What does it mean for students and educators to engage in social justice through ‘democratic engagements’ projects? How do educators and students develop a discourse of social justice across racial, gender, and cultural difference? What implications might social justice projects informed by democratic engagements have for teacher education, community change, and K-12 education?

Author

• Tamara T. Butler, Michigan State University