“Education Is Obligatory Theft”: Reclaiming Critical Public Pedagogical Spaces for Youth Voices

• In Event: Overcoming the Silence Through Spoken Word

Abstract

Objectives
This paper explores the concept of voice as conceived by a group of young poets engaged in a summer and after school spoken word and writing class at a Los Angeles area high school (Knaus, 2009; McLaren, 2003; Yosso, 2005). Reconnecting the concept of voice to critical literacy studies, this study builds upon an extensive body of research emphasizing the critical importance of listening to students towards the end of reclaiming schooling and critical public pedagogical spaces for the expression of their voices (Au, 2009; Gustavson, 2007; Hull & Schultz, 2002; Jocson, 2005; Kinloch, 2005; Knaus, 2011; Morrell & Duncan-Andrade, 2008; Street, 2005).

Theoretical Frameworks
Drawing on critical race theory and critical pedagogical concepts of counterspaces, public pedagogy, and community cultural wealth, this paper examines how participants perceived their opportunity to express their voices across multiple contexts (Solorzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000) Providing insight into participants’ perceptions of voice, emphasis is placed on examining the factors that shaped their voices, and their perspectives on the manner in which their voices and cultural wealth could be expressed in public pedagogical spaces/counterspaces across contexts (Giroux, 2005; Sandlin, Schultz, & Burdick, 2010).

Methods
A critical inquiry framework is employed in examining these questions while critiquing the notion of objectivity and centering participants’ voices toward the end of promoting socially just outcomes (Carspecken, 1996; Kincheloe & McLaren, 2000). This study relies on participant observations, classroom dialogue, student poetry/prose, as well as semi-structured interviews to present an authentic portrayal of student perspectives and experiences (Merriam, 1998).

Data Sources
Data was collected over three years of the Political Education, Art, and Critical Expression (PEACE) class at LAX High School, the flagship highschool of the LAX district in Southern California. Twenty participant observations, seventy hours of recorded and transcribed classroom dialogue, thirty samples of student poetry, and fourteen semi-structured interviews guided this study, providing for an in-depth and holistic representation of participants perspectives on the expression of their voices across multiple educational contexts and spaces.

Results
Findings indicate that participants’ voices are largely shaped by their subjective identities, experiences, and struggles against oppressive structures, and are informed by multiple aspects of their cultural capital. Participants found few opportunities and spaces in which they felt they could safely express their voices and writing, though they felt most comfortable expressing themselves to their friends and peers. Participants perceived the concept of voice as a powerful tool in articulating their cultural capital as well as naming and challenging the oppressive structures at work within their everyday lives.

Significance
Despite the support of fellow PEACE classmates, participants indicated that the lack of opportunities and spaces available for them to express their voices and writing, particularly within the schooling context, created additional obstacles for them to overcome. These findings have tremendous implications surrounding their ability to navigate school and district policies that increasingly deprived them of such spaces while focusing on improving test scores and meeting Academic Yearly Progress (AYP).

Author

• Tyson E.J. Marsh, University of New Mexico