The Development of Critical Consciousness in Urban Adolescents Attending No-Excuses and Freirean Charter High Schools

• In Event: 63.062 - Students in Schools: Issues of Race, Ethnicity, and Class

Abstract

Critical consciousness refers to an individual’s ability to think analytically about the social forces shaping one’s life; a sense of efficacy about navigating or resisting those forces; and a commitment to challenging those forces as necessary. An emerging body of scholarship has found critical consciousness to be predictive of a number of key outcomes in marginalized youth including resilience, civic engagement and academic achievement. The present study investigates the development of critical consciousness in marginalized adolescents attending urban charter high schools featuring Freirean and No Excuses schooling models. In so doing, this study offers insight into the structure and predictors of critical consciousness development in marginalized youth and whether differences emerge in the critical consciousness of students attending these schools.

Authors

• Scott Clifford Seider, Boston University

• Daren Graves, Simmons College

• Shelby Clark, Boston University

• Madora Soutter, Boston University

• Aaliyah El-Amin, Harvard University

• Kathryn J Gramigna, Boston University

• Megan Kenslea, Boston University