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Youth Participatory Action Research and Learning as Transformation

Fri, April 17, 4:05 to 5:35pm, Sheraton, Floor: Second Level, Superior A

Abstract

We present possibilities for learning as transformation though youth participatory action research (YPAR). We describe the learning that led a group of youth from powerless to empowered in this after school project designed to address equity in school-based science. Youth entered with the belief that their voices did not matter to those in positions of power. Through YPAR, youth learned to use research skills to challenge educational disparities. Youth conducted research, presented at a youth leadership and science education conferences, developed public service announcements, and taught younger peers science lessons. With increased agency, the youth went before the local school board at the end of the project with their expectations for improving access and opportunity to science learning.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) framed our analysis of race and racism and the systemic ways power is used to marginalize non-dominant groups. Two tenets of CRT that this presentation draws from are the counternarratives of marginalized individuals and working toward social justice. Counternarratives challenge dominant narratives, including the idea that schooling provides all students with equal opportunities, with evidence that these youth have limited science opportunities. For example, the youth participants in this project found that their majority-minority high school relied more heavily teacher-centered practices compared to a nearby majority White school. In response, youth taught a mini science unit for younger peers using student-centered teaching strategies seldom seen in their own schooling experiences.

In YPAR, youth are active participants in the research process and acquire research skills and techniques to actively gather evidence and produce knowledge to challenge inequity. In this project, youth agency increased over time through understanding of power structures and how to leverage their research.

Data sources included: 1) the researcher’s data; and 2) the data collected and produced by the youth. The researcher’s data included videos of youth activities (research meetings, presentations), interviews and field notes. The youth produced data included survey instruments, presentation materials (slideshows and scripts), public service announcements, and teaching lessons and materials. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data and develop a critical ethnography of youth participation.

Learning as transformation is best captured in the shift in agency among the youth across the duration this project. Justice, one of the participants, was adamant early on that, “[School] won’t listen to us!” But over time, bolstered by increasing data, the youth insisted on presenting their research findings to the school board to have their voices heard with hopes of richer dialogue on school improvement. That is, youth learned to use research in the fight for equitable opportunities at school.

This presentation asks what it means to engage youth in YPAR as learning for transformation. In this YPAR project, youth built agency and had their voices heard in matters close to them (access rich science learning). Thus, what are the possibilities for transformative learning if youth are partners in research? And can YPAR transform of the ways we conduct education research?

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