Democratic Cosmopolitan Practices of Youth: An Invitation to Embody an Inquiry Stance Through Care Ethics

• In Event: 32.058 - Democratic Citizenship in Education SIG Paper Discussion (Roundtable) Session 1

Abstract

In responding to this year’s invitation to explore ways of achieving the promise of equal educational opportunity, this paper offers narratives of young people, between 11-to-16 years old, at an alternative-to-detention program (ATDP) in New York City. In some social-cultural terrains, court involved youth are often pushed outside to the margins preventing them from participating including in educational spaces. Exploring the artifacts produced by young people, this paper expands upon concepts multimodal literacies, cosmopolitanism, and care ethics to illustrate how collaborative communal participation could cultivate spaces for belonging and citizenship—paving ways for young people to contribute their own experiences and knowledge to negotiate a more inclusive, equitable and diverse meaning-making practices within our community.

Author

• Ahram Park, Teachers College, Columbia University