Youth Organizing: Capacity Building and Organizational Learning

• In Event: 32.060 - Strategies and Outcomes of Grassroots Organizing

Abstract

This study examines the curriculum and pedagogy of a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project in an urban setting that ultimately resulted in presenting a proposal for community change to local decision-makers. The study explores the ways in which the curriculum and pedagogy supported gains in critical analysis of sociopolitical issues and systems thinking about power and collective action for change. The discussion finds that key components that increased analytical skills included an approach that situated learning in their lived experiences and drew on their funds of knowledge and an applied learning approach that connected the research project to an action plan for community change.

Author

• Dana E. Wright, Connecticut College