Exploring Mexican and Mexican American Youth Empowerment in a Social Justice Summer Enrichment Program: A Case Study Approach

• In Event: Relationality, Engagement, and Asset-Based Pedagogies

Abstract

Too often, youth experience a narrow representation of science through formal schooling, a sterile view that conveys science as a body of facts separated into content areas; facts that remain abstract and quarantined in classrooms. Seldom is science perceived as a vehicle for youths’ sense of empowerment. In this paper, we use a case study approach to explore youths’ sense of empowerment in a novel summer enrichment program designed for Mexican and Mexican-American high school youth – Aquetza: Youth Education, Leadership and Empowerment program. We draw on Dimick’s (2012) framework to explore three dimensions of youth empowerment – academic, social, and political. Our study contributes to both theory and practice related to Mexican and Mexican-American youth in science education.

Authors

• Enrique Lopez, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Jose Ortiz, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Cecilia Angelica Valenzuela, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Alma Hinojosa, University of Colorado - Boulder