Young Children and Civic Participation: Navigating the Politics of Curriculum in Mobilizing Social Action

• In Event: 43.080 - Sheraton Roundtable Six - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 43.080-4 - Curriculum Considerations Across Multimodal Spaces

Abstract

Multimodal forms of literacy are expanding possibilities within civic participation for young people. While prior scholarship acknowledges youth participation and citizenship, children in K-5 elementary schools are hardly taken seriously as political beings and active community members. Drawing from a year-long ethnographic study of second graders’ engagement with literacy and curriculum in New York City, the purpose of this paper is to focus on elementary-aged children as activists, specifically children of color and/or with disabilities. Our aim is to trouble curricular ideologies which uphold dominant values and notions of civic participation. We interrogate the limitations of curriculum, the importance of teachers in creating space for children’s concerns, and the ways children take up literacy to mobilize action.

Authors

• Haeny S. Yoon, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Rachel Knight, Teachers College, Columbia University