Youth Participatory Action Research as a Critical Framework for Reimagining Civics Education

• In Event: Exploration of Civic and Politics Education

Abstract

The gap that minoritized youth experience between learning about democratic ideals in classrooms and their lived experiences is rooted in educators’ limited understandings of civics knowledge and action (Rubin, 2007). Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is understood to offer a different outlet for youth to develop civic identities (Caraballo, Lozenski, et al., 2017), however the experience of facilitating YPAR projects is transformative for adults as well. Drawing on my experiences as an adult facilitator of a YPAR project using self-study, I assert the transformative possibilities of YPAR as a way to reimagine civics knowledge and action. In turn, I suggest that these epistemological and ontological changes offer a vision of civics education rooted in building multigenerational coalitions for justice.

Author

• Ryan Oto, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities