Exploring the Opportunity to Center Student Voices in Our Teaching

• In Event: Interrogating Opportunity Gaps: The Role of Educational Research in Consequential Truths, Justices, and Equity

Abstract

Amidst the pandemic and political polarization, youth have found powerful ways to share their stories and advocate for social change. From Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem to Emma González’s March for Our Lives speech, youth are often finding ways for their voices to be heard not because of schools, but in spite of them. Drawing on stories of sixteen youth engaged in a youth-led dialogue series, this study argues that youth voice provides an entry point, as understood by the five tenets of Milner’s 2020 Opportunity-Centered Teaching framework, for exploring how schools can create opportunities for youth to engage in dialogue across communities to build friendships, leadership capacity, and civic discourse skills.

Author

• Laura Fittz Parks, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author