Reimagining Approaches to Out-of-School-Time Spaces That Center Youth (Poster 32)

• In Event: Sunday Poster Session 9:35 am
  In Poster Session: Out-of-School-Time SIG Posters

Abstract

The beginning of 2020 marked the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and a new reality. Mainstream learning loss discourse emerged as young people faced new social challenges and rising inequities. Moreover, deficit-based narratives often negatively construct youth identities and intertwine with neoliberal forces and systemic inequities. Out-of-school time (OST) spaces offer hope and opportunity for a re-envisioned environment to centralize youth voice and provide critical time for leisure and reconnection. In this paper, we explore the strategies that can exist between youth workers and social workers in cultivating OST spaces for youth. We center the argument for shifting away from neoliberal models that commodify youth, the importance of OST’s impact on youth development, and raising awareness of OST possibilities.

Authors

• CJ Greer, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Lyrah Fosl, University of Louisville

• Brandon Mitchell, Norfolk State University