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Objectives
Youth participatory action research (YPAR) can support the development of student-centered pedagogies in preservice teacher education settings (Rubin, Abu El-Haj, Graham, & Clay, 2016), but there are also many challenges to translating this approach into classroom use (Rubin, Ayala, & Zaal, 2017). In this paper, we will explore the shifting positionality and practices of educators taking part in a community engaged project designed to support the integration of youth participatory action research into public school classrooms through professional development and mentoring.
Theoretical Framework
Over the past two decades, a consensus has developed around best practices for civic education, with active, relevant, student-centered approaches coming to the fore. Civic action research (also referred to as YPAR), with its emphasis on involving students in meaningful inquiry into self-generated topics relevant to their own lives, can be an effective driver of civic learning. Engaging students in discussion, investigation, and analysis of the civic problems they encounter in their daily lives can lead to more aware and empowered civic identities, fostering the critical analyses that are important for sociopolitical development (e.g., Cammarota & Fine, 2008, Ginwright & James, 2002). YPAR can also help to create “civic ecosystems,” webs of connection that nurture youth civic voice (Rubin, 2024).
Research Methods and Data Sources
This mixed-methods study investigated how educators implementing civic action research in their classrooms navigated the integration of this student-centered, critically oriented practice into the structure and practices of traditional school social studies. Sources include survey data from 37 teachers and administrators and individual and focus group interviews with 17 participants, all participants in at least one year of professional development supporting classroom YPAR implementation.
Results
Teachers’ understandings of their role as civic educators shifted as they facilitated YPAR, reconsidering traditional positionality of power and experience over youth as they supported students as lead researchers and content experts. Teachers reported increased humility as they acknowledged what they did not know; self-restraint, as they made room for students to shape their own projects; and co-learning as they embarked on data collection and analysis in real time with students. Teachers described their roles in this process as “architect,” “guide on the side,” “mentor,” and “advisor.”
Teachers altered their practices to embody these new roles and address challenges, including engagement and organization throughout a long-term project, research skills, and inexperience with group discussion practices.Teachers responded creatively, shifting practices and designing supplementary materials to support student ownership of the process. As teachers reimagined their role in the classroom and innovated, they drew upon their “civic ecosystem,” working with academics, superintendents, teachers from interdisciplinary subjects, partners within the district, and most importantly, their own students.
Significance
School-based iterations of YPAR can be challenging. Faced with classroom and school-level constraints, educators can struggle with the student-centered, open-ended, and extended nature of the approach. This analysis provides insight into the productive ways that teachers navigate these complexities, implementing youth civic action research in traditional K-12 settings is invaluable in bridging the concerns about the gap between the radical potential of YPAR and the theorized constraints at the school level